Iris Robinson

I have no idea how some one can think that this day and age it is acceptable to go onto national broadcaster (Radio Ulster in this case) and think that its ok to express hatred and misunderstanding of a minority group, And now she has constantly fucked up afterwards associating homosexuality to peadophilia. The DUP, the political party that she is a figure head for are a constant source for a blank look and stutter ‘what…how?…I dont get it……hu?’ for example a number of weeks ago it was decided that there should be bridges built between the politicians and the gay community of Northern Ireland so the heads of various gay groups were invited up to Stormont for some food and a bit of a chat to see hot to increase understanding and lower hate crimes. A representitive of every single party was at this meeting except for the DUP who are mean to be running the country.

I would also like to make people aware that there is a petition to strip Iris of all her power on the offical government petition site.

Further to my comments above, if anyone is writing to Iris & co., it might be worth emphasising this… I wonder how fundamentalist Christians would feel if we had a conservative Islamic party which drew support from the majority of the community that argued that women had to wear headscarves and that Christians and Jews were an ‘abomination’ and should be cured.

As an aside, I have a very lovely psychiatrist whom I have worked with and he tries to help fundamentalists trying to turn away from what they are engaged in.

Why we should pity Iris Robinson

There is a lot I could say about Iris. Most of it has already been said and so I thought I might take the opportunity to provide a different slant on the situation, discussing the broader situation and how we might take the issue forward.

First, I must emphasise that she ought to apologise for the offence caused by her remarks. I would also like to see her resign – but this wont solve the problem. The most unfortunate thing about Iris Robinson is how she allows herself to become the mouthpiece for the views espoused by the rest of her party. Let's not kid ourselves, the Free-Presbyterian element of the DUP think alike on these matters but leave it up to Iris to shoot her mouth off. She has a history of losing her temper and making unconsidered statements but I honestly believe that she is a victim of indoctrination and is symptomatic of how Free Presbyterians churn out women who are apparently powerful, but are in fact no more than mouthpieces for chauvinistic male theology.

Not only are minority rights under threat from the DUP, but also the rights of larger groups, such as women. This is evident in the current discussion of abortion. Added to her disgraceful comments on homosexuality, it seems to me that the battle between the religious and secular in politics is one that we in Northern Ireland cannot afford to lose if we value our personal freedom. And Christians would do well to remember that freedom and free choice is central to the Gospel of Jesus.

Looking at the DUP, It is no surprise that none of the female members of the party have any real clout within the organisation seeing as Free Presbyterians also adhere to that narrow interpretation of Paul in the New Testament which suggests that women should abstain from positions of leadership. The majority of Christians from non-evangelical backgrounds are less inclined to accept a strict interpretation of scripture, seeing as if we accepted much of the Old Testament as a moral guide, we would still be committing mass genocide. Rather, other ways of reading the Old Testament such as moral allegory or historical opinion seem to make it a much richer and less problematic text. Rather than interpret that God wants us to invade nations who profess a different faith, we might look upon it as how people thought they were interpreting God's will.

Unfortunately, it's not as if Sinn Fein or the SDLP offer a better alternative. In the case of the former, it seems that any woman within the party who is intelligent is shortly thereafter sidelined. I am thinking particuarly of Bairbre de Brun, a very successful and confident Minister who is nowhere to be seen anymore. SF are a very tightly controlled party and are taking advantage of the DUP's remarks by marketing themselves as the 'pro-gay' party. It would be a unfortunate if this were to guide the gay vote considering that Sinn Fein's electoral support comes mainly from Roman Catholics whose church equates homosexuality with paedophilia also! I also find it repugnant that a party which was the political wing of the IRA has the nerve to oppose both animal cruelty and the Iraq war.

As a result, I think it is important to emphasise that when voting, we must make sure that we are deciding on the basis of the broader issues and not single-issues that only concern us. For me, this means I will vote in the interests of liberty for all groups, not just myself as a woman, for example. For the gay community and its supporters, although it is tempting, I feel it important that we do not get swept up by those seeking to court our vote unless it is in the interests of all minorities. Politicians and the media trade on people's fear, as we see from the treatment of other minority groups like asylum seekers and immigrant workers. Politicians do have to manipulate to get votes and we must exercise our judgment and our civic duties to ensure that we prevent any group from excluding others. It's about being the bigger person and remembering that people like Iris only say the things they say because they know that society is changing and they are frightened of it.