Remember these scenes of jubilant Irish youth celebrating the Repeal of the Eighth Amendment? Of course you do. It was reported in late May 2018 like this: ‘There was no subdued atmosphere in Dublin Castle. At one point, it felt like the place was going to take off, such was the noise, the excitement and the sense that we were witnessing something life-changing for this country.’
You remember Ireland’s Eighth Amendment, the pro-life constitutional amendment that required the State to protect the life of the unborn child? Well, on that day the Irish really stuck it to the Catholic Church (the same generation, by the way, that was largely protected from being butchered in the womb by the Eighth Amendment). They repealed it, tore it up, chucked in the dumpster-fire. They weren’t going to live under Catholic tyranny any more. No, Sir.
Whom do you want me to release for you, Health Minister Simon Harris asked the crowd. Barabbas, came the reply. (I might be taking liberties with the reporting there, but they were exactly the kind of crowd that would do that sort of thing.)
Anyway, that repeal thing has gone well. I don’t really know why I’m thinking about it just because Ireland is now in its second near total lockdown. Simon Harris is still in the government – the same guy who had his name chanted by the aforementioned crowd for granting their ‘reproductive liberty’ is now helping to restrict pretty much every other liberty going. The latest lockdown will last at least six weeks, although schools will stay open, for now.
You just can’t get a crowd like the old Repeal crowd any more: not at GAA clubs, not in bars, not at pop concerts and not the one baying for the blood of the unborn child. They are a long way from that, I’d wager.
If I was religious, which I am, I’d say none of this is coincidence. Speaking of coincidences, did you know that the number of abortions carried in the first year after the referendum was – wait for it – 6,666. No, that’s not a coincidence either.
Yes, the Irish no longer live in a theocracy (as they liked to call it) but they sure are invested in the Covid-ocracy. They will no longer be told who they can sleep with, but they will be told if they can go to work, to the cinema (no chance) who they can have lunch with (no one outside their family) or whether they can go further than 5km from their homes for exercise only (that’s also a no.)
It’s a type of liberty, I guess, the liberty to stay at home and do only what the government lets you do, which thanks to the repeal of the Eighth Amendment will at least include the right to end the life of your unborn child.
I think I said at the time, it is perhaps one thing to see such a ‘right’ as a necessary evil, but actually to cheer it on – well, that’s just indecent; arguably demonic. That kind of thinking, well, it might just not sit right with the Creator.
