A toast to the Irish, who just loudly told the anti-equality & repressive Catholic Church

[Arugula Latte]

to go fuck itself! Congratulations on your vote in favor of human rights and against repressive mythologies!

[deucemagnet]

1. I'll raise a pint of Guinness to that!

I wish them continued good fortune in throwing off the shackles of religion!

[Arugula Latte]

2. The people who were brave enough to step forward and tell their tales of rape & abuse

by church officials really did a great service to humanity that goes far beyond just helping victims of sexual crimes. They helped pull back the curtain on the corrupt-to-the-core RCC, letting people see how self-serving, hypocritical, and just downright LYING that entire institution is, leading to a fast erosion of its power in many countries, and opening the door for an embrace of equality.

Now ... to get equal rights for women, as well ...

[Curmudgeoness]

3. It's a good first step.

Now we have to keep moving forward for gay rights and against the silly teachings of the church (and other religions).

[mountain grammy]

4. I'll drink to that

[RussBLib]

5. To Ireland!

An amazing feat! In a country that seemed to be inextricably bound to/by the RCC.

If you were Irish, it was a given you were Irish-Catholic, now...atheism up 400% in Ireland in 10 years.

In 2011, 47% of Irish respondents said they considered themselves religious, 44% not religious, and 10% convinced atheists. The global average has 59% of respondents self-identifying as religious, 23% as not religious, and 13% as convinced atheists.

If that can happen in Ireland, surely our own SCOTUS will do the right thing with its June decision on marriage equality.

[Arugula Latte]

6. We need a huge leap forward in reason, like some western European countries have had.

We seem to lag behind here in the US of A, but I'm hoping that the Internet + big rejection of religion by young people will get us there eventually.

[haikugal]

7. It is wonderful!

Of all places! Here's to Ireland, all the best to you!

🍻

[progressoid]

8. And by a substantial margin too!

I was expecting it to be closer. Good for them!

[mr blur]

9. Some pics here:

pics:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/may/23/ireland-gay-same-sex-marriage-vote-yes

"Catholic church needs reality check, says Dublin archbishop"

[Arugula Latte]

11. "A reality check" --

Hmm, kind of tricky to do that when your entire grifting scam, er, religion, is based on nonsensical mythology.

Great pics ... This one made me tear up a bit:

[AuntPatsy]

14. Says it all without words

[onager]

12. That second article is just great. Lots of interesting facts.

This one jumped right out:

All but one of the republic’s 43 parliamentary constituencies voted yes to same-sex marriage. And fears of an urban-rural, yes/no split proved to be unfounded. Constituencies such as Donegal South West, which in the past voted against divorce and abortion reform, backed the yes side.

Amazing. And zipping around the Net today, I saw some Actual Irish People explaining another reason this vote is so earth-shaking - it's not just a popular vote on gay rights, it's a vote that will change the Irish Constitution.

Kudos to Atheist Ireland. They were in the thick of this fight for a long time.

[RussBLib]

16. God must have approved of the vote (edited)

...after all, He gave them "glorious sunshine" for the vote and the vote counting.

I couldn't resist.

That, of course, is the same kind of facile argument I cannot stand, as in, "God sent Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for tolerating homosexuality."

I forgot the rainbows!!

[trotsky]

10. Fascinating how the rise in peace and equality..

has coincided with the decline of the RCC in Ireland. Things that make you go "Hmmm..."

[PeaceNikki]

13. But it's not about religion, trot.

[trotsky]

15. NEVER! n/t