Time to Silence the Angelus
All throughout Ireland, and much of the world, when the clock strikes the hour, a church bell peels to announce the hour. Since the tradition was started in early Christian times, people have been ruled by the chimes from above and while few traditional bells remain in a digital world, I believe it’s now time to silence these tones of power.
As children congregate together at dusk, one may light a firecracker, shout aloud with laughter or even speak in a loud voice. This very often is construed by authorities as a “breach of the peace”. But what of the loud reverberating tones of an establishment who very often and very recently brutally silenced those sounds of laughter from children and who now, even today in the second decade of the 21st century, are shamelessly allowed to blast their so-called “call to prayer” throughout this country so ravaged by the failings in care and brutal régime presided over by the Catholic Church? Why do we still give pause to reflect on the works of our so-called ‘God’ but fail to notice the cruel and unforgiving hardship those around us must bear for the crimes of those who wore the cloth. Far from the war-torn middle-ages and the burning bodies of the crusades, Ireland today still displays the wounds of a society marred by the violence, hatred and bitter neglect of those who seek to espouse the virtues of a man believed to have lived over two thousand years ago.
Religion is the cause of almost all war. Organised religion seems to be the cause of all modern warfare. Afghanistan, Gaza, Turk/Cypriot wars and the Northern Ireland violences. And in Ireland a war of silence has been vigorously pursued for generations as those in the upper echelons of the catholic church sought to quell the growing questions about abuses being carried out at institutions all across the country. To reach a point where a woman in her 50s can sit in the audience of an RTE programme in 2010 and say openly that she didn’t believe the church did any wrong shows that for too long the church has had a reigning grasp over the views of the free people of the Republic of Ireland.
And for the national broadcaster to have a ‘moment of reflection’ every evening at 6pm on the primary national station with church bells in the background, with more prayers close to the end of schedule, we are constantly surrounded by biased religious symbolism. In a world with even greater divisions than those between the church and the people here in Ireland, I believe it’s now time for us to take a stand. The separation of church and state must be copper-fastened by banning the use of church bells, and by taking a firm stand against the oldest institution in the world. We cannot live in a society where bishops of the church can make openly homophobic comments about marriage when the government is pursuing a policy of equality for same-sex couples. The whole institution of marriage needs to be dissolved in its current form. All citizens wishing to enforce a sacrificial bond of togetherness which is no longer in tune with the realities of the modern world should not be allowed to do so with the mention of ‘God’ in the procedure unless both actually want it to. When I die, the last person I want present is someone who believes that death leads to ‘a life ever-lasting’ who at the same time refuses to take a stand against his leader’s unwillingness to entertain female ministers, blessing the union of two men or two women and who believe today that sex should be an act only pursued in the vein of procreation.
I believe that this world cannot continue to prosper and succeed if religion is given any place or power. It should be outlawed and the first step should be the removal of all religious overtones in society, starting with the bells that wake me up every morning in a cold sweat.
diarmy
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