Daily Archives: February 28, 2022

With over 56% of its population describing themselves as "nonreligious," Vermont takes a clear lead in terms of US states with the highest proportions of nonreligious, agnostic, and atheist citizens.

The role of religion in society has long been a hotly debated topic that often brings out a varying array of strong opinion. While there are many advantages and disadvantages of religion linked to a society, it cannot be neglected that being religious or non-religious does have an impact on a society and the collective thinking of the people therein. Non-religious should not be confused with the word atheism which is an entirely different belief system altogether. Atheist means someone who does not believe in god or any supernatural being whatsoever, whereas non-religious is defined as a person who does not have religion playing a major role in their life and does not frequently visit religious events or places. Furthermore, agnostic is a system of beliefs wherein individuals question the existence of the supernatural and divine, or otherwise believe it to be unknowable or beyond the scope of the human mind. Non-religious people say that religion has little or no impact on their life decisions and lifestyle, while people tagged as very religions affirm the presence of religion in their daily life. Very religious people who consider religion to be important in daily life often regularly visit religious places of worship or attend religious events.

The United States is also the most religious country among the developed nations, with about 40 percent of its population categorized as very religious. Although the United States citizens are quite diverse in their religions and beliefs, it has been observed that religion follows strong regional and demographic boundaries and trends within the worlds largest economy. Around 30 percent of people in the United States fall under the category of moderately religious, while the remaining 30 percent do not consider religion to be an important part of their lifestyle and daily routines. The division of religious fervor in the United States in our investigation has been made through the use of surveys and reports of individuals worship patterns from various states in the country. Through such reports and statistical analyses, we have seen that the Northwest and New England states of the US tend to be the least religious in nature. In fact, most of the least religious states in the United States lie on or near the Northern half of the countrys coastline, whether that be Atlantic or Pacific.

In a Gallup poll, citizens from across the US were surveyed to determine whether religion is not important in their lives and say they seldom or never attend religious services." From this poll, Vermont and Maine were considered to be the least religious, as more than half of their respective respondents stated that religion was not very important in their lives. Closely following these two far northeastern US states in religious indifference or disbelief were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Colorado, and Connecticut, all of whom had more than 40% of their respondents state that religion was not a focal point of their regular lives.

These states are in stark contrast in their belief patterns to the least religious states, wherein the top position goes to Vermont with around 56 percent of its population being registered under the category of Nonreligious. Vermont is followed by New Hampshire along with 10 other states under the list of least religious states. Of the least religious states in the US, many lie within the New England area. This may be due to the effect of modern Western society and its principles, which have been adopted by the people in these states after the model of European nations such as Sweden and the United Kingdom, which are among the least religious countries in the world themselves, and impact a majority of northern states in the US with their ideologies and practices. As Washington, Oregon, and New England have long been known for freeness of self-expression and contemporary cultural shifts, this has often led to a strong humanist presence, wherein the role of the divine in life is greatly diminished. Furthermore, these areas are far closer to population centers of Canada, which is considered a less religious country than the US, also largely owing to its close ties with Europe. As cultures across the world become more globalized, this trend is likely to continue, and religiosity in these areas is likely to fall further still in years to come.

See the article here:
Percentage Of Atheists In America By State - WorldAtlas

by Peng Huiling

Notwithstanding almost uniformly negative and often humorous reactions on social media, Professor Li Shen and his book The Principles of Scientific Atheism continue to be heavily promoted in China through a major campaign to divulge Marxist atheistic principles. As Bitter Winter mentioned in a previous article, this campaign will continue because it does not come from the private initiative of some propagandists of atheism but follows instructions coming directly from Xi Jinping and the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

In this article, I look at how Professor Li proves that God does not exist. Li argues that God did not create living creatures, but living creatures created God. He mentions living creatures rather than humans because he believes animals may also believe in God. For instance, he argues that domestic dogs identify God with their owners. How Li can know canine psychology and even canine theology is not explained, but he uses an argument of authority. Friedrich Engels, Marxs closest associate and co-founder of Marxist theory, said so, and who are we to argue that Engels was wrong?

Actually, Li explains, Engels went even more deeply into the theology dogs supposedly believe in. He said that, at least if they feed them, dogs do not care whether their owners are good citizens or not. The greatest criminals may still be regarded as gods by their well-fed dogs.

It may seem that this observation, even coming from such a great luminary as Engels, does not prove much about whether God exists or not, but this is not Lis opinion. In fact, he argues, the most primitive humans function very much as Engels dogs. He offers as a proof the followers of Falun Gong.

We all know, Professor Li explains, that Li Hongzhi, the founder and leader of Falun Gong, is a small-scale ruffian, a little bastard () yet his followers regard him as God. Falun Gong practitioners may object that their view of Li Hongzhi is a little bit more complicated, but this is not important for Professor Li. His point is that divinity is in the eye of the beholder.

In fact, Li claims that while dogs regard human as gods, ancient humans sank even lower because they regarded dogs and other animals as gods. Li is aware that most scholars would object that when certain cultures made animal-like images of the gods, they were not worshipping the animals, nor the statues, but the gods or forces of which the animals were the symbols. These scholars, he says, are wrong. Li believes that it is an unequivocal historical fact that primitive populations really worshiped animals.

The human evolution interpreted through the laws of Marxist historical materialism, Li continues, shows that humans evolved from the first stage, worshiping animals, to four other subsequent stages. First, they worshiped demons, entities they created by combining animal and human features. Second, they worshiped humans, sometimes deceased heroes or kings and sometimes fictional human-like characters such as the Greek goddesses and gods. Third, they tried to imagine entities that were purely spiritual, and called them gods.

The most advanced state of religious belief, and one that manifested itself firstly in Eastern Asia, or so Li believes, is one in which a supposed invisible and non-representable mystical ground of all that exists is worshiped as god.

However, no matter how far the evolutionary path went, the model for producing gods remained the same. Humans endowed some real or fictional being with divine features, be it a dog or the unreachable Tao.

The continuous invention of new religions may lead us astray, but if we go back to the dogs calling their masters gods or the primitive humans calling their animals gods, we will stay on the right path, Li tells us.

Of course, the question will arise why did the humans invent the gods or God or the Tao or whatever other reality they regarded as divine. Nobody satisfactorily answered this question, Li states, before Marx and Engels. They clarified that looking at the question about religion through religious or philosophical lenses will never answer the question. The answer lies in politics and economy. Elites invented religions as a tool to control the masses.

The pre-Marxist German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach, Li says, stopped at this answer, which explains the founders of religions, but still does not explain why the masses believe them. Happily, Marx and Engels answered the latter question, too. They claimed that the suffering and exploited masses have needs that are not satisfied by the rich, who do not care, nor by the bourgeois liberal or humanitarian reformers, who do not understand the core of the problem. Only Marxism explains the roots of these needs, and offers the proletarians the revolutionary answer that solves their problems. When this answer is delivered, the need for God will go away.

Only, it doesnt, as the Chinese experience itself proves. Millions of believers prefer to go to jail rather than surrender their beliefs. This is why China itself is, Professor Lis arguments notwithstanding, the best evidence that Marx and Engels were wrong.

Continued here:
Atheism in China: How the Communist Party Proves that God Does Not Exist - Bitterwinter.org

While during the general audience on February 2, Pope Francis spoke of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing, hoping that they would contribute to the establishment of a more fraternal world. Sport , with its universal language, can build bridges of friendship and solidarity between individuals and peoples of all cultures and religions.

And he made the stirring statement: Together, so that the Olympic Games be carriers of a more fraternal world.

At the same time, Christians in Beijing confide that clergymen are warned to be on the sidelines, to be silent, and to remain invisible in the public domain. Indeed, the Chinese government views Christianity as a real threat of foreign infiltration.

The official churches were ordered to hoist the Chinese flag next to the cross and adapt their teachings to Chinese socialist principles. On February 2, the Catholic agency UcaNews announced the promotion of a new manual on atheism in colleges and among the cadres of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in order to target organized religions and strictly apply Marxist policy.

The manual, The Principles of Scientific Atheism, is at the center of a CCP campaign, UcaNews says, to implement fully and faithfully the decisions made at the National Conference on Religious Affairs last December. President Xi Jinping had then asked for the strengthening of the control of religions to ensure national security, and that the thought of Karl Marx be studied in depth.

The book promotes President Xi Jinping's theory that Chinese culture has always been non-religious, and it presents scientific explanations for the non-existence of God, and the harmful effects of religion.

This propaganda work includes an appendix on the Principal theological knowledge and criticism of religion and four chapters entitled What is God?, Proof of the non-existence of God, The gods and their effects, and The religious and political theory of the Communist Party.

Finally the book argues that Marx and the CCP in China have definitively demonstrated the principles of atheism: religion is the opiate of the people. This teaching manual is a real instrument of indoctrination and participates in active propaganda to promote atheism by force.

Officially, Communist China recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam. The state requires that all religions and religious activities be strictly controlled by official religious bodies, and respect Chinese laws, that is, they are subject to the sinicization of religions introduced by Xi Jinping.

One of the main skiing venues during these Winter Olympics is in the Chongli-Zhangjiak district of Hebei province in northern China. Chongli resorts, located 180km northwest of Beijing, are a popular ski destination in the country, with nearly 3 million tourists a year. The Olympic Village of Chongli receives the Olympic delegations.

Most visitors are unaware that the beauty of the sites hides a tragic history, that of the persecution and massacre of Catholics, reports Eglises d'Asie (EDA) [Churches of Asia]. Chongli and the neighboring region of Chahar were the scene of the worst atrocities during the imperial era, during the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), during the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949), and during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) conducted under Mao Zedong.

In the second quarter of the 20th century, the establishment of communism in China opened a new period of persecution. The worst violence took place in 1946, when the Communists attacked the locality of Xiwanzi. Nearly a thousand civilians, mostly Catholics, were tortured and killed. Two years later, the Communists also ravaged Chongli.

After the Communists seized power, Catholics in the region continued to suffer abuse and persecution. In 1957, the Communists created the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, to control the Catholic Church in China.

Bishops, clergy, and faithful Catholics who refused to join the association [thus forming the so-called underground Church -- ed.]were mistreated and tortured. During the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76, all religions, including Catholicism, suffered severe persecution, with most churches being demolished or damaged.

Catholics in Chahar were not spared even after the brutal campaign ended, reports Bitter Winter. From 1990 to 2011, a dozen clergy including bishops, and hundreds of local Catholics were arrested, tortured, and imprisoned in Chahar. Bishop Augustin Cui Tai of Xuanhua was arrested in 2013, his whereabouts are still unknown.

Recently, several social networks have evoked the forgotten Chongli massacre. A message recalls the atrocious genocide committed by the Chinese Communists against the inhabitants of Chahar in 1946 where several thousand of our Christian civilians were massacred.

Since this appalling crime, they continue to persecute our Catholic Church and imprison our priests. They even want to use the region where this genocide took place, in Chongli, as one of the sites for their 2022 Winter Olympics, as if nothing had happened.

Excerpt from:
China: The 2022 Olympics and Scientific Atheism - FSSPX.Actualits - FSSPX.News

As I stood under the intricately painted ceiling of the San Ignacio cathedral in Rome, I had to fight to prevent my breath from being taken away by the grandeur. The ceilings were high enough that the temperature on the ground floor was cold enough to bring goosebumps. Beyond the mild physical discomfort required to view such magnificence, though, the work seemed to defy words. Painted by Andrea Pozzo in 1685, the humans staring down from the painting featured anatomically correct veins and tendons which could be viewed from the ground, likely one hundred feet away. The plants and animals were so intricate that you could make out a single blade of grass or hair. And, if you positioned yourself in the very center of the room, the painting suddenly burst to life. The two-dimensional work popped right off of the ceiling; it felt as though you could reach out and grasp the hands of the figures depicted there. In an instant, I was lifted off of that floor and transported into a heavenly canvas full of clouds and warm, golden light.

I was privileged enough to feel such a visceral reaction to this Baroque work while I studied abroad in Italy this past Winter Break. While the trip was full of wonderful food, community and natural beauty, the purpose of our time was to study medieval art. We traveled across the country, starting in Orvieto, then to Sienna, Florence and finally Rome. My first observation, as is many peoples when going to Europe for the first time, was the emphasis on walkable cities and aesthetic beauty. Superhighways and skyscrapers are replaced with wide cobblestone streets bustling with people and brilliantly colored buildings with intricately carved facades. Despite hardly speaking the language of those around me, I could tell that their lives revolved around building and sustaining fulfilling relationships with one another, unlike the business-oriented, fast-paced lifestyles that we in the U.S. abide by.

Now seems like the appropriate time to inform you that I am a pretty run-of-the-mill person. I am an able-bodied, middle-class white man from a small town in the midwest, so cross-cultural engagement wasn't readily available to me until I came to Valparaiso University. While I have worked hard in my classes and extracurriculars to empathize with and understand different cultures, religions and backgrounds beyond my own, my time in Italy provided me with a new and unexpected means of cross-cultural communication: that between religious and non-religious people.

I was raised Catholic, received the sacraments from Baptism to Confirmation, but grew away from the faith shortly before coming to college, where I would finally come to terms with my atheism. I am not an anomaly in this instance; the number of people who identify as Christian has been steadily dropping in the U.S. A Pew Research Poll, from 2019, found that less than 50% of Americans age 18-29 call themselves Christians, and are choosing instead to identify as agnostic, atheist or spiritually undecided. To be as frank as possible, I am not saying that this is an inherently positive or negative matter; rather it further highlights the importance of not only interreligious dialogue, but also that between the religious and the secular.

In Italy, I got a brief taste of this. I was the only openly atheist individual in my class of about nineteen students. However, unlike the polarized discourse we see in the modern political sphere, our conversations were patient and pleasant. Many nights, a group of students and I would go out to the local cafes or wine bars, split a bottle of the regional white wine of Orvieto (which is far better than Winking Owl) and talk about life. We shared our stories and laid out the details and events that we think made us who we are today. We were all shocked by what we found: unity. Many of us had experienced indescribable loss, crippling uncertainty and immeasurable happiness. For myself, I explained how I thought my life led me to become an atheist, and my friends respected and understood. Then, upon learning more about their lives, I gleaned a similar insight into their relationship to faith. We had all lived, or at least attempted to live, a fulfilling human experience in the short 18-22 years that we had had thus far. We only differed (and not substantially at that) in our motivations for waking up and doing it again.

I do not feel the divine presence in cathedrals like San Ignacio like others may. That is not to say, however, that I feel nothing at all. The peace, humility and joy that others receive through prayer and presence in such a space was present in me as well. When I walk into those cathedrals, I think of the stories and the lives of those who built them. Each of these long passed people, from the painters, to the priest, to the bricklayers, had full and nuanced lives like us. Yet, they were united by the common goal of glorifying God to construct a marvel that often transcends the capabilities of our language. Thus, the question becomes how can we achieve beauty, or at the very least some unity, without a clear, common goal? I will not claim to have the answer to this question, but I can say that I am learning to see unity. While those in the Medieval age who built the cathedrals, as well as billions of their descendants today, see religion as a source and motivation to pursue meaningful connections with others, I derive those feelings from the nuance of others' lives and from complicated beauty of the human condition: the one thing in this one life that we all share.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of The Torch.

More:
Studying Abroad: 'Encountering God as an Atheist' | Features | valpotorch.com - The Torch

Will Herrmann

But when the time came, I was struggling with my faith. In particular, while I believed the Bible was the infallible word of God, I struggled with how to know if my interpretation of the Bible was correct. If we all read the same text and came to mutually-exclusive interpretations, what then?

I was also troubled by seeing so many Protestants disregarding two millennia of teachings regarding sin and morality in favor of novel interpretations. An especially poignant example was when I had asked a Lutheran pastor about something the Apostle Paul had written and was told: Were Christians, not Paulites. If Christ didnt say it, then we are not bound to follow it.

There came a point where I felt like I couldnt be Lutheran, or any form of Protestant, because I had no way of knowing if it were true. Faith just felt like a matter of consensus. I started wondering if God was a matter of consensus, too, and for a time, I wrestled with atheism. But the inevitable nihilism of life having no purpose and nothing beyond absolutely terrified me. As Dostoevsky wrote: I cant understand how an atheist could know that there is no God and not kill himself on the spot.

Unable to accept atheism, I began reading Christian writings throughout the ages, in particular Justin Martyr, Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. What I found looked rather Catholic. I was drawn to the consistent liturgy, consistent theology and morality, and consistent leadership through the popes succeeding from the Apostle Peter, commissioned by Christ.

C.S. Lewis wrote, A theology which denies the historicity of nearly everything in the Gospels to which Christian life and affections and thought have been fastened for nearly two millennia can produce only one or other of two effects. It will make him a Roman Catholic or an atheist. While he meant it as a warning, he was ultimately right. After a year and a half of attending Mass at St. Bonaventure in Bloomington, I formally entered the Catholic Church in Easter 2019.

Only nine months later, I accompanied Archbishop Hebda and Bishop Cozzens on their January 2020 ad limina pilgrimage to Rome. The most moving moment for me was when our bishops led Mass directly in front of the tomb of St. Peter. The Gospel reading was: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.

And I realized that not only is this Christs Church, but its my Church, too!

Hermann, 32, is a member of St. Bonaventure in Bloomington, where he coordinates the eucharistic adoration program. His hobbies include board games, bicycling and creative writing.

Tags: Will Herrmann

Category: Featured, Why I am Catholic

More here:
Why I Am Catholic Will Herrmann - TheCatholicSpirit.com - The Catholic Spirit

As we all know, the BBCs adaptation ofSally RooneysNormal Peoplewon lockdown. It secureda place in the hearts ofmillions worldwide for youngcouple Marianne and Connell (and Connells chain) and putCounty Sligo on the world map. To follow it up,Hulu and BBC Three have turned to Rooneys debut novel, Conversations with Friends, and another pair of Irish students, Frances and Bobbi, for a coming-of-age story of love, friendship andironicchatsabout atheism.

Expectations, fuelled by the heart-wrenchingturmoil and loved-up euphoriaof Normal People,are high. The audience comes pre-prepared this time, with Hulu hoping Americanviewerswill respond toanotherburst of millennial love and heartache. The cast hasa more American flavour, perhapswith that precise audience in mind,and the presence of Taylor Swifts other half, Joe Alwyn, in a key role that will draw inthe curious. Will it match Normal Peoples 62 million streams? Here are some clues.

All 12 half-hour episodes land in May on BBC Three in the UK, Hulu in the US and RT in Ireland. Expect to be able to stream it on Amazon Prime in Canada, Australia, Africa and New Zealand, and the newly launched HBO Max in other European countries.

A BBC trailer broke in February with the tagline: Prepare to get intimate. Theres a Huluonefor the US, too, and its alot racier than the more demureBeeb version, if youre into that kind of thing.

As any Rooney stan will tell you, the series is adapted from the Irish novelists 2017 debut novel. The voice of a generation label can be an painful one youre forced to speak on behalf of all millennials and will, at some point, be compared with Lena Dunham but Rooneys smart, empathetic, economical prose definitely captures the uncertainty and rootlessness of a generation coming of age in the 2010s. A less comforting book in a lot of way than Normal People, Conversations with Friends should make for emotionally flooring telly.

Like Normal Peoples Marianne and Connell, it follows two Trinity College Dublin students: Frances (Alison Oliver), the narrator, and her American ex-girlfriend-turned-BFF Bobbi (Sasha Lane). The duo perform as a spoken word poetry double-act and fall into the orbit of thirty-something married couple, actor Nick and photographer-writer Melissa (Joe Alwyn and Jemima Kirke), when Melissa agrees to a profile piece. Slowly, and without the knowledge of either of the others, Frances and Nick begin an affair. Its the exact nature of their relationship, and its impact on Francess bond with Bobbi, that Conversations with Friends grapples with over seven months of surreptitious shags, summer holidays and deep soul-searching.

The shows breakout star is Alison Oliver who plays Frances, a student from County Mayo with a judgy mum, an alcoholic dad, and that thirtysomething actor lover. The actress is a graduate of the same Dublin acting school as Normal Peoples Paul Mescal, The Lir Academy. The Daisy Edgar-Jones comparisons will no doubt follow, but unlike the Londoner, Oliver is a first-timer on screen who has mostly stage work to her name until now. Its a heck of a showcase role, alongside more experienced actors like American Honeys Sasha Lane, Girls Jemima Kirke and the shows biggest name, The Favourite actor Joe Alwyn. Co-directing with Leanne Welham (His Dark Materials) is Normal Peoples Lenny Abrahamson. Lennys deep affinity for Sallys writing and talent for finding actors to bring her fictional creations to life played a huge part in bringing Normal People so successfully to screen, says BBC director of drama Piers Wenger. In casting Alison, Sasha, Joe and Jemima, that same flair and instinct is in evidence and we cant wait to see how they will bring Frances, Bobbi, Nick and Melissa to life.

Like Normal Peoples Marianne and Connell (and author Sally Rooney herself), Frances and Bobbi study at Trinity College Dublin and the uni features in early episodes. Much of the shoot took place in Belfast, while the series swaps the books summer holiday destination of Brittany for the sunnier climes of Stari Grad on the Croatian island of Hvar.

Conversations with Friendsis streamingin May.

Where was Normal People filmed? The seriess Irish, Italian and Swedish locations uncovered.Anatomy of a Scandal: everything you need to know about Netflixs must-see thriller.

See original here:
Conversations with Friends: plot, cast and everything you need to know - Time Out

The recent report of the Commission on the Defence Forces has recommended change in the chaplaincy service to reflect the religious and non-religious beliefs of modern Ireland. It also wants an end to exclusionary religious practices such as convening Masses during induction.

If implemented, these changes would show respect for personnel of minority faiths or with non-religious philosophical convictions.

There is similar religious discrimination in our equality laws, which the Department of Justice is now reviewing, and in the religious oaths in our Constitution for the president, judges, and the Council of State, which includes the taoiseach and tnaiste.

Ireland is no longer a Catholic country. We are now a pluralist country with outdated privileges for Catholics.

Atheist Ireland, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland, and the Evangelical Alliance Ireland, made a joint submission to the commission seeking change in its Catholic culture that discriminates against all of us.

While the three groups have very different world views and policy emphases, we campaign together for secularism and human rights. Every person should be treated with respect, as should our right to hold our beliefs, and the State should treat us all equally before the law by remaining neutral between religions and beliefs.

The Defence Forces is a microcosm of society and should have a clear neutral policy on religion and belief. It should not promote any particular religious or atheistic belief, or oblige personnel to participate in religious rites as part of military events.

The Irish Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and religion. The State is forbidden to discriminate between religions, or between religions and those with no religion. Despite this, Catholicism has always been part of the culture of our Defence Forces.

About 9 per cent of Defence Forces personnel are non-Christian or have no religion, yet 15 of its 16 chaplains are Roman Catholic and full-time, and the other is Church of Ireland and part-time.

Catholic chaplains are responsible to Catholic bishops of their dioceses and provincials of their orders for religious ministrations and promoting the spiritual and moral welfare of all members of the Defence Forces under their spiritual care.

They must also co-operate with the head chaplain and the commanding officer in promoting the social and recreational welfare of such personnel. The duties are therefore seen as both sacramental and pastoral.

This means all full-time Defence Forces chaplains are responsible to a Roman Catholic bishop for promoting the spiritual and moral welfare of all members of the Defence Forces under their spiritual care, while merely co-operating with the commanding officer.

Does this mean Roman Catholic chaplains are responsible for the spiritual and moral welfare of Evangelicals, Ahmadiyya Muslims and members of other religious minorities, as well as atheists, humanists, and secularists in the Defence Forces?

Or does it mean that only Roman Catholic personnel have this privilege? Neither of these options is satisfactory. Over the years Defence Forces personnel have had to attend mandatory Masses, participate in ceremonial duties in churches and be generally deferential to Catholicism.

There are no rules or guidelines to ensure that personnel need not participate on the grounds of conscience in religious rituals.

While there have been some reforms, the commission has identified the chaplaincy and Masses during induction as outdated practices that must change or end. It also wants an end to other discriminatory practices, including the treatment of pregnancy and childbirth as an irregular absence from duty, and not permitting certain facial hair including beards.

The rights of minorities to freedom of conscience and religion cannot be reconciled with fully State-funded employees of the Defence Forces being appointed by Catholic bishops, or by forcing personnel to participate in religious practices.

It is time for the Defence Forces to embrace pluralism and equality in relation to religion or belief. The phrase religion or belief is important here. While it is obvious to most that the conscience of Evangelicals and Ahmadi Muslims should be protected, the Venice Commission has stressed that the belief aspect of this phrase includes deeply held conscientious beliefs that are fundamental about the human condition and the world, including atheism.

The Department of Justice is now reviewing our equality laws. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has recommended that the religion ground in the Acts should be amended to religion and belief, to bring it in line with EU law.

This would help us move to a more inclusive culture based on human rights.

Atheist Ireland, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and Evangelical Alliance Ireland welcome the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, and we look forward to a time when all State bodies recognise and include all minorities.

Jane Donnelly is human rights officer with Atheist Ireland

See original here:
Ireland is a pluralist country with outdated privileges for Catholics - The Irish Times

In recent years, American Catholics have found our country violently at odds with many of our firmly-held beliefsfrom traditional marriage to defense of the family to defense of the unborn. In response, many of us have looked to the outside world for a Christian country that would emit a glimmer of hope.

Some conservative Catholics have found Russia as a potential ally. However, given the Russian invasion of Ukraine, perhaps we need to look a bit more closely.

It is true that President Putins Russia defends the family and traditional marriage, but so does President Zelenskys Ukraine. Both countries are about the sameon gay rights, and both vehemently oppose same-sex marriage. On this issue, both countries are quite conservative.

When it comes to abortion, President Putin and President Zelensky oversee countries very open to legalized abortion. Russia has the worlds highest per-capita abortion rate, while President Zelensky wishes to makeabortion more accessible in Ukraine. President Zelensky also wants prostitution and other immoral practices legalized. While prostitution is also illegal in Russia, it isonly punishable by a minimal fine. Thus, prostitution is very popular and even lauded by President Putin himself.

Russia and Ukraine, while both Christian on some issues, are pretty much like any other nation when it comes to their lawscafeteria Christian and non-Christian on the preeminent issues.

Yet, even with all of these facts, you will hear that Russia is a Christian country, as if Ukraine is less of one. You will hear justification of Russias aggression as a type of a Christian crusade against Western atheism. But such an outlook fails to line up with the facts.

When looking at the demographics, Russiais actually less Christian thanUkraine. Furthermore, and more importantly, Russia is also less Catholic than Ukraine. Ukraine not only has a higher percentage of Catholics (~7.8% to ~0.5%) but also has more total Catholics (~3,354,000 to ~717,101).

In addition, Ukraine is home to the largest Eastern Catholic Church, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Its former mother church is in Lviv, where the United States and many Western allies have beenplacing their embassies. Lviv is amajorityUkrainian Greek Catholic city and oblast. Two other oblasts (provinces) in Western Ukraine are mostly Catholic as well. Lviv has been and still is home to the Roman Catholic Church (Latin Rite) and Armenian Catholic Church (another Eastern Catholic Church) in this region of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is not only the largest Eastern Catholic Church, but it also provides a direct connection back to the Christianization of Kievan Rus as one of the successor churches to the conversion of St. Grand Prince Vladimir I of Kiev to Christianity in 988. Therefore, the Catholic roots for Ukrainians run deep.

In addition to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Ukraine also has the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, with its mother church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. This church is for Ruthenians/Rusyns, another East Slavic groupwho make up a sizable minority in Ukraine, in addition to other areas of the Carpathian Mountains where they live. This area is calledCarpatho-Ruthenia and includes Ukraine, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Romania, and is actually in the same region where the White Croats originate from, one of the tribes that founded the strong Catholic nation of Croatia.

In Ukraine, the Ruthenians inhabit the Zakarpatska Oblast in Western Ukraine where the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church is the main Catholic jurisdiction there. The Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church can trace its origins to Saint Cyril and Methodius converting the Slavs of Great Moravia to Christianity in 863.

It is true that a Russian Greek Catholic Church exists too, but it has never garnered as much membership or sense of national identity as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has garnered.

Due to the changing borders of Ukraine, Ukrainians at one time lived under Habsburg Rule in places like Lviv and thus have more deeply Catholic roots. Many of the Ukrainian diaspora, especially in the United States, are part of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The same cannot be said for Russia, where there are not any significant cities, regions, or history where the Russian Greek Catholic Church plays a major role.

As one can see, there is a deep affinity between Ukrainians and the Catholic Church that is not present in Russia. And these Catholics are usually the most fiercely patriotic to Ukraine. There is a reason for that. Ukrainians have often looked West, as they did under the Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia when they looked for protection from the Mongols in the 1200s. This kingdom and the Galician region were centered on Lviv as their capital.

Lviv and the other Catholic Ukrainian regions of the West were also key in the struggle for Ukrainian independence in the Rukh Movement that saw Ukraine achieve independence from the brutal Russian-led USSR in 1991with 92.5 percent of the vote, and a sizable majority in all oblasts except the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and a city with special status, Sevastopol, where there was still a majority but with extremely low turnout.

Ukrainian Catholics and their countrymen sought independence from the abuses Russian-led empires had committed on the Ukrainian people over the years. Just take Catholic clergy in the Soviet Union for example. There were many martyrs and confessors, such as 128 bishops and nuns of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church who were sent to gulags and 36 Ruthenian Greek Catholic priests who were murdered.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, meanwhile, was outlawed by the Soviet Union from 1946-1989. In 2014, in Crimea,many Catholic clergy were forced to leaveafter the Russian takeover. Some may think these abuses were merely because of communism. But in fact, as seen in this Crimean example, it appears to be a Russian Federation problem too.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine will come with much Catholic heartache. As loyal Catholics, we must remember that the quest of other large Slavic experiments has not boasted proudly for our Church or most others in the recent past. Russia often has revanchist goals, and while it may seem like Russia will stop at Ukraine, there are always worries its invasion could spread to other parts of the former Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact.

Catholic countries like Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary could be next in line for Russian onslaught. Beyond that, other Catholic countries like Croatia and Slovenia are just a stones throw away. Already, Catholic Lviv is in the crossfire. For Catholics, the threat of Russia is very real, not just inside Russia.

Catholics should not only hesitate to support a Putin invasion because unnecessary wars are against our Faith, but we should also be against a Putin invasion of Ukraine because our Faith is strong in Ukraine. If conservative Catholics desire a more Catholic world, then we should do all we can to support Ukraine, one of the few countries with a truly Catholic heritage.

[Photo Credit: SERGEI GUNEYEV/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images]

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The Myth of the Crusader Putin - Crisis Magazine