September 10, 2007
Wrong Paisley Resigns
 An ass in Northern Ireland. |
Paisley resigns as church leader
Ian Paisley, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, is to step down from the leadership of a church he founded 56 years ago.
The veteran politician has come under pressure from members of the Free Presbyterian church over gay rights issues. The fundamentalist Christian sect have been outraged that Mr Paisley and other members of his Democratic Unionist Party have ignored their objections to government financial support for Pride marches.
. . .
Before the administration had taken office a Free Presbyterian preacher demanded that a new government minister block a grant to Pride, calling it a “celebration of sodomy.”
. . .
The Free Presbyterian Church mounts a yearly counter-protest against Belfast Pride at the City Hall.
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Independent Unionist MEP Jim Allister wrote to Mr Paisley … “There is not much point in being in executive office if you can’t deliver on principles important to you and your electorate … These over-the-top regulations, subverting the conscience and convictions of service providers, so that, for example, the printer can’t refuse to print gay rights material, offend not just the human rights of service providers but exalt the rights of those they serve above their conscience and religious belief.”
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In the 1970s the First Minister spearheaded a campaign against the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland, “Save Ulster From Sodomy,” and as recently as 2005 he led opposition to civil partnerships…
How ironic. Paisley is one of the biggest ‘phobes in N.I., who raised an even bigger ‘phobe (Paisley Jr. is the one who finds homosexuality “repulsive” and a danger to society) — and he gets booted for not being homophobic enough.
Hmm… Ya think the silly old thing is still “confused” by Sonny Boy’s homophobia?
Filed under: Radical Religious Right, United Kingdom & N.I.
