So just when we thought "Yippee, that horrible Reverend Paisley is no longer First Minister of Northern Ireland", it is made quite clear to us that whilst there is a change in leadership, the DUP is still the same old backward, skygod loving, and deeply offensive party it has always been.
The wife of the new First Minister has gone on record as calling homosexuality an abomination. Now whilst I might not agree with a police investigation of her comments (what a waste of police time, if they are going to start policing crazy skygod believers delusions they aren't going to have much time for real police work) I do think her husband should either distance himself from them or come out as a loony, religious bigot just like her (and Rev. Paisley).
These people are weird enough to make even a patriotic Brit like me think "Hmm... Sinn Fein can't be all bad" or "Northern Ireland, what is it good for again?" It's the 21st Century and the people of Northern Ireland are still electing people based on their religious delusions rather than on their merits for the job (unlike the rest of the UK where we vote people in based on the fact they are not Conservative rather than on their merits). I just hope that someday soon a secular, sensible party (that rules out most of the parties in the Assembly then...) gets the chance to show them what a real Government is like.
I know I for one shan't be spending any time or money visiting that province whilst it remains the most racist, homophobic and intolerant part of our Union.
In similar news from the last few days Tony Blair falls off the deep end and promotes religion as the solution to the world's problems. Hmm... personally I think the solution to the world's problems will begin to come about when people start making their religion a private matter, and not something for a secular Government to concern itself with. Imagine that... a world where fairytales aren't forced upon Governments by overexcited believers and thus then forced down the throats of innocents non-believers. Imagine the Governments of the world ceasing to worry about religion and starting to worry about... poverty, disease, education... the list goes on.
I do think her husband should either distance himself from them or come out as a loony, religious bigot just like her
ReplyDeleteI've had a blog post about this in draft all day and have been debating whether to publish it or not; on balance I don't think I'll bother. Why give these loonies more exposure? Deigning to debate their rhetoric merely makes some people think it has some relevance.
More important to me is the homophobic beating which was the genesis of her comment; whilst she condemnned the beating, she inferred it was the victim's fault for leading a life she considers an 'abomination'.
As for the point you raise, her husband is on record for having similarly 'neanderthal' views, just like Paisley Snr, so is hardly likely to try and kid anyone that he is distancing himself from his wife's views. Any idea that this is a generational thing in the DUP is unfortunately fanciful - Paisley Jnr is also on record with some pretty antedeluvian views on the subject of homosexuality; I doubt anyone could be successful in the DUP if they did not hold similar views.
Incidentally, I was nauseated, but not surprised, when I heard that the Labour government may partly rely on DUP support to try and get its 42-day detention legislation through next week, if too many Labour MPs go into the Lobby with the Conservatives and LibDems.
Not just rely on the DUP support, but there may in fact be a funding deal in place to encourage the DUP to vote. Disgusting.
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