Disgusting But Equal

Ian Paisley founded a religion so that he could justify hatred. The Pope is the Anti-Christ, according to him, and it's perfectly all right to hate Catholics, and his followers are assured of their heavenly reward because the diploma mill reverend said so. All well and good to preach to your personal choir, but it's a different story when you're addressing a mixed bag of citizenry.

Ian Jr., a chip off the old block, has been elevated to a ministerial position now that dad is the First Minister of Northern Ireland. Rather obvious that he didn't get his post through extensive training or advanced education, but Chicago's been run through nepotism for ages and the garbage gets picked up regularly so what's the problem? Junior has been inculcated in daddy's faith, but he never did get the hang of public speaking when the public being spoken to are not pseudo-Presbyterians.

While the ministers are busy working on legislation to ensure equality for all, regardless of race, creed, or sexual orientation, Junior is shooting off his mouth, lambasting homosexuals. He's supposed to be promoting human rights in his position. Is there some conflict here, when he's quoted as being "pretty repulsed" by gays who he believes are harming society? Junior doesn't think so.

The Assembly meeting at Stormont was considering censuring the lad, until SDLP equality spokesperson Dolores Kelly tabled the motion. She'd rather take him behind the shed and have a stern talk with him, give him some limits and perhaps a time-out so that he can think about what naughty things he said. A minister crafting equality legislation does not exactly engender confidence in the downtrodden when he tears them down publicly. With that sort of mindset, the public will say, how can he be in favor of equality? He's not trying to inflict his religious beliefs on us, is he? That's Taliban talk, that is.

Junior insists that he can do his job and still hate homosexuality, and all this criticism is political correctness run riot, and anyone who says he is discriminating is discriminating against his right to free speech. Yes, it's true. If you deride Junior for being a bigot, he points the finger right back at you and says that you are the bigot for not accepting his right to preach against homosexuality. As far as he's concerned, he doesn't hate anyone, and it's his critics who are the intolerant ones.

And there are none so blind as he who will not see.