...Yes, Gabriel Byrne is giving us the fruit of having "read a lot on the subject and had many conversations" and declares "The Catholic Church is a force for evil".
Amongst his other comments, which are entirely predictable, he makes this slur against nuns:
"The nuns were vicious because you have all these women living together in denial of love.
They turned inward on themselves, became twisted creatures. I saw nuns being awfully cruel to me and to my sister. Horrific. Horrific.”
Yes, I've encountered some bitter and angry nuns in my time. I've also encountered plenty of nuns who are cheerful, good-humoured, giving, caring and apparently entirely fulfilled in their vocations. Byrne's assumption is that there is something morbid about vows of chastity. This I have not observed to be the case.
I find it interesting that established/working Irish entertainers, particularly those in the movie/tv industry ie Neil Jordan and Fiona Shaw are quite anti-Catholic/religion.
ReplyDeleteIt is said that Shaw is a lesbian. "But GoldenRushApple why does it matter?" you say. Oh, it matters alright. She just recently wrote a one person monologue parody (?) of mother Mary becoming an atheist after her son, Jesus, goes to war as a soldier. Jordan too mocked the RCC despite him including his signature priest roles in his films.
I am both surprised, yet at the same time not, about this aspect of Irish culture - this (with emphasis) very exclusive club in terms of RTE & entertainment industry.
This quote stood out to me from the article (referring to his two children being raised in a non-religious household):
ReplyDelete"And it’s interesting to watch two people grow up without it and find their own kindness and conscience.”
This brings up the ever popular statement of "If non-believers are already 'good' people, that they don't need God for morality and guidance, then religion is disposable." (Or something to that effect.)
I firmly believe that there is something fanatical in the Irish pysche. When the backlash against Christianity came, I think it was inevitable that it would be so vitriolic. The Catholic writer George Weigel described Ireland as "the epicentre of European anti-Catholicism"!
ReplyDelete