Religion – Page 2 – Slugger O'Toole

Secularist Ireland (and the broader west) has no time for persecution of Christians or other religions

Mick Fealty on August 13, 2014, 12:44 pm

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It’s worth recapping on Tom Kelly’s column from the Irish News on Monday, asking if anyone cares about the fate of Christians and other religious minorities in the middle east… …for all our pretence to be a Christian country (not that our Christian practices always gives witness to that profession) we seem uninterested in the desperate plight of fellow Christians across the world. Western Christians like to huff and puff about their rights being under pressure from increased secularism but …

McGregor, an ancestor of John Kerry is labelled the Irish Moses, as US monitors persecution of Christians

Brian Walker on July 30, 2014, 12:42 am

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It’s amazing what the Economist picks up… the half forgotten and much missed tradition of Presbyterian liberalism, forced to emigrate to the States and often confused there with the Irish Catholic variety. Could they have possibly read Turgon? DOES the Obama administration care about religious liberty round the world? In some ways, it has no choice but to care. American administrations are mandated by law to study the performance of all governments in this sensitive area, and to denounce …

After the elections and the pastor, unionists will have to ditch bigotry to survive

Brian Walker on May 31, 2014, 12:34 pm

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“I would still trust them to go down to the shops for me and give me the right change.” The horribly condescending bigotry of Peter Robinson’s puzzling intervention in the row of over his friend the pastor recalls the atavism of “to hell with the future and long live the past” that leaves unionism with few friends and precious little defence. Witness the spreading clamour against him which his friends will claim is only an excuse to bash poor Peter. Certainly …

Cartoon – Right at home

Brian Spencer on May 28, 2014, 10:07 pm

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Will we get walk back? If we do, I think this Ian Knox cartoon on the Ruth Patterson apology is apt. Brian SpencerBrian is a writer, artist, political cartoonist and legal blogger. Actively tweeting from @brianjohnspencr. More information here: http://www.brianjohnspencer.com/ www.brianjohnspencer.com/

Bishop John McAreavey: “Political representatives must answer for their own position on abortion…”

Pete Baker on April 17, 2014, 4:49 pm

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As the BBC reports, Sinn Féin’s Paul Maskey, MP for west Belfast, has apologised to the Catholic Bishop of Dromore, John McAreavey, for the misrepresentation of his views on abortion in “a letter written by local party members and distributed in west Belfast”. Here’s the quoted apology in the BBC report – not yet available on the Sinn Féin website. [Mr Maskey said the literature was issued by local representatives in west Belfast on the issue of abortion in response to queries from constituents. …

The prevailing wisdom of A Love Divided

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on April 5, 2014, 11:45 am

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Based on a true story, “A Love Divided” chronicles the aftermath of a mixed marriage in Co. Wexford, Ireland, where Protestant-raised Sheila refuses to send her children to a local Catholic school. She flees with her two young girls, leaving her husband Sean confused and frustrated. “A Love Divided” was shown at Culturlann, as part of the Belfast Film Festival and organised in collaboration with Pieces of the Past oral history project. Sheila signed the Ne Temere contract, which obligated …

Paisley’s religious legacy

Turgon on January 26, 2014, 7:06 pm

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Watching the two hours of the BBC’s documentary on Dr. Paisley brought to mind my blog from six years ago of Paisley and Prospero where at the end of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero turns to the audience and says “Now my charms are all o’erthrown And what strength I have’s mine own.” At times it felt a bit like Mallie was interviewing a slightly more quick witted version of Leonid Brezhnev in his latter years. I had intended doing a …

A manifesto for enlightened Catholicism

Brian Walker on March 11, 2013, 12:24 pm

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From the always inspiring Hans Kung, one of two surviving theologians of Vatican 2, the other being Joseph Ratzinger. True ecumenism. One shouldn’t be misled by the media hype of grandly staged papal mass events or by the wild applause of conservative Catholic youth groups. Behind the facade, the whole house is crumbling. In this dramatic situation the church needs a pope who’s not living intellectually in the Middle Ages, who doesn’t champion any kind of medieval theology, liturgy or church …

Copernicus’ “Google Doodle” and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Gerry Lynch on February 19, 2013, 7:03 pm

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Sunday past was the 413th anniversary of the execution of Giordano Bruno (burned at the stake for heresies such as proposing that the Sun is a star and that the other stars in the sky are also Suns, probably accompanied by planets very much like ours). Today, more auspiciously, is the 460th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus. He managed to postulate that the solar system revolved around the Sun, rather than the Earth, while remaining a Chapter Canon …

#GiantsCauseway: Fenians lose out to Bible.

John Ó Néill on July 5, 2012, 12:01 am

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*sigh* According to UTV, the Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre now includes exhibits that acknowlegde the young-earth Creationist view of how the world-famous stones are formed. Pete has detailed the backstory to this before and others have picked up the creationist lobbying trail around the Ulster Museum. UTV report that The National Trust said it wanted to “reflect and respect” the fact that some people contest the views of mainstream science. With that, the National Trust have now neatly denigrated and rejected centuries …

Democracy and the Church of Ireland…

Mick Fealty on May 15, 2012, 8:36 am

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In the wake of last week’s controversial proceedings at Synod, Archbishop Harper explains how and why things are done in the Anglican Church of Ireland: I think it is important, therefore, to understand the extent to which the Church of Ireland recognises and embraces the status and role of the laity in the life of the church. That is why, in the House of Representatives, two-thirds of the membership is allocated to the lay people of the church. It is …

A few thoughts on St. Patrick’s Day

Turgon on March 17, 2012, 12:41 am

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Today is then St. Patrick’s Day. There will be a variety of events, by far the most prominent will be cultural and sporting. I had intended writing a blog on what I view as the way in which the sanitisation of the entirely legitimate nationalist culture of St. Patrick’s Day has actually become a cause of further division. When I discussed it with Mick, however, he challenged me to do something about the religious angle. The reality is that St. …

Artless protest? Or a disappointing protest that hasn’t yet occupied the agenda of the public or the church?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on February 26, 2012, 11:38 pm

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Despite being critical of Occupy Belfast’s media strategy over the past few months, I’m still disappointed when they respond to Peter Robinson’s jibe about their “artless protest” with a press release. Occupy Belfast would like to take this opportunity to say that we will not be going away and will be relentless in our campaign to expose the hypocrisy and spin emanating from the charade on the hill. At the NI Assembly Business Trust’s event last Thursday evening, the First …

$cientology loses appeal against fraud ruling

Pete Baker on February 3, 2012, 3:49 pm

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The Irish Times reports from France, where the inheritors of L Ron Hubbard’s greedy and manipulative anti-science cult of scientology have lost their appeal against a 2009 ruling that “two French branches of the US-based organisation were guilty of “organised fraud” and gave four of its leaders suspended jail sentences of up to two years.” A Huffington Post report notes During the appeals process, the prosecution had asked for the church to be fined at least euro1 million ($1.3 million) and …

Ian Paisley to retire as Free Presbyterian minister

Turgon on November 14, 2011, 10:29 pm

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Rev. Dr. Ian Paisley is to step down from active church ministry. The 85 year old former moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster has announced that he will be preaching one more sermon in the Martyrs’ Memorial at Christmas but is going to devote his time to writing his memoirs. Dr. Paisley has always been a politically controversial figure and frequently also religiously. The Free Presbyterian Church was initially founded in Crossgar when there was a dispute over …

POTD – Happy clappers

Moochin Photoman on September 8, 2011, 8:29 am

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(with an amplifier) outside City Hall Moochin PhotomanPhotographer and visual artist based in Belfast. I have facilitated community based workshops with groups as diverse as visually impaired individuals in Dungannn, Travellers across Northern Ireland, Young Offenders and many community groups across Belfast. My work has exhibited extensively here in Northern Ireland in group and individual shows and has been shown in North America and i had my first solo international exhibition in New Zealand. I have been the recipient of …

“Reconfiguring the relationship between the church and wider society”

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on June 4, 2011, 10:51 pm

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Norman Hamilton going down the stairs

Speaking on Friday afternoon, Dr Norman Hamilton – the outgoing moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland – called for “the reconfiguring of the proper relationship between the church and wider society”, while the moderator designate Dr Ivan Patterson said he “would welcome” the invitation of Cardinal Brady to the opening night of the General Assembly. After twelve months in the role, Norman Hamilton has seen a lot of church and state: chairing boards and committees; acting as the denomination’s …

Thoughts on the saga of Hazel Stewart

Turgon on March 23, 2011, 12:23 pm

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The saga of the murders of Trevor Buchannan and Lesley Howell has all the ingredients of a horrible human interest story or a perfect opportunity for voyeurism depending on one’s views. It has had a perfect; practically Shakespearian villain who finally seized with remorse has told all for the benefit of his soul and for all of our fascinated, sickened, voyeuristic enjoyment. Along with that there is Lady Macbeth herself: the calculating cold she devil who murdered her husband and …

Religion in schools. More than just Catholics

Blank on October 19, 2010, 2:15 pm

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Peter Robinson’s comments on education have opened up a discussion that is solely focusing on the role of the Catholic Maintained Sector. While the discussion is worthwhile, having it without addressing other elements of religious involvement across education is dealing with less than half of the issue. As noted in Tony Macaulay’s report on Churches and Christian Ethos in Integrated Schools: The assumption that integrated schools would solve the sectarianism problem in Northern Ireland was a false one, a speaker …

‘When lip service to some mysterious deity permits…..cash me in.’

Blank on September 20, 2010, 8:36 pmComments Off | Readers 1

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