[lbo-talk] Abortion in the Irish courts again

[Jason]

Loving religion has nothing to do with anything. Ireland is as full of 
non-practising believers, mushy-headed agnostics and people who have 
invented their own spurious spirituality as anywhere else. Your 
dismissal of Ireland as if we're all a bunch of forelock-tugging 
priest worriers is rather disconnected from the truth. The last story 
I heard about a Bishop expecting his ring to be kissed by random 
passers-by dates back to the sixties, if not prior to the Second 
Vatican Council

If the religious faction were out in force there could at least be an 
argument. The point that you have missed is that the hardcore 
Catholics can't even seem to get themeselves worked-up into a 
frothy-mouthed frenzy. Everyone is just shuffling their feet and 
looking embarassed. The, cough, 'liberals' will of course chatter a 
little bit, but not too much... Its not the 1980s anymore, you know

Wojtek, by "cannot afford" I meant "cannot afford", you know, as in 
haven't got the money to fly to England and get an abortion. What on 
earth has that got to do with "loving" a religion or a country? 
Organised religion has no power in Ireland. The abortion law is 
vestigial and anachronistic, as is the case with a lot of "moral" 
issues here, but it is not evidence of Ireland being a theocracy. Your 
characterisation of religion here as the, ahem, opiate of the people 
suggests you think that Ireland has not developed at all since the 
19th century.

And by the way, though better than Ireland by a long mile, England has 
some way to go on these matters you know.

Jason.

On 2007-05-02 14:59:24 +0100 Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu> wrote:
> [WS:] It is poetic justice, is not it?  It is those who "cannot afford
> abortion" i.e. love their religion and their country but cannot pay 
> their
> bills who fill the churches, which in turns gives the church the 
> political
> strength.  So they got what they asked for.   If the churches stayed 
> empty
> as in the rest of Western Europe, organized religion would not have 
> the
> power it has in Ireland, and abortion would be available on demand, 
> "just
> for the heck of it" (as it should be :)).
> 
> People should bear the consequences of their choices, political or
> otherwise.  If they love their religion, they should be prepared to 
> give up
> their right to abortion and other freedoms.  It makes no sense to 
> save them
> against their own will, as long as those who want access to abortion 
> can get
> elsewhere.  Providing access to abortion to those who want to use this
> service (e.g. in the UK or even the north) is a better use of 
> resources than
> fighting for the church goers right to abortion.
> 
> Wojtek
> 
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