ACLI provide Guest Comment in “Jurist” :Irish referendum on blasphemy law seeks to remove morality from constitution
Irish referendum on blasphemy law seeks to remove morality from constitution.
 Saturday, March 20, 2010
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The moral code on which the Irish system is presently based is Catholic. Of that one need look no further that the preamble to the Irish Constitution, as written by Taoiseach Eamon De Valera, to be persuaded:
“In the Name of the most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be referred, We, the people of Eire, Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord Jesus Christ, Who sustained our fathers through centuries of trial….”
The requirement in the Constitution that blasphemy “shall be punishable” is part and parcel of the jurisprudential framework of the Irish State. One cannot simply remove parts of the Constitution at will, blind as to the actual effect this will have on society and the function of the law. Simply put, if one believes that murder is wrong because it offends against God’s law, what happens to that belief if God is effectively removed from the law, so to speak, and nothing is holding up the legal system in His place?
Lord Patrick Devlin stated “A State which refuses to enforce Christian beliefs has lost the right to enforce Christian morals.” The crime of blasphemy is a cornerstone in the Christian legal system, which is precisely why some wish for its removal. However if they succeed the State will have to justify the criminal law and the punishments it hands down in some way other than by morality.”
Irish HSE Remove Statue of Christ Citing “Health and Safety” Issues.
No Crucifix No Christ
The Health Service Executive (HSE) in Ireland has removed a statue of The Sacred Heart which has adorned the top of Killarney Community Hospital for over 70 years. The HSE cites the ubiquitous “health and safety” concerns for its decision, however locals, including the priests “believe the decision is based more on political correctness than structural instability.” (This is not the first statue to be removed)
They could well be right, and thanks to the Lisbon Treaty no matter how much they complain they may not get their statue replaced.
How so?
In November 2009 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that an Italian school was infringing human rights by displaying crucifixes. ( The case, Lautsi v. Italy, is currently being appealed, although the Spanish socialist government has been quick to adopt the ruling, on the 2nd of December a Spanish parliamentary commission approved by 20 votes to 16 a motion calling on Madrid to implement the ruling by the ECHR).
The Lisbon Treaty had just been passed by the Yes vote in Ireland at the time of this ruling. The Lisbon Treaty contains a Charter of Fundamental Rights, which provides at sections 53 and 54 that where an ECHR ruling touches on a matter considered in the Charter, (see articles 10 and 14 of the Charter for provisions equivalent to those considered in the Italian Crucifix case) then the Charter shall be interpreted in accordance with the said ECHR ruling. As the Charter is now EU law then it follows that the Crucifix case is now EU law.
Consequently thanks to the Lisbon Treaty it can be claimed that this decision is now law throughout all member states of the EU, and that includes Ireland.
Is the HSE silently implementing the Lisbon Treaty by removing Religious Objects?
It is unlikely that the Paper Tiger that is the EU would last long if it outright tried to enforce this ruling and all the other little powers it has obtained, however it will, via its supporters, start to silently impose the new laws. How many other religious objects are quietly being removed by state and other bodies for “health and safety” reasons?
It might be that the only jobs so far created by the Lisbon Treaty are for demolition workers with a speciality in religious artefacts.
NOTES:
1. Crucifix Case rested on the following Convention provisions dealt with by the ECHR:
Violation of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (right to education)
examined jointly with Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion)
of the European Convention on Human Rights
2. The Charter of Fundamental Rights was drafted in 2000 but was given legal authority by the Lisbon Treaty on 1st December 2009.
3. Section 53 of the Charter refers to the “Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedons” now called the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Generally referred to as the Convention, this brough into being the European Court of Human Rights (also ECHR).
4. Section 10 and 14 of the Charter refer to:
10: Freedom of Thought Conscience and Religion
14: Right to Education
zhǐ lǎohǔ Paper Tiger
Persecution of Catholics in Vietnam by Socialist/Communist regime.
Vietnam Government
Blows Up Crucifix
Parish Under Siege — Catholics Persecuted
by John Vennari
| Catholic victim of
Vietnam persecution |
On January 6 Vietnamese officials dynamited a crucifix in a cemetery belonging to the Dong Chiem Parish Church, 40 miles from Hanoi. Parishioners who tried to prevent the destruction were beaten by police. Since then, Catholic priests and faithful have been assaulted by uniformed and plainclothes police, and Catholics who try to visit the parish are harassed and beaten; one journalist pummeled to unconsciousness. The latest outrage is a February 24 attack on a group of nuns visiting various parishes in the area.
The demolition of crucifix began at 3:00 a.m. with the use of explosives. “On hearing the explosions, parishioners rushed to the site to protect their crucifix but they were stopped by police who tried to drive them back, “said Father Nguyen Van Huu, pastor of Dong Chiem parish.
The Archdiocese of Hanoi immediately issued a press release denouncing the government’s actions: “Police attacked the parish today, in the early morning, when both its pastor and the pastor’s assistant were at the annual retreat in the Archbishop’s Office. An estimated 500 heavily armed and well-entrenched police officers and a large number of trained dogs were deployed in the area to protect an army engineering unit that destroyed a large crucifix erected on a boulder inside the parish cemetery.”
Parishioners recounted being shot at close range with tear gas canisters, even as they were kneeling in prayer, asking the police to stop the devastation. Other parishioners were beaten with batons.
For full story go to Catholic Family News.
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