{"id":13573,"date":"2016-03-30T22:37:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T22:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce-31426\/"},"modified":"2016-03-30T22:37:00","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T22:37:00","slug":"jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/03\/jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeremy Irons says he opposes abortion, easy divorce"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

London, England, Mar 30, 2016 \/ 04:37 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- In a recent interview with British daily The Guardian, renowned actor Jeremy Irons voiced his opposition to easy divorce and to abortion, which he said is a sin and \u201charms a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTake abortion,\u201d he told The Guardian's Catherine Shoard in an interview published March 24<\/a>. \u201cI believe women should be allowed to make the decision, but I also think the church is right to say it\u2019s a sin. Because sin is actions that harm us. Lying harms us. Abortion harms a woman \u2013 it\u2019s a tremendous mental attack, and physical, sometimes. But we seem to get that muddled. In a way, thank God the Catholic church does say we won\u2019t allow it, because otherwise nobody\u2019s saying that it\u2019s a sin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irons, 67, has been acting on the stage and in film and television since 1969. His breakout role was as Charles Ryder in the 1981 miniseries Brideshead Revisited<\/em>, and he voiced Scar in The Lion King<\/em>.<\/p>\n

He has won an Academy Award, a Tony, and an Emmy. He is currently cast as the lead in Eugene O'Neill's play Long Day's Journey into Night<\/em> at the Bristol Old Vic.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur society is based on a Christian structure,\u201d he told Shoard<\/a>. \u201cIf you take those religious tenets away, then anything goes and it will become terrible \u2013 and you usually get into trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

From there he spoke of adultery, saying that while it \u201cmight be very nice \u2026 finally it [expletive]s us up. And it [expletive]s up the structure of society.\u201d<\/p>\n

He affirmed the value of marriage, saying that \u201cyes, you can be in love and raise a family wonderfully by not being married, but actually marriage does give us a strength, because it\u2019s quite hard to get out of, and so it makes us fight more to keep it together. If divorce becomes dead easy \u2013 which it sort of has \u2013 then we don\u2019t have that backup. Because, for everybody, relationships are hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irons has himself been married twice: He was briefly married to Julie Hallam in 1969, and has been married to Sinead Cusack since 1978. Cusack and their two sons are Catholic.<\/p>\n

He has called his family Catholic, while adding that he doesn't often go to church<\/a>, though the Wall Street Journal in 2013 described him as \u201ca practicing Catholic.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Irons' interview with Shoard also touched on his sense of spirituality, with Irons stating his belief that \u201cinanimate objects have a spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also discussed his position against Western interventionism, noting that while Assad's regime in Syria \u201cdeals with the opposition with great cruelty \u2026 there are cruel people, as one sees from Isis, and you\u2019re not going to remove that part of nature from those fanatics at that stage of their civilising development.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also suggested that democracy and freedom may not have meaning in Syria: \u201cYet everybody \u2013 especially the Americans \u2013 seems to think the only way of life is theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irons went on to reflect on democracy in the U.S. itself, saying the current election cycle may signal democracy's end: \u201cIf democracy has become a gameshow where you vote for the one who makes you laugh most, or whatever, then we\u2019re not worthy to have the vote,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On previous occasions, Irons has also spoke out against both gay marriage and the death penalty.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

London, England, Mar 30, 2016 \/ 04:37 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- In a recent interview with British daily The Guardian, renowned actor Jeremy Irons voiced his opposition to easy divorce and to abortion, which he said is a sin and “harms a woman.”<\/p>\n

“Take abortion,” he told The Guardian’s Catherine Shoard in an interview published March 24<\/a>. “I believe women should be allowed to make the decision, but I also think the church is right to say it’s a sin. Because sin is actions that harm us. Lying harms us. Abortion harms a woman – it’s a tremendous mental attack, and physical, sometimes. But we seem to get that muddled. In a way, thank God the Catholic church does say we won’t allow it, because otherwise nobody’s saying that it’s a sin.”<\/p>\n

Irons, 67, has been acting on the stage and in film and television since 1969. His breakout role was as Charles Ryder in the 1981 miniseries Brideshead Revisited<\/em>, and he voiced Scar in The Lion King<\/em>.<\/p>\n

He has won an Academy Award, a Tony, and an Emmy. He is currently cast as the lead in Eugene O’Neill’s play Long Day’s Journey into Night<\/em> at the Bristol Old Vic.<\/p>\n

“Our society is based on a Christian structure,” he told Shoard<\/a>. “If you take those religious tenets away, then anything goes and it will become terrible – and you usually get into trouble.”<\/p>\n

From there he spoke of adultery, saying that while it “might be very nice … finally it [expletive]s us up. And it [expletive]s up the structure of society.”<\/p>\n

He affirmed the value of marriage, saying that “yes, you can be in love and raise a family wonderfully by not being married, but actually marriage does give us a strength, because it’s quite hard to get out of, and so it makes us fight more to keep it together. If divorce becomes dead easy – which it sort of has – then we don’t have that backup. Because, for everybody, relationships are hard.”<\/p>\n

Irons has himself been married twice: He was briefly married to Julie Hallam in 1969, and has been married to Sinead Cusack since 1978. Cusack and their two sons are Catholic.<\/p>\n

He has called his family Catholic, while adding that he doesn’t often go to church<\/a>, though the Wall Street Journal in 2013 described him as “a practicing Catholic.”<\/a><\/p>\n

Irons’ interview with Shoard also touched on his sense of spirituality, with Irons stating his belief that “inanimate objects have a spirit.”<\/p>\n

He also discussed his position against Western interventionism, noting that while Assad’s regime in Syria “deals with the opposition with great cruelty … there are cruel people, as one sees from Isis, and you’re not going to remove that part of nature from those fanatics at that stage of their civilising development.”<\/p>\n

He also suggested that democracy and freedom may not have meaning in Syria: “Yet everybody – especially the Americans – seems to think the only way of life is theirs.”<\/p>\n

Irons went on to reflect on democracy in the U.S. itself, saying the current election cycle may signal democracy’s end: “If democracy has become a gameshow where you vote for the one who makes you laugh most, or whatever, then we’re not worthy to have the vote,” he said.<\/p>\n

On previous occasions, Irons has also spoke out against both gay marriage and the death penalty.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe"],"yoast_head":"\nJeremy Irons says he opposes abortion, easy divorce<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"London, England, Mar 30, 2016 \/ 04:37 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- In a recent interview with British daily The Guardian, renowned actor Jeremy Irons voiced his opposition to easy divorce and to abortion, which he said is a sin and “harms a woman.” “Take abortion,” he told The Guardian's Catherine Shoard in an interview published March 24. “I believe women should be allowed to make the decision, but I also think the church is right to say it’s a sin. Because sin is actions that harm us. Lying harms us. Abortion harms a woman – it’s a tremendous mental attack, and physical, sometimes. But we seem to get that muddled. In a way, thank God the Catholic church does say we won’t allow it, because otherwise nobody’s saying that it’s a sin.” Irons, 67, has been acting on the stage and in film and television since 1969. His breakout role was as Charles Ryder in the 1981 miniseries Brideshead Revisited, and he voiced Scar in The Lion King. He has won an Academy Award, a Tony, and an Emmy. He is currently cast as the lead in Eugene O'Neill's play Long Day's Journey into Night at the Bristol Old Vic. “Our society is based on a Christian structure,” he told Shoard. “If you take those religious tenets away, then anything goes and it will become terrible – and you usually get into trouble.” From there he spoke of adultery, saying that while it “might be very nice … finally it s us up. And it s up the structure of society.” He affirmed the value of marriage, saying that “yes, you can be in love and raise a family wonderfully by not being married, but actually marriage does give us a strength, because it’s quite hard to get out of, and so it makes us fight more to keep it together. If divorce becomes dead easy – which it sort of has – then we don’t have that backup. Because, for everybody, relationships are hard.” Irons has himself been married twice: He was briefly married to Julie Hallam in 1969, and has been married to Sinead Cusack since 1978. Cusack and their two sons are Catholic. He has called his family Catholic, while adding that he doesn't often go to church, though the Wall Street Journal in 2013 described him as “a practicing Catholic.” Irons' interview with Shoard also touched on his sense of spirituality, with Irons stating his belief that “inanimate objects have a spirit.” He also discussed his position against Western interventionism, noting that while Assad's regime in Syria “deals with the opposition with great cruelty … there are cruel people, as one sees from Isis, and you’re not going to remove that part of nature from those fanatics at that stage of their civilising development.” He also suggested that democracy and freedom may not have meaning in Syria: “Yet everybody – especially the Americans – seems to think the only way of life is theirs.” Irons went on to reflect on democracy in the U.S. itself, saying the current election cycle may signal democracy's end: “If democracy has become a gameshow where you vote for the one who makes you laugh most, or whatever, then we’re not worthy to have the vote,” he said. On previous occasions, Irons has also spoke out against both gay marriage and the death penalty.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/03\/jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jeremy Irons says he opposes abortion, easy divorce\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"London, England, Mar 30, 2016 \/ 04:37 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- In a recent interview with British daily The Guardian, renowned actor Jeremy Irons voiced his opposition to easy divorce and to abortion, which he said is a sin and “harms a woman.” “Take abortion,” he told The Guardian's Catherine Shoard in an interview published March 24. “I believe women should be allowed to make the decision, but I also think the church is right to say it’s a sin. Because sin is actions that harm us. Lying harms us. Abortion harms a woman – it’s a tremendous mental attack, and physical, sometimes. But we seem to get that muddled. In a way, thank God the Catholic church does say we won’t allow it, because otherwise nobody’s saying that it’s a sin.” Irons, 67, has been acting on the stage and in film and television since 1969. His breakout role was as Charles Ryder in the 1981 miniseries Brideshead Revisited, and he voiced Scar in The Lion King. He has won an Academy Award, a Tony, and an Emmy. He is currently cast as the lead in Eugene O'Neill's play Long Day's Journey into Night at the Bristol Old Vic. “Our society is based on a Christian structure,” he told Shoard. “If you take those religious tenets away, then anything goes and it will become terrible – and you usually get into trouble.” From there he spoke of adultery, saying that while it “might be very nice … finally it s us up. And it s up the structure of society.” He affirmed the value of marriage, saying that “yes, you can be in love and raise a family wonderfully by not being married, but actually marriage does give us a strength, because it’s quite hard to get out of, and so it makes us fight more to keep it together. If divorce becomes dead easy – which it sort of has – then we don’t have that backup. Because, for everybody, relationships are hard.” Irons has himself been married twice: He was briefly married to Julie Hallam in 1969, and has been married to Sinead Cusack since 1978. Cusack and their two sons are Catholic. He has called his family Catholic, while adding that he doesn't often go to church, though the Wall Street Journal in 2013 described him as “a practicing Catholic.” Irons' interview with Shoard also touched on his sense of spirituality, with Irons stating his belief that “inanimate objects have a spirit.” He also discussed his position against Western interventionism, noting that while Assad's regime in Syria “deals with the opposition with great cruelty … there are cruel people, as one sees from Isis, and you’re not going to remove that part of nature from those fanatics at that stage of their civilising development.” He also suggested that democracy and freedom may not have meaning in Syria: “Yet everybody – especially the Americans – seems to think the only way of life is theirs.” Irons went on to reflect on democracy in the U.S. itself, saying the current election cycle may signal democracy's end: “If democracy has become a gameshow where you vote for the one who makes you laugh most, or whatever, then we’re not worthy to have the vote,” he said. On previous occasions, Irons has also spoke out against both gay marriage and the death penalty.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/03\/jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-30T22:37:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Jeremy_Irons_Credit_LaCameraChiara_via_wwwshutterstockcom_CNA.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/03\/jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/03\/jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce\/\",\"name\":\"Jeremy Irons says he opposes abortion, easy divorce\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-30T22:37:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-30T22:37:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"London, England, Mar 30, 2016 \/ 04:37 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- In a recent interview with British daily The Guardian, renowned actor Jeremy Irons voiced his opposition to easy divorce and to abortion, which he said is a sin and “harms a woman.” “Take abortion,” he told The Guardian's Catherine Shoard in an interview published March 24. “I believe women should be allowed to make the decision, but I also think the church is right to say it’s a sin. Because sin is actions that harm us. Lying harms us. Abortion harms a woman – it’s a tremendous mental attack, and physical, sometimes. But we seem to get that muddled. In a way, thank God the Catholic church does say we won’t allow it, because otherwise nobody’s saying that it’s a sin.” Irons, 67, has been acting on the stage and in film and television since 1969. His breakout role was as Charles Ryder in the 1981 miniseries Brideshead Revisited, and he voiced Scar in The Lion King. He has won an Academy Award, a Tony, and an Emmy. He is currently cast as the lead in Eugene O'Neill's play Long Day's Journey into Night at the Bristol Old Vic. “Our society is based on a Christian structure,” he told Shoard. “If you take those religious tenets away, then anything goes and it will become terrible – and you usually get into trouble.” From there he spoke of adultery, saying that while it “might be very nice … finally it s us up. And it s up the structure of society.” He affirmed the value of marriage, saying that “yes, you can be in love and raise a family wonderfully by not being married, but actually marriage does give us a strength, because it’s quite hard to get out of, and so it makes us fight more to keep it together. If divorce becomes dead easy – which it sort of has – then we don’t have that backup. Because, for everybody, relationships are hard.” Irons has himself been married twice: He was briefly married to Julie Hallam in 1969, and has been married to Sinead Cusack since 1978. Cusack and their two sons are Catholic. He has called his family Catholic, while adding that he doesn't often go to church, though the Wall Street Journal in 2013 described him as “a practicing Catholic.” Irons' interview with Shoard also touched on his sense of spirituality, with Irons stating his belief that “inanimate objects have a spirit.” He also discussed his position against Western interventionism, noting that while Assad's regime in Syria “deals with the opposition with great cruelty … there are cruel people, as one sees from Isis, and you’re not going to remove that part of nature from those fanatics at that stage of their civilising development.” He also suggested that democracy and freedom may not have meaning in Syria: “Yet everybody – especially the Americans – seems to think the only way of life is theirs.” Irons went on to reflect on democracy in the U.S. itself, saying the current election cycle may signal democracy's end: “If democracy has become a gameshow where you vote for the one who makes you laugh most, or whatever, then we’re not worthy to have the vote,” he said. 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Because sin is actions that harm us. Lying harms us. Abortion harms a woman – it’s a tremendous mental attack, and physical, sometimes. But we seem to get that muddled. In a way, thank God the Catholic church does say we won’t allow it, because otherwise nobody’s saying that it’s a sin.” Irons, 67, has been acting on the stage and in film and television since 1969. His breakout role was as Charles Ryder in the 1981 miniseries Brideshead Revisited, and he voiced Scar in The Lion King. He has won an Academy Award, a Tony, and an Emmy. He is currently cast as the lead in Eugene O'Neill's play Long Day's Journey into Night at the Bristol Old Vic. “Our society is based on a Christian structure,” he told Shoard. “If you take those religious tenets away, then anything goes and it will become terrible – and you usually get into trouble.” From there he spoke of adultery, saying that while it “might be very nice … finally it s us up. And it s up the structure of society.” He affirmed the value of marriage, saying that “yes, you can be in love and raise a family wonderfully by not being married, but actually marriage does give us a strength, because it’s quite hard to get out of, and so it makes us fight more to keep it together. If divorce becomes dead easy – which it sort of has – then we don’t have that backup. Because, for everybody, relationships are hard.” Irons has himself been married twice: He was briefly married to Julie Hallam in 1969, and has been married to Sinead Cusack since 1978. Cusack and their two sons are Catholic. He has called his family Catholic, while adding that he doesn't often go to church, though the Wall Street Journal in 2013 described him as “a practicing Catholic.” Irons' interview with Shoard also touched on his sense of spirituality, with Irons stating his belief that “inanimate objects have a spirit.” He also discussed his position against Western interventionism, noting that while Assad's regime in Syria “deals with the opposition with great cruelty … there are cruel people, as one sees from Isis, and you’re not going to remove that part of nature from those fanatics at that stage of their civilising development.” He also suggested that democracy and freedom may not have meaning in Syria: “Yet everybody – especially the Americans – seems to think the only way of life is theirs.” Irons went on to reflect on democracy in the U.S. itself, saying the current election cycle may signal democracy's end: “If democracy has become a gameshow where you vote for the one who makes you laugh most, or whatever, then we’re not worthy to have the vote,” he said. On previous occasions, Irons has also spoke out against both gay marriage and the death penalty.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/03\/jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jeremy Irons says he opposes abortion, easy divorce","og_description":"London, England, Mar 30, 2016 \/ 04:37 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- In a recent interview with British daily The Guardian, renowned actor Jeremy Irons voiced his opposition to easy divorce and to abortion, which he said is a sin and “harms a woman.” “Take abortion,” he told The Guardian's Catherine Shoard in an interview published March 24. “I believe women should be allowed to make the decision, but I also think the church is right to say it’s a sin. Because sin is actions that harm us. Lying harms us. Abortion harms a woman – it’s a tremendous mental attack, and physical, sometimes. But we seem to get that muddled. In a way, thank God the Catholic church does say we won’t allow it, because otherwise nobody’s saying that it’s a sin.” Irons, 67, has been acting on the stage and in film and television since 1969. His breakout role was as Charles Ryder in the 1981 miniseries Brideshead Revisited, and he voiced Scar in The Lion King. He has won an Academy Award, a Tony, and an Emmy. He is currently cast as the lead in Eugene O'Neill's play Long Day's Journey into Night at the Bristol Old Vic. “Our society is based on a Christian structure,” he told Shoard. “If you take those religious tenets away, then anything goes and it will become terrible – and you usually get into trouble.” From there he spoke of adultery, saying that while it “might be very nice … finally it s us up. And it s up the structure of society.” He affirmed the value of marriage, saying that “yes, you can be in love and raise a family wonderfully by not being married, but actually marriage does give us a strength, because it’s quite hard to get out of, and so it makes us fight more to keep it together. If divorce becomes dead easy – which it sort of has – then we don’t have that backup. Because, for everybody, relationships are hard.” Irons has himself been married twice: He was briefly married to Julie Hallam in 1969, and has been married to Sinead Cusack since 1978. Cusack and their two sons are Catholic. He has called his family Catholic, while adding that he doesn't often go to church, though the Wall Street Journal in 2013 described him as “a practicing Catholic.” Irons' interview with Shoard also touched on his sense of spirituality, with Irons stating his belief that “inanimate objects have a spirit.” He also discussed his position against Western interventionism, noting that while Assad's regime in Syria “deals with the opposition with great cruelty … there are cruel people, as one sees from Isis, and you’re not going to remove that part of nature from those fanatics at that stage of their civilising development.” He also suggested that democracy and freedom may not have meaning in Syria: “Yet everybody – especially the Americans – seems to think the only way of life is theirs.” Irons went on to reflect on democracy in the U.S. itself, saying the current election cycle may signal democracy's end: “If democracy has become a gameshow where you vote for the one who makes you laugh most, or whatever, then we’re not worthy to have the vote,” he said. On previous occasions, Irons has also spoke out against both gay marriage and the death penalty.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/03\/jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2016-03-30T22:37:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Jeremy_Irons_Credit_LaCameraChiara_via_wwwshutterstockcom_CNA.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/03\/jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/03\/jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce\/","name":"Jeremy Irons says he opposes abortion, easy divorce","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-03-30T22:37:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-30T22:37:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"London, England, Mar 30, 2016 \/ 04:37 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- In a recent interview with British daily The Guardian, renowned actor Jeremy Irons voiced his opposition to easy divorce and to abortion, which he said is a sin and “harms a woman.” “Take abortion,” he told The Guardian's Catherine Shoard in an interview published March 24. “I believe women should be allowed to make the decision, but I also think the church is right to say it’s a sin. Because sin is actions that harm us. Lying harms us. Abortion harms a woman – it’s a tremendous mental attack, and physical, sometimes. But we seem to get that muddled. In a way, thank God the Catholic church does say we won’t allow it, because otherwise nobody’s saying that it’s a sin.” Irons, 67, has been acting on the stage and in film and television since 1969. His breakout role was as Charles Ryder in the 1981 miniseries Brideshead Revisited, and he voiced Scar in The Lion King. He has won an Academy Award, a Tony, and an Emmy. He is currently cast as the lead in Eugene O'Neill's play Long Day's Journey into Night at the Bristol Old Vic. “Our society is based on a Christian structure,” he told Shoard. “If you take those religious tenets away, then anything goes and it will become terrible – and you usually get into trouble.” From there he spoke of adultery, saying that while it “might be very nice … finally it s us up. And it s up the structure of society.” He affirmed the value of marriage, saying that “yes, you can be in love and raise a family wonderfully by not being married, but actually marriage does give us a strength, because it’s quite hard to get out of, and so it makes us fight more to keep it together. If divorce becomes dead easy – which it sort of has – then we don’t have that backup. Because, for everybody, relationships are hard.” Irons has himself been married twice: He was briefly married to Julie Hallam in 1969, and has been married to Sinead Cusack since 1978. Cusack and their two sons are Catholic. He has called his family Catholic, while adding that he doesn't often go to church, though the Wall Street Journal in 2013 described him as “a practicing Catholic.” Irons' interview with Shoard also touched on his sense of spirituality, with Irons stating his belief that “inanimate objects have a spirit.” He also discussed his position against Western interventionism, noting that while Assad's regime in Syria “deals with the opposition with great cruelty … there are cruel people, as one sees from Isis, and you’re not going to remove that part of nature from those fanatics at that stage of their civilising development.” He also suggested that democracy and freedom may not have meaning in Syria: “Yet everybody – especially the Americans – seems to think the only way of life is theirs.” Irons went on to reflect on democracy in the U.S. itself, saying the current election cycle may signal democracy's end: “If democracy has become a gameshow where you vote for the one who makes you laugh most, or whatever, then we’re not worthy to have the vote,” he said. On previous occasions, Irons has also spoke out against both gay marriage and the death penalty.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/03\/jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/03\/jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/03\/jeremy-irons-says-he-opposes-abortion-easy-divorce\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jeremy Irons says he opposes abortion, easy divorce"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13573\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}