Dear Sir... Readers' Views (08/10/16)
Insulting Catholics is no way for a TD to behave
I am sure those of us in Dublin 6 who voted for Kate O’Connell TD find her ignorance and arrogance quite stunning.
She seems ignorant of the fact that abortion is the willful killing of the unborn and that all human life is sacred.
She seems ignorant of the fact that Archbishop Martin, as Primate of Ireland, has the right, indeed the duty to remind politicians and all of us that abortion is “gravely morally wrong”.
No woman has the right to kill her unwanted child. She seems to forget that 95% of Irish people are Catholics, at least in name, and that insulting them is hardly a good way for a TD to behave.
Ms O’Connell’s hostility to Catholicism is evident and one wonders whether she is speaking on her own behalf or on behalf of the Government. She is, of course, entitled to her secularist viewpoint, but it is highly arrogant of her to claim that the Primate’s view on abortion is “irrelevant”. It is she who is irrelevant and I suggest that she join the left where her views are more likely to gain acceptance.
Zappone’s payment plan is unequal to parents
Katherine Zappone should consider her position as minister for children. She is a self-proclaimed champion of equality, but obviously that equality doesn’t extend to all the children of the nation, particularly children who are cared for by their own mothers in their own homes.
Minister Zappone wants to give €2,000 of taxpayers’ hard-earned money to a stranger for every child the stranger minds outside the home. Yes, €2,000 per child to a childcare facility, but nothing, not a cent, to the mother minding her child at home! She says she wants more mothers “working”. Surely she isn’t suggesting that at-home mothers do not work? Apart from blatant discrimination against mothers and their children, this policy is, I believe, repugnant to Article 41 (2.1 and 2.2.) of the Constitution of Ireland, and is contrary to the common good.
Babies are human from moment of conception
I disagree with your editorial writer (Tuesday 4 October 2016). The fact is that pro-life views are not confined to Roman Catholics. Many Protestants also believe that abortion is no less than cold blooded murder — that is, at least, if murder is the deliberate killing of an innocent and defenceless human being without even any pretence of a fair trial. In addition, one man wrote into The Irish Times a couple of years ago to state that he was a pro-life atheist!
I was brought up as the son of a Church of Ireland clergyman from Co Cork and I have since frequently attended services at Pentecostal, Baptist, Brethren, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran and other Churches, so I think that I am in touch with a wide range of Protestant opinion. I might add that that the late Rev Ian Paisley, who was so much opposed to several key Roman Catholic teachings, did not hesitate to state his opposition to abortion openly in the Westminster Parliament.
Many devout Protestants who are at all conservative in their religious views would also insist that these views — when they are based on God’s law in Scripture — must affect every area of their lives including the way they vote. In this they would largely agree with Dr Martin. A politician who is a true Protestant must therefore put God’s law before any party policy.
Many people will admit that a baby one minute old is just as fully human as it was one minute before birth. It is, in fact, impossible for doctors to point to any stage after conception where a change takes place that would make it any more human: Therefore, it must have been human from the start, especially since it is the genes which make it human and these were present from the moment of conception.
When I was growing up, I was told that no child under seven could be accused before the law of any offence. (This age of “legal responsibility” has since been raised.) How much more so must an unborn child be regarded as innocent and — above all — not liable to the death penalty which has, in any case, been abolished even for adults! In addition, an unborn child is even more defenceless and at the mercy of adults than any five or six year old. Thus it should be given even more protection and deliberately killing it has been rightly called “the foulest form of murder”.
Those who claim “fatal foetal abnormalities” as grounds for abortion are not up to date: The medical profession no longer recognises these as many babies thought unable to survive long have, in fact, been normal at birth or have survived well after birth.
In closing, may I stress that pro-choice spokespersons who claim that views like those of Dr Martin are “sectarian” either know nothing about the views of many Protestants or else are deliberately ignoring the inconvenient truth. Perhaps they are like the Nazi propagandists who believed that “a big enough lie repeated often enough will come to be regarded as the truth”!
Justice needed for Bethany survivors
Re: Minister Katherine Zappone’s announcement of bringing in the diggers to Galway for five weeks to try to get proof to make the case or not that 799 babies are buried in the area in unmarked graves. The State knew this 44 years ago and it was raised to them again in 2014, with the great work of Katherine Corless. We have all known about this around the world, the Irish State and the new commission have known about this crime against innocent babies, too much time has already been wasted in getting the truth.
The State and the Baby & Mother Home Commission of Enquiry must remember that the Protestant Bethany Home survivors are the only home that has done research and can back this up with evidence from FoI documents. Some 227 babies and children’s names are on a memorial for the world to see, with the date they lost their lives. We did not need a digger to prove this atrocity happened. It took 16 years to get the truth and for the State to recognise these children from the Bethany Home. They told us there were no records and did everything they could to stop us finding the truth for these innocent children.
We believe we should be entitled to a fast track redress, as the Magdeline laundries in 2012 were. We have provided all of the evidence and information, far more than the commission could ever provide, and no matter when they report back now, they can only tell us what we have all ready told them from the start , we believe we should have justice and closure. Now.
Ryder Cup will never be the same competition
It has arrived, after threatening to do so for a long time. The Golf Circus eventually blew into town in the USA last week, fully equipped with multimillionaire clowns. Parading down Fairways and across Greens while interacting with over-zealous supporters and winding up the volume due to their “hearing problems”. The biggest show on Golf’s sporting calendar, the Ryder Cup, was on with all the craic and an always improving TV script and performances to enhance its marketable value.
Those of us who enjoy sport, and the competition it can generate at various levels, will always warm to the best team or individual who finish with the winning accolades. even in the despair of suffering a loss sooner or later we accept and get on with it. Teams and individuals in certain sports and who make a living from their involvement are accustomed to the deafening noises that accompany their participation. the bigger the level of competition, the more money involved the more media exposure to generate the hype and interest. There are contrasts,for example, two indoor sports, ie darts and snooker. the latter would be competed in silence, with success applauded as deserved. Darts would not be the same without the robust behaved cheering of beer drinking supporters. This comparison can be illustrated across the whole range of sporting activity.
The arrival of big money TV has brought a new definition of entertainment, behaviour,and performance. Respectfully I suggest UFC leads the way in this area of proof. Well last week we saw the sacred game of golf knocking on the door of change in definitions. The Ryder Cup now has loud vocal aggression for those who play well in the opposite camp, wild convulsive cheering when the opposite camp make a mistake. Sporting silence and controlled applause has no place in the “modern Ryder Cup”. Captain Marvel gave a fantastic motivational speech to the USA team by informing them that Europe had all the big Competition trophies in their cupboards. Paul O’Connell’s speech was way down the ladder on his. Really what is with the “shades”, crying again.
Finally sport we all know is about money, even if you are not playing for it (Ryder Cup?) I am confident that those who turned up as clowns will revert to their highly professional code of ethics when they get back on their money-spinning tour cards. Hopefully, says the man who watches good golf.
A lot of people, outside participants, make a good living from sport. As Rupert Murdoch would say we create, you pay, all benefit. “Just get on with it”. The Ryder Cup will never be the same competition.
