I’m reliably informed that in Ireland, even if you don’t believe in God, you’re still regarded as Catholic and a Christian – you can become a ‘lapsed’ Catholic, but that’s as far as it goes. I think British people find it difficult to appreciate just how ingrained Christianity is in Irish culture, where nationality and religion are blurred to the point where it’s almost impossible to make a distinction between the two – to be Irish is to be Catholic. Full separation of Church and State has a long way to go (although that’s still true here, to a lesser extent).

A huge story over there is the attempt to bring about a new and rather severe Blasphemy law:

Dermot Ahern, Ireland’s justice minister, has proposed the legislation, which will outlaw anything seen as “grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion”. The legislation also includes fines of up to €100,000 for “blasphemous libel”, a move that Nugent and Atheist Ireland describe as “criminalising free speech”.

Ouch. See, Ireland’s been through something of a shock in the last 20 years, when revelations about child abuse scandals by priests rocked the Nation’s trust in the clergy, and began – in hindsight – what appears to have been a rather hasty march towards a more secular society. But the Establishment, it seems, is fighting back.

Check out this letter to the Irish Independent, entitled, “Label Atheism a Though Crime.” I thought it might be a piss-take but apparently not:

In the interests of rationality and common sense, the legislation should go further and label atheism a thought crime.

Rationality and common sense? Jesus titty f**king Christ!! It makes me sad to see this sort of thing, but obviously there’s limits to how much me, as a Brit, can comment on Irish affairs (there’s baggage, we all know this, however I do have a secularist, anti-nationalist Irish housemate foaming about all this!). I will just say that I hope saner heads will prevail and Ireland’s ‘enlightenment’ isn’t brought to a complete stand-still. Separation of Church and State is the only way you can give equal respect to all religions.