{"id":2796,"date":"2012-01-30T23:38:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-30T23:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/01\/irish-secularist-fires-the-first-salvo.html"},"modified":"2012-01-30T23:38:00","modified_gmt":"2012-01-30T23:38:00","slug":"irish-secularist-fires-the-first-salvo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/01\/irish-secularist-fires-the-first-salvo.html","title":{"rendered":"Irish secularist fires the first salvo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Turns out simply preaching the Gospel from a Christian point of view is considered hate speech<\/a> by some.\u00a0 Naturally.\u00a0 Hate is, of course, a relative term.\u00a0 Hence the obvious problem with labelling certain things hate for the purpose of making them illegal.\u00a0 In this case, an Irish Bishop, Philip Boyce, has been accused of \u2018hate speech\u2019 by one of Ireland\u2019s leading proponents for the eradication of religion<\/strike> separation of church and state, one John Colgan.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because, according to the complaint, the good Bishop Boyce dared say the following: <\/p>\n

\u201c[The Church in Ireland is being] attacked from outside by the arrows of a secular and godless culture.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the distinguishing mark of Christian believers is the fact they have a future; it is not that they know all the details that await them, but they know in general terms that their life will not end in emptiness.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Uh huh.\u00a0 Well, if there\u2019s a better reason to come crashing down on a Bishop\u2019s right to preach within his religious community than this horrible deluge of hatred, I don\u2019t know what it is. <\/p>\n

Again folks, it isn\u2019t like we\u2019re living in some dream state, wondering what Lennon\u2019s world without religion will look like, and being forgiven for imagining a Utopian paradise of love, harmony, Rolls Royces<\/strike>, and consequence-free sex.\u00a0 Instead, thanks to history coming and going, we see that so far whenever atheism and the complete eradication of religion from society has been attempted as the prime directive for social order, we end up getting something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Photo of a Soviet Gulag<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Christians of the West be warned.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Turns out simply preaching the Gospel from a Christian point of view is considered hate speech by some.\u00a0 Naturally.\u00a0 Hate is, of course, a relative term.\u00a0 Hence the obvious problem with labelling certain things hate for the purpose of making them illegal.\u00a0 In this case, an Irish Bishop, Philip Boyce, has been accused of \u2018hate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nIrish secularist fires the first salvo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Turns out simply preaching the Gospel from a Christian point of view is considered hate speech by some.  Naturally.  Hate is, of course, a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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