There is nothing quite as hellbent as a grave sin unleashed, publicly encouraged, and culturally affirmed

In Ireland, the old is out and the out are in


by Carl E. Olson

Current events are a reminder that there is nothing quite as hellbent—quite literally—as a grave sin unleashed, publicly encouraged, and culturally affirmed


The Reuters' headline declares that the old is out and the out are in: "Gay Ireland hails 'a new Republic' as same-sex marriage approved".

This quote, a few paragraphs into the piece, says even more:

"The amount of people who came out to vote is just such an emotional thing for us," said Fred Schelbaum, 48, standing with his civil partner Feargal Scott, 43, who he said he intended to marry.

"Up to now a lot of gay people felt they were tolerated in Ireland. Now we know that it's much more than that."

Yes, and it has long been about much more than "tolerance". But "tolerance" and "equality" have been the two rhetorical hammers constantly employed by the Reign of Gay, which has now claimed its most significant, high profile conquest. As expected,The New York Times is delighted that the good (gay) guys have crushed the nasty (Catholic) guys:

Ireland has become the first nation to approve same-sex marriage by a popular vote, sweeping aside the opposition of the Roman Catholic Church in a resounding victory Saturday for the gay rights movement and placing the country at the vanguard of social change.

Ah, who doesn't want to be "the vanguard of social change"? Change is good, as they say, although reasons for why change in general is good are often vague and reactionary, and the reasons for why this particular change--the wholesale celebration and installation of homosexuality as a social good--are built on the sands of sentimentality and subjectivism.

And yet most individuals and institutions, traversing the same tricky landscape, are unable to mount any sort of cogent response. For instance, here in the United States, the Boy Scouts have finally flown the white, er, rainbow flag:

The Boy Scouts of America must reverse its longstanding policy of excluding gay adult leaders or risk unfavorable legal decisions that could doom the historic organization, its president, Robert Gates, warned his group’s national leadership Thursday. “We must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be,” said Gates, a former Pentagon and CIA chief. “The status quo in our movement’s membership standards cannot be sustained.”

As head of the Pentagon, Mr. Gates may have been able to help wage wars against foreign powers and terrorists and such, but he is reduced to a meek prisoner of war in the face of being shamed, slandered, bullied, and vilified. The secular leaders of the West, in short, can manage the construction and operation of weapons of stunning technological complexity, but are incapable of defending the foundations of Western civilization: marriage, family, and properly ordered sexuality. That is hardly a new problem, however; it has been the case for decades, with only a few scattered exceptions.

But we expect secular leaders to be secular; that's hardly newsworthy. What is far more distressing, if not exactly shocking, is the equivocation, even capitulation, of some priests and prelates:

Before the vote, the Bishop of Derry, Rt Rev Donal McKeown, said in a radio interview: "I would hate for people to vote no for bad reasons, for sort of bigoted reasons, for nasty reasons, for bullying reasons. People have to make up their own mind, and I'm quite happy that they can do that in front of God, be it yes or be it no."

Fr Tony Flannery, a Roman Catholic priest in favour of the same-sex marriage legislation, told Christian Today that the vote was "amazing".

He said: "This is a conclusive indication that the power of the bishops in Ireland is gone. Even the older generation is not listening to them any more. The young generation came out in force; some even came home from abroad to vote. A new, and very different, Ireland has become a reality today."

Yes, a "new reality", but not one that is really honest about reality. However, what is happening shouldn't surprise us, even if the rapidity of the Reign's spread is startling. "Nor can we ignore the social, political and juridical changes taking place in our country," said Gates, "changes taking place at a pace over this past year no one anticipated.” It's a good reminder that there is nothing quite as hellbent—quite literally—as a grave sin unleashed, publicly encouraged, and culturally affirmed. We need only to look at contraception, abortion, cohabitation, and a myriad of related ills.

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