Fall of the Catholic Church

You didn't spot the Irony.

The unionists said Home Rule would be Rome Rule and for over 60 years they were right.

Glad you agree this was a bad period. It led to many abuses, and to injustices against non-catholics - but in education and healthcare these injustices persist to this day.

Most of that influence eliminated though? Politically, yes as recent referendums have shown. But they still have massive control over taxpayer funded social services. 89% of primary schools, lots of hospitals, and the new fully taxpayer-built NMH is going to be handed over to a catholic-controlled private company. Also the majority of taxpayer-funded disability services are delivered by catholic church organisations. Churches have always preyed on the vulnerable.

I don't agree that any religion should be banned, that makes us no better than the worst abuses under the Soviet Union or Communist China.

What needs to be banned in a religiously equal a.k.a. secular (which is not the same as non-religious) society is a religion using taxpayer-funded services to promote or impose their beliefs upon citizens who seek education, healthcare, etc.

Of course, and make sure that the men who caused these pregnancy's, and the families who committed these poor girls to the laundry's etc. be identified. DNA testing will go a long way to identifying the people involved. And especially the babies buried in unmarked graves. I'm glad that you mentioned the involvement of the state, maybe they should be banned too? For sure, there were hospitals and doctors involved in treating sick babies who later died under suspicious circumstances?. You do realize that society in general knew what went on in those places? And it was not unique to Ireland either, there were similar institutions in other Country's as well, the UK, Canada, US, Australia. etc. And you can be sure that these kind of places existed in many Country's throughout the world at that time. And they still do, I can assure you, and not run by religious orders either, I've been in them. And they make the Magdalene Mother and Baby homes here in Ireland look like modern kindergarten's, and now that's saying something. These present day Mother and Bay homes are all in Country's where poverty is rife, the same economic place Ireland was in 1922 when the first Mother and Baby homes came into being. They were a handy solution to a problem that the state choose to turn a blind eye to.

No, not especially, but then again my knowledge of Zoroastrianism is pretty limited, I was aware of it, but far from expert. However a quick search ( Thank you Google) reveals the following:-

It began about 600 (?) years before Christianity, in India, and spread from there. It speaks about a Saviour who will be born of a Virgin, a final battle between good and evil in which good will triumph, after which the dead will rise , the earth will be purged by molten lava, in which the righteous will wade through as if it were milk, and the evil will be burned. After this all will be judged , the sinners punished, but afterwards forgiven, and with the righteous made immortal, and live in a world free from hunger, thirst, disease, old age an death. In a world cleansed from the evil one, and made whole again, as it was before the evil one destroyed it. Reminds me very much of Jesus and Christianity.

Just a thought Breezy ( 2nd one.... ) in the parish I live in, the priests house, an old building at this stage needs to be refurbished and modernized, so the Parish Council ( predominantly lay people ) started fund raising to cover the costs, which under the present circumstances were pretty high, as per builders estimates. Yet within a relatively short time, then required amount has been exceeded by €65'000, and still rising . Now Breezy, I don't know this would mean to you, but to me, it indicates a pretty strong and healthy Parish.

As far as I can see its still a practiced religion, albeit in vastly reduced nrs in its original form, as you point out. But it lives on in other guises, both Christianity and Islam basically following the same tenets ( but more so Christianity , with its Virgin Birth etc. Remarkable similarities there. And Islam is basically taken from the Old Testament, with a few additions thrown in by Mohammad), But religion goes further back in time than this, cave drawings from the Neolithic period indicate a strong indication of awareness of a deity. ( Catherine Perles , professor of Anthropology, Paris ) who lectured on her interpretation of cave drawings from that time .

So an awareness of a deity is nothing new, and God knows ( literally ) how many " Official Religions" have risen and fallen throughout history.

But for me personally, it all boils down to belief, in Jesus, and his promise that even if the World should pass away, His words will not, they are there until the end of time.

Now I'm happy with this, but also realize that many will regard this as basically bull**t, and that's OK by me, I'm not trying to push my beliefs on anyone.

All the funds were raised from the parishioners voluntary contributions, and admittedly over time, but all things considered, pretty quick. Your " But 65K is a thousand euro for 650 people" ??? I guess you mean €100 x 650 people= €65'000? Anyway, the actual amount estimated by the builders was way than more than €65'000,. multiples in fact, as it's an old building. They ( the parish council ) held different fundraising events, which were very well supported by the parishioners. And at the final count, they had a surplus of €65'000. But even say at a cost of €200'000, shared between 5000 parishioner's would mean a contribution of €40 per person, and shared between 10'000, just €20. So very doable.

What was being sold in those shop's Breezy? in any case, shops for any reason in a quiet area reserved for praying is s big no no. Jesus specifically forbade any kind of business within a house of prayer or temple. Throughout His ministry, the only act of violence attributed to him was when he beat the thieves and scoundrels away from the Temple, saying " You have turned my Fathers House into a den of thieves and scoundrels.

10000 parishioners would you go away out of it. Is it an American mega church you were in.

As for the shop it was selling books and the usual religious nick-nacks like crucifixes and rosary beads. I was wrong though to say Sacre Coeur Montmartre as the shop there is in a room to the side of the main hall but has all it's wares displayed in windows in the main hall.

It was Notre Dame that had them right in the main hall. People praying to the sound of the "money lenders" tills ticking away in Frances 2 great Basilica.

Also Notre Dame won't allow women to have bare shoulders which is weird and a bit retrograde especially in a country that has laws banning burkas.

Bit of a mistake picking nasty oul Judas as one of the twelve, who would go on to be the first ever ‘cancel culture’ actor.

My kids school is like this, they do sweet FA religious education to the point where catholicism is pretty much a mystery to them beyond the most basic stuff.

What's your kids school like?

Yeah that doesn't happen these days.

Do you have kids yourself?

What difference then, between your beliefs and those that followed Jim Jones or Heaven's Gate? Believing in the unprovable is the essence of cultism; and yes, by that definition, all religions are cults.

If the suicide cults bother you, what about the Unification church?

Well a bit more accurate than your " 65K is a thousand euro for 650 people" . I never said what the attendance figures for my parish were.. I used the 10-5'000 figures to illustrate how wrong your figures were. The fact remains that a sum of more than €260'000 was raised very quick, which is proof of a very much alive and active congregation.