A new opinion poll from the US lists some of the reasons why people abandon ‘organised religion’. These are the so-called ‘nones’, as in “my religion is ‘none’”. If a similar poll was done here, the reasons given for abandoning religion would be similar I am sure. The reasons range from the hypocrisy of some...
At the Rose of Tralee contest last week, Sydney Rose, Brianna Parkins, called for a referendum on abortion and then appeared on Twitter wearing a ‘Repeal the 8th’ T-shirt. David Quinn of The Iona Institute appeared on the Pat Kenny Show and the Last Word on Friday to argue that light entertainment shows like the...
Politics is unavoidably a clash of values. We see this in the decision by some French municipalities to stop Muslim women wearing the body-covering ‘burkini’ to the beach. Should Muslim women be free to wear the burkini, or is wearing it inherently oppressive? Is France protecting itself against ‘excessive multi-culturalism’, or is the ban an...
Larry Siedentop is a secular liberal but unlike many secular liberals he has a benign view of Christianity and its influence on Western culture. In fact, he is willing to point out that Western liberalism and its very strong emphasis on individual freedom and equality ultimately finds its origins in Christianity. To this end, Siedentop,...
The term ‘fatal foetal abnormality’ has become one of the most used ones in the debate over whether we should retain, repeal or amend the pro-life provision in our Constitution, that is to say, the ‘Eighth amendment’. The phrase ‘fatal foetal abnormality’ is controversial. It seems to dehumanise the child in the womb and it...
C.S. Lewis was one of the great popular Christian writers of the 20th century. His books still sell extremely well and the most popular of his explicitly Christian books remains ‘Mere Christianity’. ‘Mere Christianity’ is a fantastic introduction to Christianity and many people testify to how this book, and other writings of Lewis, either led...
Prof. Peter Singer of Princeton University, takes the pro-choice view to such an extreme that he even advocates infanticide under certain circumstances. Or does he? Recently he took part in a TV debate in his native Australia. During the debate Prof. Singer (PS) was challenged by a female audience member (AM) on his support for...
A draft proposal by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to reduce the two and a half hours allocated by primary schools each week to the teaching of religion is another attack on the rights of denominational schools, The Iona Institute says today in a press release. The proposal is a response to...
Paschal Donohoe is interviewed in the current issue of Hot Press. He ranges over many issues, including abortion, euthanasia and same-sex marriage. He supports repeal of the 8th amendment, is ambiguous about euthanasia, and is enthusiastic about gay marriage and critical of the Catholic Church’s attitude to same. Let’s look at what he has to...
New data from the Court Services show that women are more likely to ask for a separation, or a divorce, than men. This is in line with figures from the US and the UK. It begs the obvious question; why are they more likely to ask for a divorce or separation? Let’s look at the...
