Discussion for article #236698
Someday the USA will join the modern world. I seriously hope the Rās get stomped in 2016 and Iām thinking they probably will.
Congrats Ireland!
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Social progress has always moved slower than is hoped.
Though in a day-and-age where the pace of technology moves at warp-speed?
Tech does seem to have somewhat of a wave effect by moving information at speed as well.
Becoming informed more quickly can be the catalyst for more rapid social change.
It is how I expect-- āI hope Iāll live to see changesāā
Iāve pined for and worked for-- during my time on the planet.
jw1
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Very exciting, and very civliized. iām proud of my (partial) ancestral home.
And Brighid and Paddy will make your day.
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A fine day for the Wearinā oā the Green!
So yay for Ireland. But can somebody please explain to me WTF it is about the British Isles that make it so effing hard do an accurate poll?
It is sad to realize that a similar vote in the US would probably not have the same result, and that the SCOTUS is required to save us from ourselves. How the hell did Ireland become more socially progressive than the US?
Compared with other countries, American public opinion has evolved more slowly on the subject of marriage equality. And look at what it has cost us: the 2004 Ohio ballot initiative on gay marriage is what enabled Bush to defeat Kerry, which gave us Roberts and Alito, which gave us Citizens United, weakening of the Voting Rights Act, and so on and so forth. It will be decades before the damage can be undone.
Yay Ireland!
Now, letās watch how nothing happens to the āinstitution of marriageā in Ireland. I predict the divorce rate will stay unchanged, children will continue to grow up normal, and the Guinness will continue to flow.
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Breaking News: Ireland Becomes First Country to Legalize Gay Marriage by Popular Vote
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Thereās something truly wondrous about this. Not only did the people of Ireland vote for equality they enshrined it into their constitution. Way to go, Ireland!
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makeup?
This is a country that doesnāt admit it, but that religious freedom thatās now in vogue, isnāt really something new.
One of the reasons why the Pilgrims came to America was essentially that if they stayed in Holland, their kids were going to be Dutch in about a short period of time.
Simply add that seed to any religious ārebirthsā that have happened since this countryās founding, shake it all up and this is the current product.
I wouldnāt fret though, at some point, this type of mentality has to end.
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I read in the Times that when the outcome of the vote became clear, the leader of the opposition tweeted, āCongratulations to the Yes side. Well done.ā If only we could have that kind of civility here.
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Freedom and equality for all.
Suck it, hypocrites and bigots!
Iāve read elsewhere that they were afraid that many people who said they supported gay marriage really didnāt, just didnt want to appear to be a āNoā, because it embarassed them. It looks like the people that said they would support marriage equality really did and better yet, turned out to vote.
How the hell did Ireland become more socially progressive than the US?
Ireland has undergone a complete social revolution. It was only 20 years ago that they legalized divorce, also through a referendum, and by a razor-thin margin. At the time, the country was something like 99.9% white and 98% ethnic Irish. Joining the EU led to a flood of immigrants from both Eastern Europe and places farther afield like Asia, who now make up over 10% of the population. There are probably now more Polish speakers than fluent Irish speakers in the country, and the fast food places are dominated by Pakistanis and Chinese just like in Englandā¦
Add to that the immensely changed role of the Catholic Church. Before about 1990, pretty much whatever the Church wanted became official policy for both lawmakers and voters. But thereās been a sea change in that not only due to the āopening upā of Ireland to the world, but to the series of scandals that has completely devastated its reputation there. Not just sexual abuse in parishes like here (though thereās plenty of that), but also systematic and epidemic physical and sexual abuse of āorphansā in group homes - many of whom were not actually orphans but the children of unwed mothers forcibly taken from their parents. Itās very hard to read about the kind of sadism they endured without it affecting you, and itās led to a serious backlash. Remember that the country only has 4 million people, and there isnāt another large conservative religious group like in the US, so once the authority of the RCC is undermined thereās no reason for people to cling to archaic doctrine.
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I take issue with David Quinn who was troubled that no political party endorsed the no side. His claim āthat no political party supported them must be a concern from a democratic point of view,ā is utter baloney. There are several political points of view that need no representation by any political party, at least not by any mainstream party. A healthy democracy does not require representation of hate-based ideologies that favor oppression and discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or religion. There is nothing healthy about indulging that paranoiac ideologies of hate.
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One of the most remarkable things about the referendum - and something that you would never see here even if the ultimate vote total was the same - was that only four TDs (members of parliament) openly sided with the No campaign. Even if the Republicans were to somehow have a miraculous change of heart in their official platform (as some of the presidential candidates are already, at least coming to neutrality), thereās no question that a very large portion of congresspeople would always be intransigents.
Iāve never been more proud to be of Irish descent (and thatās saying something). Glory by association.
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āā¦support was likely to exceed 60 percent nationallyā¦ā
The American conservative movement is so far out of touch, itās ludicrous. The shining beacon on a hill is Irish.
Exactly.