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What Secular Society?
The following post was sent in all the way from Budapest by Paul, the Northern Irish Magyar.
I have a confession to make: I believe in the "secular society."
Secularism has become a bit of a dirty word recently in certain circles, so what exactly do I mean by the "secular society"?
Quite simply, in my version of secular society, there would be the closure of all "faith-based" schools, abortion (and beer) on demand, the legalisation of gay marriages, the de-nqabing of Muslim females, the decriminalisation of drugs and brothels, Irish League matches being played on Sunday....and it should go without saying, the complete removal of Christ from Xmas.
*Stunned silence from the collective EU readership*
Before "Enraged of Bushmills" leaves an abusive comment, that last paragraph wasn't exactly(!) what I meant by "secularism" and anyway even if it was, that kind of scenario ain't going to materialise in N.Ireland any time soon.....
In a modern western democracy, everybody has the right to believe anything they choose, no matter how reactionary or ridiculous those beliefs may be. Indeed, tolerance of such beliefs is the cornerstone of civilised society- but that is definitely not the same as saying that those beliefs should form the basis of that particular society. A person's religion (or lack of) should be their own private affair. The state's job is not to "safeguard" such beliefs, but solely to set the widest of legal parameters to govern society. Within those parameters, it is up to each individual's conscience and moral judgement how they conduct themselves.
What would all this mean in Northern Irish context?
Well, in practical terms, here's three examples: giving women the 100% reproductive rights, the removal of state support for "faith-based" education and the full implementation in N. Ireland of all UK legislation in areas such as homosexual rights. So, basically I’m looking to set up a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah, right here, in our wee province? No.
By advocating that it is the woman concerned who alone has the right to decide whether or not to have an abortion, I'm not arguing that termination in every case is the correct
or moral option. I'm also not forbidding our "moral guardians" from presenting their arguments to the individual. I'm simply saying, that, in the end, it is solely up to the woman's individual conscience- but she should have the option, if she so desires, of terminating the pregnancy in her own country. Similarly, I, in no way, would deny parents their democratic right to send their children to a "faith-based" (be it Roman-Catholic, Free-Presbyterian, Islamic, Jewish, Moonie or whatever) school. It should, however, not be the state's responsibility (using my taxes) to subsidise such schools. And if Westminster decides that in the 21st Century, certain rights should be granted to certain groups, then unless we want to live in some kind of fundamentalist, redneck ghetto, those exact same rights should also apply to Northern Irish residents.But what would be the implications for the Union of such a "secularisation" of N. Ireland?
I believe that in certain "non-national" areas (e.g. abortion), then more radical Unionists should not be afraid to make informal alliances with those we would normally consider our political opponents. I despise much of what Sinn Fein stands for, but in the area of women’s reproductive rights, their views (now) are much closer to my own than the DUP's are. Apart from the fact that you should always follow your heart and not necessarily the rest of the herd in such matters of conscience, more Unionists getting involved in this type of campaign can only help our overall image in the rest of the UK. Also by building up a society model which is closer to what is found on the mainland secular, multicultural Britain than that in the Republic of Ireland, then we are ensuring that an even bigger proportion of our society feels more comfortable within the confines of Northern Ireland.
Even if could, I don't want to ban conservative "religion" from Northern Ireland, I'm simply saying that it must share the open spaces of society with the rest of us. Secularism is the way we can both protect society from religion, but also protect the right of all to practise their chosen religion within that society.
