Slugger O'Toole

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Latest comments from Gerry Lvs castro (see all)

Gerry Lvs castro has commented 222 times (4 in the last month).

1. Comment on Hasten slowly – though no tangible signs that the Anglican supertanker is turning
   on 14 May 2012 at 4:54 pm

   Excellent reply from Rory — other than the divorce and lust references, I wasn’t aware of anything specific pertaining to consensual sex, but if Newman can provide quotes, we’ll stand corrected.

   ‘Rewriting sexual norms’ — great quote Newman. Because obviously things were so much better when adulturers were stoned, homosexuals jailed and old men could marry 12 year old girls.

   It’s fair to say that even before the veil was lifted on the RC church’s attitude to child rape, what consenting adults did in their bedrooms was absolutely none of their business. But the very idea that such an organisation still aspires to pronounce on morality is little short of breathtaking.

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2. Comment on Hasten slowly – though no tangible signs that the Anglican supertanker is turning
   on 14 May 2012 at 1:10 pm

   As far as I’m aware, Christ had very little to say on the subject of sex and sexuality, so why are his various churches so obsessed by it?

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3. Comment on Obama endorses gay marriage
   on 9 May 2012 at 11:22 pm

   Newman: ‘Marriage by definition must be potentially procreative’

   Bit of a shocker this one. I’m personally accquainted with six childless married couples, none of whom were aware that they really should divorce immediately.

   By your logic, all engaged couples should prove themselves fertile, sign a contract promising to have kids, and presumably not include a woman over 50.

   Thousands of married couples, whether through personal choice, infertility or age, never ‘procreate’. Are you saying they shouldn’t be legally married?

   Equally the religious argument against gay marriage is spurious. Quite clearly a sizeable number of people are born gay — therefore (from a religious view) created so by God. Why should they be denied the right to marry, particularly as no-one is forcing any church to conduct the ceremony?

   ”it flies in the face of centuries of culture in every society”

   As did the abolition of slavery, the introduction of contraception and votes for women. Your point is?

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4. Comment on “are you serious?” – redux
   on 6 May 2012 at 6:41 pm

   SF — raising mopery to an art form.

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5. Comment on For Unionists Only: What would you relish in a United Ireland?
   on 18 April 2012 at 5:31 pm

   A very difficult one this. I’d consider myself a moderate Unionist (no interest in the OO, 12th etc) but it’s incredibly difficult to see any upside in a UI.

   If the last 100 years has shown us anything, it’s that both parts of Ireland made an almighty mess of self governance and it’s difficult to see how that might improve going forward.

   I’d envisage a UI going one of two ways — militant nationalism SF style or an anaemic version of England with a few cultural differences. Neither is compelling.

   Ideally I’d like to see Ireland united as part of the UK with a channel tunnel like land bridge, but I’m guessing that won’t be on the table, so I’ll settle for a reduction in mopery and a major tourism dividend.

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6. Comment on Sinn Fein does not expect to win a border poll but would relish the opportunity for a public conversation…
   on 16 March 2012 at 12:11 am

   Had a listen. Total waffle. Martina knows rightly there’s zero chance of a border poll happening in the near future and if it did happen they’d lose heavily. SF are acting like a spoilt toddler over this issue — they sign up for long-term partition by consent, then waste everyone’s time endlessly whinging about it.

   As yet another poll recently showed, a UI is on virtually no-one’s radar these days — people are concerned about real world issues — jobs, the economy, health, education, the kind of things that grown up politicans are supposed to deal with.

   But SF are in a bind — by working Stormont they’re merely facilitating complacent Nationalism, while scarcely irking Unionists at all any more. Their ministerial performances are at best mediocre — if the intention was to undermine NI from within, they’ve failed miserably, equally if the intention was to impress the southern electorate for possible future govt, there’s a distinct lack of applause.

   The constant wail of ‘but we WANT a UI’ sounds increasingly desperate given the reality on the ground. The grand peace strategy looks like an abject failure, if an admirable one.

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7. Comment on If people don’t know how a united Ireland will affect them, they will vote No…
   on 15 March 2012 at 10:15 am

   ”Unlike Unionists in the old Stormont then Gerry.”

   You got me Tacapall — today’s SF is exactly like old Unionism, with the added bonus of 1700 recent murders by their military wing and a neat little cocktail of control freakery, selective memory and long discredited far left politics. Really does make you wonder why they aren’t selling their UI vision better.

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8. Comment on If people don’t know how a united Ireland will affect them, they will vote No…
   on 15 March 2012 at 8:45 am

   ”If the unionists become a minority in NI before a United Ireland, then I could see them being steamrolled over and most things staying the same, which would not be a good thing.”

   I think Weidm7 has it spot on here. SFs behaviour in past decades indicates nothing other than contempt for Unionism and all other forms of Nationalism. Their utopian vision is most likely a one party state.

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9. Comment on Gay Marriage: Cardinal lobbies against whilst Church of Ireland opens a debate…
   on 7 March 2012 at 8:42 pm

   Babyface: ‘I can’t argue with your characterization of the Churches there.
   But having said all that its their club, their rules and I certainly wouldn’t want to join it.”

   That’s just the problem — most members of religious ‘clubs’ members don’t actually join — they’re born into it and indoctrinated via one-sided ‘faith schooling’.

   If it were a simple choice at say 18 to choose your religion, free from prior childhood indoctrination, I’d have a guess that a minority would become Buddhists while the majority simply wouldn’t bother.

   Eglise: ‘legally all the benefits of marriage are currently available through civil partnerships, so I can’t understand what the issue really is.’

   Marriage is more than a legal contract, it’s a commitment to a partner, made in the presence of family, friends and (if applicable) god. Why the gay community should be denied the right to commit to a partner, particularly at a time when heterosexual marriage is very much on the wane, is the real issue here.

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10. Comment on The Unicorns are Multiplying
    on 7 March 2012 at 9:29 am

    There does appear to be a strong consistency in all these polls, going back decades. Fact is the overall support for a UI remains very low and appears to be falling since the GFA.

    SF’s big problem is that the more ‘Irish’ NI becomes, the happier their constituency are to live within the union. The bogey man of the army and the RUC on the streets, the supposed suppression of Irish culture and the milk and honey over the border have all disappeared and the reasons for a UI are much less clear.

    As a Unionist who lived through the troubles, pretty much everything about the current dispensation is better. We still have the financial and cultural benefits of UK citizenship as well as a level of peace unseen for 50+ years. The worst excesses of the frequently embaressing OO have been curtailed and both communities are freer to express their respective cultures.

    Sectarian tensions and distrust will always be there (as they would in a UI) but the rationale for unification has yet to be proved.

    SF can continue to whinge and mope, but they need to accept that people can vote DUP whilst regarding their views on evolution and gays as laughable, they can go to mass every week whilst co-habiting and using contraception, and they can vote SF whilst regarding a UI as an impractical pipe dream.

    latcheeco: ”What is new is the apparent need by unionists to get reassurance on the future security of the union from the mood of soft nationalists instead of invoking the traditional one million law -biding people of Ulster. This is perhaps a better indication of which way the wind is blowing”

    Equally we’re seeing endless attempts at ‘Unionist outreach’ and ‘persausion for a UI’ from SF. If there is such support in the nationalist community for a UI, why would they even bother?

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