Category Archives: Faith

We’re finally debating LGBT rights openly

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There has been a lot of comment recently about the now (in)famous interview on the ‘Saturday Night Show‘ where Brendan O’Connor asked Panti Bliss (Rory O’Neill) to name homophobes, and Rory named the Iona Institute plus some other individuals.  (I’d love to give you a link to the interview, but it seems to have disappeared.  Hmmm.) [Edit, just got the link for it here]

Well, this caused a bit of a stir. In fact, the Iona Institute took such offence that they threatened legal action, and the broadcaster in question (RTE) paid out very, very quickly. They were so worried that they paid out €85,000.  You can kind of see Iona’s logic in chasing this.  They didn’t want to be branded as ‘Homophobes’, and a few quid in the kitty couldn’t hurt.  Could it?

As it turns out, legal action has had the exactly opposite effect to what Iona intended.  Rory O’Neill was invited on to the stage in the Abbey Theatre where he gave an incredibly powerful and moving speech about what it’s like to be gay in modern Ireland.  I thoroughly recommend you watch it.  Newspapers, radio and chat shows are debating homophobia, and the rights of LGBT people in Ireland.

In the Dail, two TDs who are gay spoke of their experiences of dealing with homophobia.  Gerry Buttimer was “beaten, spat at, chased, harassed and mocked”, while John Lyons had hoped he was living “in a society where this stuff isn’t acceptable anymore”.  (Click here for the Irish Times Article)

I’m certain that they didn’t intend this, but it turns out The Iona Institute turned out to be an excellent catalyst in stimulating the debate.  And for that maybe we should thank them.

On Friday (Valentine’s Day) Ellen Page came out as being Gay, in a wonderful speech at an HRCF event.  Her speech really is a must see.

So we are debating things at last.  But some of the discourse is quite disturbing.  One theme goes like this:

“Why are we still listening/reading about this?”

Amazing that after just a few weeks some people are fed up with the idea that we need a debate.  Do they have a point?

Had the same objection been listened to in the 60s in America, then would the civil rights movement had achieved any of the advances that they got?  Would we now have a President Obama?

You see, I believe the debate is needed.  As Rory O’Neill stated at the Abbey, he does feel ashamed of his ‘gayness’ sometimes.  As Ellen Page stated in her speech, she came out simply because she was tired of ‘lying by omission’.

Why should a person feel a need to be ashamed of their sexuality?  Why should any person feel judged simply they are put in a different category?  Until we can treat each other with dignity and respect those who wish to love, then we need this debate.

Shur’ Things Can’t be that bad

Well, have a look at Russia.  It is well known that President Putin has passed a number of laws that restrict the rights of gay people.

Is perspective on this is so twisted that he thought he was being gregarious when he said that gay people could come to the Sochi Olympics so long as they “leave children alone”  And there we have one of the twisted stereotypes: That being gay equates to being a paedeophile, to having a sexual perversion, to somehow being sick

What is not reported is that members of the LGBT community are in physical danger in some Russian cities.  (This article will bring you to some videos)

As it is in Ireland, for some people the term ‘Gay’ is derogatory.  That is just one of the myriad of ways in which members of the LGBT community can be put down.  Imagine.  Just the use of a word to describe you can be an insult.

It Just ain’t Christian

Ummm.  Really?  I must have missed that bit in the New Testament.  Jesus spends very little time mentioning any form of sexuality in the Gospels.   And yes, I do know that the book of Leviticus does condemn homosexuality, but , if we’re going to play games, then the Old Testament is a number card, and the Gospels are Picture Cards.  They trump what had been written beforehand.

Any reading of the person of Jesus, what he said and what he did will give you some subtle hints that he looked out for those on the edges of society.  Those who were persecuted, “beaten, spat at, chased, mocked and harassed”.

You see, Jesus didn’t have much truck with the official setup of the time.  He worked with people, not ideologies.

And, while we’re talking about Christian concerns, allowing Gay Marriage will not take away from the sanctity of marriage.  What you do with your marriage does not affect the validity or the love of mine.  Refusing to allow others to share love may, in fact, harm marriage more.

You may find this interesting.  St. Valentine lived in the Roman Empire in the 3rd Century.  He is famous for helping Christian couples to marry at a time when Christians were persecuted.  St. Valentine was executed for this.  He was willing to die so as to allow others to share their love.  He was willing to stand up for those who were persecuted.

Hold that thought.  In the not too distant future we will be asked to vote on whether we feel that gay people will be allowed to marry.  Our answer will say a lot about us as a society.

But at least we are now discussing it, and for that I say thank you Iona & Co.

November and Remembering

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Something that has struck me very much in my job in school is how many of our students have been affected by death.  The death of a friend, a neighbour, or of a family member. This becomes very obvious in the month of November, a time when we make space to remember those who have died.

Every year, during the month of November, I try to take all class groups in my school to give them a chance to remember loved ones.  We go to our prayer room, do a simple ceremony, and the students record the name of whoever they want to remember in a book of intentions.  And every year it amazes me how many names are recorded.  It amazes me how many of our students have been affected by loss.

Whenever the book of intentions isn’t being used in the prayer room, it stays in a prominent space beside the main office in the school, for visitors and staff to record names of their loved ones.  

It’s a simple thing to do, and it means a lot to those who take part in it. Some students may cry, some may just go very quiet, all give a huge amount of respect as they recognise what their friends are going through.

So, tomorrow when I go into work, one of my first jobs will be to prepare (with the help of students) the spaces that we will use to help each other in remembering those who have died.  For me, the coming month is one of the most important times for our students in the year.  

In parishes across the country, people remember their dead in different ways.  It may be a book of remembrance displayed in a church, it may be by having intentions read out, it may be by making an effort to visit the graveyard and spend some time there.

As we remember those who we have lost, We pray that they may rest in peace, and we hope for a bit of comfort for ourselves.

18 Years

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18 years ago today my mother died.

How do you write about something like that?  Do I write about the cancer that killed her, or how that Summer (weirdly) stands out in my memory as having the best weather ever?  Do I write about how the whole experience brought my relatives and friends closer than I had ever experienced or imagined was possible?  Or do I write about how her last words to me, two weeks before she died, were ‘Goodnight John, God Bless’.  As last words go, that’s something special to hang on to.

My outstanding memory of this September weekend in 1995 is the wake.  To those of you not from Ireland a wake is a gathering of people in the house of a person who has died, and it can go on for quite a while.

We knew for weeks that mam’s death was inevitable, and had planned for the wake.  The house was cleaned like never before.  If it was vertical and concrete, then it got painted, if it was green it got trimmed, if it was flat it got brushed and washed.

The white bed linen came out.  I never knew this, but many traditional households have special bed linen for waking.  A neighbour cut his barley, and the field was readied as a car park.

After she died, Mam was dressed in an outfit that Monica had got for her the previous Christmas.  A kind of peach colour that matched the roses growing outside her window.  Those roses were cut and laid out around her in the bed.

My brother Finbar’s bedroom was turned into a storehouse of various beverages.  Sandwiches and cakes began to arrive by the barrow-load.

From about ten-ish on Friday there was a steady stream of people arrived at the home to spend time with us.  Friends, relatives, neighbours all took their turn to visit, to pay respects to mam.  To go to her room and say a quiet prayer by her bedside.  My dad, my brothers and sister took turns to sit beside her.  It was all very informal, very touching, very important, very beautiful.  And it went on all Friday night.

In a wake plenty of people stay awake.  One or more of us stayed by mam all night long.  She had company for her most important journey.  Even 18 years later it touches me to remember just how good people were and still are.

Prayers would happen spontaneously around the bedside.  Rosaries were taken out, and people would let tears happen when they needed to.

There was a stream of people who would have a drink, a sandwich, a tea and cake, or step outside for a sociable smoke.  You might wonder if so much free drink would affect the tone of it all, but no.  Mam was a teetotaler.  People respected that as they do a wake.

There were some funny,  incongruous moments.  The man who came up to me who to break into some conversation spoke about how he dated mam before she met dad.  The fact that our water pump broke down on Saturday and we had no running water or flushing toilets in the house.  (cue our neighbour and emergency plumber Jim).  Finbar and myself heading to some trees to answer nature’s call, only to return to see one of my friends coming over to see if we were ok.  Close timing for her.

On Saturday Mam was removed to Killeagh Church.  We carried the coffin out the door of the house to see a couple of hundred people gathered under a blazing blue sky.  The men took turns to carry her coffin to the hearse.

On Sunday the men took turns again as we carried her coffin a few hundred meters to the graveyard that would be her final resting place.

Mam’s death is one of the defining moments of my life, and her wake is one of the most important memories that I have.  It’s a pity that wakes happen less and less in Ireland now.  I think that anyone who has experienced a wake will agree they are something to be treasured.

Mam.  18 years gone today.  We love you and miss you.

On Church Vs. State (in primary schools anyway)

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Or maybe that should read ‘On the Separation of Church and State’

In August I posted about how it is that my profession of a faith should upset others.  This post generated some interesting responses – as a response to the blog post, on my facebook feed, and on the twitter machine (@johnmhurley)

One idea that was prominent in the feedback is that the Catholic Church holds too much sway in our schools and in our public life.  Well, maybe I’ve phrased that wrong.  The argument is that the Church holds so much power in schools that those who do not share the same faith are discriminated against.  In addition to this, in the broader setting of our state, the Church is given a position of prominence whereby it may exert its agenda upon the secular institutions of the state.

As a starting point, lets look at the situation regarding education.

The vast majority of primary schools in Ireland are under the trusteeship of Catholic Bishops.  The property that the school lies on is usually the property of the local parish, and a priest of the parish is normally on the board of management for the school. Note that the teachers are paid for by the state, and schools receive  a capitation grant for each student.  This grant goes towards some of the running costs of the school.  Usually schools then fundraise locally to cover other expenses.

The picture for secondary schools is similar.  I was going to go into details on it but that isn’t necessary.  (but if you ask nicely I just might)

Many people object to the time given to religious instruction in Primary School.  The objections are especially strong when students are preparing for sacraments.  The objections are even more pertinent if one considers students in the classroom who may be of a different faith, or no faith at all.  In this case, are the wishes of parents being considered?  Is such a child excluded from class and educational opportunities when this goes on?

Imagine if preparation for sacraments was taken out of the primary school?  Imagine if only those who wanted to, who chose to, were the ones to take place in this preparation?

As it is, I feel that things are going in the wrong direction right now.  Each spring a debate pops up regarding the excesses around first communion in particular.  On Matt Cooper one day the owner of a Limo company explained how his company now had a policy not to take bookings for first communion.  Really?  Some parent thought that a Limo was appropriate?  Or did the Jonses get one first?

Imagine the pressure that this puts on families that are not so well off.  ‘What, you didn’t get a new Suit/xbox/laptop/bike/other (delete as inappropriate)?’

If the Church took the brave step and took instruction for the sacraments out of the school, there’d be uproar.  But could you see the positives?  Children of other faiths don’t get deprived of class time. Imagine the Sunday school setup?  It seems to work in America.

As the parent of a 6 year old girl who will receive her first communion in the not-too-distant future, I think that will not be a bad thing.  If she’s to receive her communion, then that means that she’s joining a community of faith – and maybe it’s appropriate as a parent I should be involved too.

I don’t know the exact picture of how something like this would work out, but maybe we need to start planning for it.  It would  be rough at the start, but I think that the journey would be worth it.

Why should my Faith upset you so much?

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I have friends who have a very strong faith, I have friends who are atheist – they’re all my friends.

In my work I deal with all students, whether they profess a faith or not.  I don’t have a problem, and neither do they.

So, here’s my gripe.  I see more and more articles from some atheists that don’t push a pro-atheist agenda, as they push an anti-religion one.  Now, I’m not starting a debate on the merits or demerits of belief Vs atheism.  I believe, others don’t.  And I respect that deeply.

For example, on the Matt Cooper show (excellent, by the way) there was a guest on talking about his work in Humanist ceremonies.  In the course of his discourse, he referred to religious ‘claptrap’.  Why not talk about Humanist ceremonies in positive terms rather than denigrate religious ceremonies? He also referred to religious ceremonies marking points of life (Baptism, Marriage, Funerals) as having ‘hijacked’ these important points in peoples’ lives.  Again, why the need to denigrate? Why is it that some atheists seem to have such a missionary zeal about how they spread their word?

My faith is important to me.  It has helped me though some tough points in my life, and I’ll give an example of the most significant:

In 1995, my mother died from a brain tumor.  I only saw mam cry once in that time: the day she came home from hospital (she was only in for a week or so) she said “God John, it’s a very hard cross to bear”.  Shortly after, she rested and got on with what was left of her life as best as she could.

I believe that mam’s faith was a huge help to her in facing her illness. I believe a further grace was given to our family in July, I think, of that year.  My dad, my mam and my sister Monica went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes.  Obviously, there was no miracle cure of the cancer that killed her, but there was a cure of another sort.

Prior to their visit to Lourdes, the atmosphere in our house was all about fighting the disease, fighting the inevitable.  This could only lead to a sense of defeat.  Following the pilgrimage, the atmosphere in the house changed, and not in a subtle way.

Now the atmosphere became one of acceptance – a place where we worked to make sure that mam was comfortable, that her dignity was respected.  It became a house of welcome for many, many people who came to offer their support.

So much for one example.

Owen Jones wrote in the Independent about how Richard Dawkins doesn’t speak for all atheists, it’s worth a read (Not in our name: Dawkins dresses up bigotry as non-belief – he cannot be left to represent atheists).

But I digress.  I started writing about how some atheists push a particular anti-religion agenda.  Here’s the thing – why not respect each other’s positions on faith?  

Pope Francis (of whom I’m a fan) recently spoke to an atheist.  I can’t recall the exchange exactly, but when the man said “But I’m an atheist” the Pope replied, “Just do good, and let us meet in the middle”

So, lets all try to do good, and meet in the middle.