The effective sacking of Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich for supporting traditional marriage continues to provoke reaction. The latest and most notable is a statement signed by supporters of same-sex marriage who believe that what happened to Eich is a step too far. The signatories believe that dissent from same-sex marriage must be permitted and the...
The CSO has just made available its annual reports on births, deaths and marriages covering the years 1864-2000. Looking at the marriage figures only, they tell us that Ireland’s marriage rate has been remarkably consistent over the period, consistently low that is. In 1864, the marriage rate per 1,000 of the population was 4.8. In...
The always worthwhile Theodore Dalrymple (pictured) has added his tuppence worth to the discussion about the de facto sacking of Mozilla’s Brendan Eich for donating to a campaign in favour of traditional marriage. He says that Eich fell victim to the notion that ‘repressive tolerance’ must not be tolerated. ‘Repressive tolerance’was a term coined by...
They call themselves a ‘throuple’ and they consist of three women who say they are ‘married’ to one another and are expecting a baby. A ‘throuple’, since you ask, is a variation on the word ‘couple’ but is made up of three people, not two. Two of the three women are married under Massachusetts State...
An alliance of public figures has accused British Prime Minister David Cameron of “fostering division” within the UK by claiming that Britain is still a “Christian country.” Writing a letter published in the Daily Telegraph, these intellectuals and politicians claimed that Cameron’s message will have “negative consequences for politics and society.” They go on: “At...
In a recent issue of The Irish Catholic I wrote a piece strongly criticising the de facto sacking of Brendan Eich as CEO of Mozilla. Eich was shown the front door because he once made a donation to a campaign in favour of traditional marriage. In turn it was pointed out to me on social...
Last week the Community Relations Council in Northern Ireland published its latest Peace Monitoring Report. This is designed to measure the extent to which Northern Ireland is progressing socially in what the report describes as a ‘post-conflict situation’. The report covers many aspects of society, but one in particular is relevant to the ongoing debate on the future of education in...
A new survey of birth ratios has been launched by the British government recently, “amid fears that sex-selective abortions are taking place in Britain.” Earl Howe, a UK health minister, “wants to ‘monitor the situation’ and ‘remain vigilant’ following evidence that some doctors in the UK are carrying out selective abortions.” This is old news....
On Wednesday the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice heard from groups interested in Alan Shatter’s ‘Brave New World’ family law reform. With the exception of Family and Life every group broadly supports his extremely radical and far-reaching law. Also on Wednesday I came across this blog by Mollie Hemingway at the Federalist. She puts some very...
Slate magazine is famous for publishing contrarian writing, and the piece they recently published by Reihan Salam certainly fits the bill. What, after all, is more contrarian than saying “me, and people like me, should pay far more tax?” The category Salam belongs to, and the one which he believes should be taxed more heavily,...
