Upcoming Events

Antrim | Miscellaneous

no events match your query!

New Events

Antrim

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link ?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty

Anti-Empire >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link News Round-Up Sat Nov 30, 2024 01:30 | Toby Young
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link ?Ulez Architect? and 20mph Zone Supporter Appointed New Transport Secretary Fri Nov 29, 2024 17:38 | Will Jones
One of the 'architects of Ulez' and a supporter of 20mph zones has been appointed as the new Transport Secretary?after Louise Haigh's resignation, raising fears the anti-car measures may become national policy.
The post ‘Ulez Architect’ and 20mph Zone Supporter Appointed New Transport Secretary appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Assisted Suicide Set to Be Legalised as MPs Back Bill Fri Nov 29, 2024 15:07 | Will Jones
MPs have voted in favour of legalising assisted suicide as Labour's massive majority allowed the legislation to clear its first hurdle in the House of Commons by 330 votes to 275.
The post Assisted Suicide Set to Be Legalised as MPs Back Bill appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Australia Passes Landmark Social Media Ban for Under-16s Fri Nov 29, 2024 13:43 | Rebekah Barnett
Australia is the first country to ban social media for under-16s after a landmark bill passed that critics have warned is rushed and a Trojan horse for Government Digital ID as everyone must now verify their age.
The post Australia Passes Landmark Social Media Ban for Under-16s appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Is Banning the Burps of Bullocks Worth Risking Our Bollocks? Fri Nov 29, 2024 11:32 | Ben Pile
Is banning the burps of bullocks worth risking our bollocks? That the question posed by the decision to give Bovaer to cows to 'save the planet', says Ben Pile, after evidence suggests a possible risk to male fertility.
The post Is Banning the Burps of Bullocks Worth Risking Our Bollocks? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?110 Fri Nov 29, 2024 15:01 | en

offsite link Verbal ceasefire in Lebanon Fri Nov 29, 2024 14:52 | en

offsite link Russia Prepares to Respond to the Armageddon Wanted by the Biden Administration ... Tue Nov 26, 2024 06:56 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?109 Fri Nov 22, 2024 14:00 | en

offsite link Joe Biden and Keir Starmer authorize NATO to guide ATACMS and Storm Shadows mis... Fri Nov 22, 2024 13:41 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Is Iris Robinson from planet mars?

category antrim | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis author Sunday July 20, 2008 18:41author by Sean Matthews(personal capacity) - Belfast WSM Report this post to the editors

spot the difference?
scary stuff.....
scary stuff.....

Christianity (like religion in general) "contains nothing dangerous to the regime of authority and wealth; it stands for self-denial and self-abnegation, for penance and regret, and is absolutely inert in the face of every [in]dignity, every outrage imposed upon mankind........ religion is the conspiracy of ignorance against reason, of darkness against light, of submission and slavery against independence and freedom; of the denial of strength and beauty, against the affirmation of the joy and glory of life." "(Emma Goldman)

It seems that DUP MLA Irish Robinson and sections of our local ruling class particular the Democratic Unionist Party have more in common with the Afghan Taliban or mad mullahs in Iran or Saudi Arabia than the British Army these days.....
In her latest outburst during a heated debate on the rights to abortion with journalist Eamonn McCann on the popular Nolan Show Iris claimed,
“Government has a responsibility to uphold God’s law morally...”
Apart from the fact that the bible and other religious texts such as the Koran is a half-cooked gibberish of fairy tales and riddled with inconsistencies where you can find a justification for everything from the stoning to death of women to slavery: such is God’s law.. Tell me Iris, where were you during the last 30 years and what God is she referring to as there are several from the God of Allah, to Judaism, Buddha and Christainity even Satan the free-thinker...?
We often hear from our political class and the media about the ‘decline of morality’ and thus the need for the church to impose manners and their moral code. I don’t think I need to remind readers of phase in which Government upheld God’s law and we don’t need to go far from the Madeline laundries or concentration camps in the south in which thousands of women were forced into harsh labour camps, sexual abuse and, when women had no access to contraception or when our parks where closed on a Sunday and the list goes on. The multi-national company called the Church (particular Catholicism) has served to justify and excuse repression, rape and plunder to every tyrant from the absolute divine right to rule by kings and Queens to the reign of Franco and Mussolini. I’m sure you get the picture.......
The truth is Iris and the religious zealots who harass pedestrians every day are clinging to a dying breed and the sooner we kick the priest and nuns out of our schools, hospitals etc the better. Recent trends suggest that society in the north is becoming increasingly more secular according to the recent Young Life and Times Survey in 2007 in which twice as many young people compared to 5 years ago claimed they did not belong to either of the main religious blocks in the North. Another survey, conducted for the Evangelical Alliance and Iona Institute in October 2007 based on 10 questions about the bible and church asking 1,018 people also supports this trend and even the perception that the North is more religious than the south! According to Stephen Cave of the Evangelical Alliance N.Ireland a group which Iris has much in common with, said, “The results threw serious doubt on the claim that we are a Christian country.”(Irish News, 10/12/2007, p3) If the religious zealots are saying this surely there must be some truth in the matter!
Whilst a firm believer in the freedom to religion and worship as a private matter as long as it does not infringe on the liberty of others. However, we must not be naive in thinking that our Churches and religious shrines will be turned over tomorrow and its riches and wealth being used for something constructive and useful such as social centres and to ease the burden on homelessness and access to affordable social housing or ignore the fact that apart from anything people still tend to cling onto religion as a ‘badge of identity’. Such a revolutionary transformation of society will first require building on common class interests, free, equal access to abortion on demand and full reproductive rights, complete separation of church and state and then we can move onto the issue of sending Iris Robinson and the Government to the claws of the Taliban where they can fight it out amongst themselves. Surely that would be a lasting testament to the bible.......

Written by someone who lost his faith along time ago......For this I sincerely apologise and for all those religious zealots out there I will not be asking for the priest on my death bed....

"No theory, no ready-made system, no book that has ever been written will save the world. I cleave to no system. I am a true seeker” Michael Bakunin

what do they have in common?
what do they have in common?

Is this the devil in disguise?
Is this the devil in disguise?

not again please.....
not again please.....

please sir......
please sir......

author by whatmeworry? - nonepublication date Sat Jul 26, 2008 09:02author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Sean, we are evolving from all that stuff. Until recently we white trash needed to be told what to think, that's all. And was that the same Eamon McCann who, on George Best's death, obsessed about what sub-branch of religion the Bests "belonged" to? As if George cared about it....

author by Scepticpublication date Sat Jul 26, 2008 17:36author address author phone Report this post to the editors

This is anti catholic ranting though in fact Iris Robinson is not a catholic. It is itself a fascistic piece in its intolerance and whipping up of hatred against an identifiable grouping. Note the idea of homosexuality being a normal lifestyle is a very recent one though you might take it for granted so much that you regard someone who holds Iris’s views as being from Mars. It is also a very widespread idea as can be seen in the resistance of African churches to the pro gay trends in the west. Opposition to these trends is also not just a Christian idea – it is common to Islam, Judaism and the oriental faiths also. By all means lets have a debate on gay issues but not just to traduce faith and keep in mind that the idea of gay liberation is a relative and radical novelty even though it might have been a mainstream view for all of you life. It’s unlikely to have been the case in your parents time. One does not have to be a biblical literalist to have doubts about gay liberation though if one is same there is little choice as it is roundly condemned in the scriptures.

author by whatmeworry?publication date Sun Jul 27, 2008 08:34author address author phone Report this post to the editors

You're right, Sceptic, some of us have decided to do without other peoples' scriptures. Strange to say I put Iris and the church in much the same camp, but I can also see why a lot of Ulster people would find that hard to believe.

author by Bongopublication date Sun Jul 27, 2008 14:50author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Until the second half of the twentieth century homosexuality was considered 'deviant' and sociology textbooks conventionally included it in chapters on deviancy. Why did "the conventional wisdom" of the ages do a U-turn from the 1970s onwards, beginning in North America?

author by Johnpublication date Sun Jul 27, 2008 17:43author address author phone Report this post to the editors

"Whilst a firm believer in the freedom to religion and worship as a private matter as long as it does not infringe on the liberty of others"
What is hard to understand?

It was actually written in a personal capacity. There is no love lost with the church and religion and so?

author by lulupublication date Wed Jul 30, 2008 17:49author address author phone Report this post to the editors

A lot of religious rules have their origin in practical matters of hygiene & resources - until very recently, we were all told to breed as much as possible to keep 'our' numbers up, less affluent people had difficulty accessing family planning, & non-breeders were seen as deviant, unless they were in the cloth of the Church. Now population is outstripping the earth's ability to supply us, is it just a coincidence that homosexual men & women are less persecuted?
The likes of I Robinson are more bigots than disciples of Christ: 'Let him without sin cast the 1st stone!'

author by jennypublication date Fri Aug 22, 2008 19:17author address author phone Report this post to the editors

a certain amount of homophobia is natural to make hetrosexuals shag each other and propogate the species, it'll probably always be around

author by Edpublication date Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:25author address author phone Report this post to the editors

People like Iris Robinson have their uses.
They remind us of the past we are trying to leave behind.
They remind us that we have some way to go before achieving acceptance and tollerance for alternative lifestyles.
They remind us that there are people still in this country who have a severe lack of IQ as they vote people like her into power.
They keep us active, challenging our beliefs, our ideals and give us a reason we take to the streets, write to the papers and post on the websites to protest against the injustices in this world.
They help the activists stay active and remind us of who we really are.
Thanks Iris!

author by Spinning Quicklypublication date Mon Aug 25, 2008 20:21author address author phone Report this post to the editors

What has Mars done that deserves connection with Iris Robinson???

author by Nicolapublication date Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:55author address author phone Report this post to the editors

click on the link-
http://www.nobeliefs.com/nazis.htm

Related Link: http://www.nobeliefs.com/nazis.htm
author by Tom McCarrickpublication date Tue Sep 01, 2009 20:40author email tmccar at gmail dot comauthor address author phone Report this post to the editors

You say the Bible is "riddled with inconsistencies."
Name one.

Psalm 12:6-8:
6. The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

Related Link: http://kingjbible.com/psalms/12.htm
Number of comments per page
  
 
© 2001-2024 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy