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Opinions contained in The Iona Blog are not necessarily those of The Iona Institute. The Iona Blog is open to anyone who broadly shares the views of The Iona Institute. If you wish to post a comment on a relevant topic please email 200 – 400 words to info@ionainstitute.ie and it will be considered for inclusion in the blog.
If Catholic schools ‘exclude’ why isn’t there more demand for change?
~In an article in the Irish Times, VEC teacher Sheila Maher has a piece argues against Catholic-run schools because they make children from non-Catholic backgrounds feel ‘excluded’. She takes her cue from the fact that children in primary schools up and down the country are making their First Communions this month. Read more...
Catholic politicians, abortion and the (apparent) JFK defence
~Some of our Catholic politicians who are preparing to vote in favour of abortion are trying to square their consciences by pulling what amounts to the ‘John F Kennedy defence’. That is, they are trying to separate their consciences from the faith because they think this is what Kennedy did, even though it’s not, in fact, what he did. Read more...
European court pursues a ‘stealth’ mission regarding abortion and euthanasia
~Tuesday's ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of Gross v Switzerland was both astonishing and disturbing. The court found that Switzerland's law, which allows doctors to prescribe drugs to allow patients to kill themselves didn't provide sufficient “clarity” and as such breached the plaintiff's right to respect for private life. Read more...
Should marriage in any form have special status?
~The family diversity or family equality argument is perfectly expressed today in The Irish Times by Karen Kiernan of One Family. The essence of her argument; the family in Ireland is changing, all families are equal in esteem and marriage shouldn’t be held in higher esteem. Therefore change the Constitution and remove the special status of marriage. Read more...
'I want gay marriage but I also think marriage shouldn't exist at all'
~Those who favour allowing same-sex couples to marry argue, in public at least, that they seek only to extend marriage, and it is not their intention to destroy it. Some same-sex marriage advocates publicly disagree. One of them is Russian-American lesbian activist and author Masha Gessen. Read more...
An appalling cartoon and a cartoonish view of the world
~During the course of the abortion debate there have been frequent calls on us to have a calm and rational debate and to keep it emotion-free. Despite this we have had leading commentators like Olivia O’Leary comparing Ireland with its pro-life laws to the Taliban’s Afghanistan and then in yesterday’s Irish Times we had an appalling cartoon in a similar vein from Martyn Turner. Read more...
Morning Ireland misleads its listeners over interpretation of abortion study
~Today on Morning Ireland Cathal MacCoille interviewed Dr David Fergusson about a paper he has written regarding the mental health effects of abortion. In the course of that interview, and a subsequent interview with Professor Patricia Casey, MacCoille badly misinterpreted The Iona Institute’s take on the Fergusson paper and led listeners to believe that Dr Fergusson was unhappy with how we quoted his paper. This is absolutely false. Read more...
Abortion bill a direct attack on freedom of conscience
~The Government’s proposed abortion bill is first and foremost an attack on the right to life of unborn children. But there is another aspect of it that also deserves attention, namely its frontal assault on freedom of conscience and religion. Head 12 of the proposed bill deals with conscientious objection. (See full text below). Read more...
How two of our current debates may be normalising suicidal feelings
~Ireland has a much higher suicide rate than was once the case. It is something we worry about as a nation. And yet at the same time we are having two national conversations which could well have the effect of ‘normalising’ suicide. One is the conversation about assisted suicide and the other is the conversation about suicidal thoughts in pregnant women. Read more...
Why family equality is a more logical aim than marriage equality
~The Iona Institute has argued for a long time that the logic of the equality argument when applied to the family is that no particular kind of family should be granted any special standing whatever, including marriage whether same-sex or opposite-sex. It appears that one the great doyennes of family diversity ideology, Professor Judith Stacey, agrees. Read more...
A reasonable accommodation found in conscience case
~This week's ruling in Scotland which found in favour of two midwives who insisted on their right to conscientiously object to taking any part in the abortion process is one that should be welcomed by all who think this freedom is important, whatever their views on abortion itself. Read more...
The growing marriage gap
~Much has been written about the growing “marriage gap” in the US. Data increasingly shows that those in lower social groups are experiencing both higher levels of marital breakdown and lower rates of marriage overall. The same applies here Meanwhile, those who have third level education have seen marriage breakdown stabilise. Read more...
Who's really jumping ahead of the evidence in the same-sex marriage debate?
~In a number of our publications, including our submission to the Constitutional Convention on the issue of marriage, we have used (among other quotes) a very serviceable one from Child Trends, a US-based NGO. The quote is taken from a document called ‘Marriage from a Child’s Perspective: How Does Family Structure Affect Children, and What Can We Do about It?’ Read more...
The Iona Institute at the Constitutional Convention
~David Quinn represented the Iona Institute at the Constitutional Convention last week. He took part in a panel discussion and explained why the distinctive nature of male/female sexual unions justifies a special and distinct social institution. Read more...
Ireland a step closer to rejecting the value of motherhood and fatherhood
~WHEN the Constitutional Convention voted in favour of same-sex marriage at the weekend, as was expected, Ireland took a step closer to rejecting the right of a child to have the love of both a mother and a father where such are available. Read more...
What's at stake at the Constitutional Convention this weekend
~The Constitutional Convention debates same-sex marriage this weekend. In my Irish Independent column this week I set out the argument for not redefining marriage. The core question for the delegates: do they believe there are real and complementary differences between men and women and mothers and fathers that should be embodied in a distinct and special social institution? Read more...
How porn is misshaping teenagers’ view of sex
~A story from the UK last week suggested that by the time they reach 14, nearly all boys have accessed pornography. While we don't know the figures here, we can be sure that it is a growing problem in Ireland too. Read more...
The differences between the sexes: what science shows
~Are there any real differences between men and women apart from the obvious, physical ones, or have the differences all to do with the way we’re formed by society? This article by Professor William Reville in the Irish Times the other day sets out the precise scientific basis for why the sexual differences between men and women are not “socially constructed” but natural. Read more...
What the new survey of parental demand for schools tells us
~The Department of Education has published the results of a survey of parents in another 38 areas to find out how many want to send their children to a non-denominational school. Once again, there was a low response rate and little interest was shown in alternatives to Catholic schools. Read more...
On the uses of research in debates about marriage
~The Iona Institute, among other pro-marriage groups, likes to use a number of studies to buttress its case that marriage should be given special status. It is obvious that marriage should not have special status unless there is something special about it. What is that something? The answer is the benefits it passes on to children. Read more...
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