I'm so shocked I can barely type. Only six percent of Irish people think that premarital sex is always wrong. Six percent. God help us all, but what's happened? Thirty years ago, a full seventy-one percent of the people thought it was wrong, all that fornicating and carrying on. Now, it's down to six percent. Shocking, it is. Shocking.
There's worse news, I'll have you know. Ninety-two percent of those responding to a recent survey think that there should be sex education, teaching the young about contraception and intercourse and homosexuality. And they think it should be taught in school. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.
If there is but one tiny bright spot in all this, it's that most people don't believe that one night stands are quite acceptable. Anyone looking to pick up someone in a bar and take them home for the evening would have a difficult job of it in Ireland, based on that particular statistic. Surely it can't be something that the aged clergy have instilled? Hard to believe that anyone would pay them any mind when it comes to lectures on morality and acceptable sexual behavior.
And then there's the abortion issue. Twenty years ago, the vast majority of Irish thought that abortion was always wrong, and the legalization issue was soundly defeated. Now, however, a majority are wavering, suggesting that the black and white issue has turned a muddled grey. Minister for Health Mary Harney does not see another abortion referendum on the horizon, however. She's busy enough as it is, fielding questions about emergency contraception. You can't get the morning after pill in Ireland without a prescription, and she has shunted the question of over-the-counter availability to the Irish Medicines Board. Clever politician, our Mary.
That's it then. The world is surely coming to an end. The land of saints and scholars has joined the rest of the known universe, attitudes are changing...it's not the same country that it was fifty years ago. Sort of a Rip Van Winkle of a nation.
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