For Whom the Bell Annoys
What do you do at 12 midday or 6 every evening? Bow your head? Look solemnly to the sky? Or perhaps you take a wild swing at the radio or TV, that detestable contraption that is emitting the annoyance that is the Angelus? I have expressed my distaste for this Irish institution on many occasions only to be accused of intolerance. I am not going to engage in a type of ‘in this day and age’ argument; I am more exercised by the public broadcaster’s promotion, or having any hand, act or part in facilitating religious practices.
One of the ideals of any republic is a commitment to religious freedom. Fine. However, another of these ideals is the complete separation of church and state. For years the Irish state has granted the church an incredible degree of involvement in public affairs, from the scandal that was Noel Browne’s ‘Mother and Child Scheme’ to de Valera’s consultations with the bishops for the 1937 constitution. Incidentally, the preamble to that constitution, which I am not so sure many are aware of reads as follows:
“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 Éire,
Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ…Do
hereby adopt, enact, and give to ourselves this Constitution.”
Some republic. To be fair, things have improved. The church no longer wields the influence it once did. This can be primarily attributed to the liberal sentiments of the 1960’s and 1970’s coupled with the child abuse scandals. However, we still have the remnants of this influence deeply embedded in our public broadcaster. Not one for frequently agreeing with any type of US policy, foreign or domestic, I find myself whole-heartedly supporting their stance on church-state relations i.e. no relation whatsoever.
What makes this situation even more absurd is the recent debate surrounding Section 20 of the Broadcasting ACT 1960 which states:
“The Authority shall not accept any advertisement which is directed towards any
religious or political end or has any relation to any industrial dispute”.
In the past year this act has been used to ban an advertisement by the National Consumer Agency calling for consumer opinions on the Groceries Order and an advertisement by human rights NGO’s hosting a conference in Kildare. How these ads could have been deemed political is beyond me, but as noted by Kitty Holland in today’s Irish Times, RTE seems to be getting stricter on this issue. The salient question then emerges: could the Angelus or the evening prayer that comes on around midnight be judged advertisements? Probably not. But the paradox of banning advertisements with a political or religious motivation while the Angelus continues to ring out via our national broadcaster is laughable.
El Commandant P.
tags:[church-state relations]
Published by Colm.
One of the ideals of any republic is a commitment to religious freedom. Fine. However, another of these ideals is the complete separation of church and state. For years the Irish state has granted the church an incredible degree of involvement in public affairs, from the scandal that was Noel Browne’s ‘Mother and Child Scheme’ to de Valera’s consultations with the bishops for the 1937 constitution. Incidentally, the preamble to that constitution, which I am not so sure many are aware of reads as follows:
“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 Éire,
Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ…Do
hereby adopt, enact, and give to ourselves this Constitution.”
Some republic. To be fair, things have improved. The church no longer wields the influence it once did. This can be primarily attributed to the liberal sentiments of the 1960’s and 1970’s coupled with the child abuse scandals. However, we still have the remnants of this influence deeply embedded in our public broadcaster. Not one for frequently agreeing with any type of US policy, foreign or domestic, I find myself whole-heartedly supporting their stance on church-state relations i.e. no relation whatsoever.
What makes this situation even more absurd is the recent debate surrounding Section 20 of the Broadcasting ACT 1960 which states:
“The Authority shall not accept any advertisement which is directed towards any
religious or political end or has any relation to any industrial dispute”.
In the past year this act has been used to ban an advertisement by the National Consumer Agency calling for consumer opinions on the Groceries Order and an advertisement by human rights NGO’s hosting a conference in Kildare. How these ads could have been deemed political is beyond me, but as noted by Kitty Holland in today’s Irish Times, RTE seems to be getting stricter on this issue. The salient question then emerges: could the Angelus or the evening prayer that comes on around midnight be judged advertisements? Probably not. But the paradox of banning advertisements with a political or religious motivation while the Angelus continues to ring out via our national broadcaster is laughable.
El Commandant P.
tags:[church-state relations]
Published by Colm.
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