Back to troubling current affairs

‘Despite all the talk of diverse views… there wasn’t much diversity’, writes Brendan O’Regan

After a feast of music and drama over the holiday period it‘s back to troubling current affairs.

The Big Questions returned to BBC 1 last Sunday morning. The audience discussed the new trend of free speech being stifled on college campuses. The crushing of free expression in the cause of political correctness didn’t gain much traction in the audience if one was to judge by the level of applause.

That being said, the only proponent of this censorship was a person identifying as a “gender-fluid non-binary” feminist, and this person was relatively moderate, quite happy to tolerate some offensive views, but more opposed to extreme views that dehumanised. Most participants favoured the “free market of ideas” to a greater or lesser extent. One student leader was in favour of a wide range of views being aired but also wanted to encourage debate, to have opportunities where what might be considered extreme views could be challenged.

Despite all the talk of diverse views, when it came to the last topic – the rifts within Anglicanism – there wasn’t much diversity. The only conservative voice was isolated however much he tried to moderate and nuance his views. Most, even some Anglican clergy, were in favour of inclusiveness, but failed to show the consistency between loving people and challenging them to follow the teaching of Jesus, scripture and the Church. Predictably most of the conflict revolved around gender and sexuality.

Presenter Nicky Campbell wondered how there could be any unity between those who regarded homosexual activity as an offence against human dignity and those who thought such a stance itself lacking in dignity.

On another controversial issue, watching last Friday night’s Late Late Show (RTÉ One) I wondered if it was a coincidence that the new Master of the Rotunda maternity hospital, Prof. Fergal Malone, appeared on the show shortly after his pro-choice comments (in relation to fatal foetal abnormality conditions), were reported in the media. Would a doctor who made pro-life comments have been invited on?

On the plus side, it’s worth acknowledging that Prof. Malone’s work operating on babies in the womb to save their lives is admirable. So it was disappointing to see him supporting a change in our current legal situation in relation to abortion in “terminal condition” cases, after his talk about delivering “fabulous bundles of joy”. It’s poor consolation to the terminated unborn child that he dressed this up in euphemism – talking about supporting parents in whatever “journey” they undertook – bringing the child to term and giving it a chance at life, or travelling to Britain for a termination carried out by “highly professional colleagues”. In the Rotunda last year, he said, 28 out of 40 had taken the latter route.

Tubridy did put the opposing view to him – that plenty of people would say that “all human life is sacred including a foetus [not baby!] with a terminal condition”, but there was no robust challenging here. Malone didn’t accept the “slippery slope” argument, saying that floodgates hadn’t opened since the Protection of Life in Pregnancy Act – but surely it’s too soon to judge that. He told us about nine cases of termination under the act (in the Rotunda last year), including one case relating to suicide. He didn’t demur when Tubridy suggested that this was nine more than ever took place before. So sad, and I thought the whole thing smacked of another step in the campaign to repeal the 8th (Life Equality) Amendment.

Finally, last weekend’s Sunday Spirit (RTÉ Radio Extra) featured an enjoyable interview with poet John F. Deane. He writes lots of poetry with spiritual themes, but doesn’t like the term ‘religious poet’ preferring instead ‘faith poet’. He showed how poetry and prayer are close, and spoke of how he was inspired by the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins.

After leaving boarding school he had entered a seminary but later found that wasn’t for him. On leaving he kept his faith, and obviously it is still strong. He read one striking poem linking the partition wall of his old school in Achill with the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

At the end presenter Michael Comyn asked him what advice he’d now give to his young self, and the answer was confident – read and meditate on the Gospels, not the commentaries, and all the controversies and theologies will fall into place and there will follow a simplicity and clarity.

Pick of the Week

The Meaning of Life, With Gay Byrne

RTĖ One, Sunday, January 17, 10.35pm
Anna May McHugh of the National Ploughing Championships, shares her love of all things rural and her deep faith.

The Crusades

BBC 4, Tuesday, January 19, 10.00pm
Dr Thomas Asbridge challenges the popular misconception that the crusades sparked a clash of civilisations between Islam and the West that continues to this day.