Could This Be The REAL Reason Why Ireland Did It?

Why did Ireland turn against the Catholic Church and rescind an abortion ban, leaving the door open to abortion during the first three months of pregnancy? 

How could this happen in one of the most Catholic countries in the world? And, mind you, the vote wasn't even close. This move was approved by a wide margin. 

We've been to Ireland. We've studied its history -- a history of religious oppression of and discrimination against Catholics. 

The Irish people aren't batty. They haven't suddenly taken leave of their senses and we sure as hell hope they haven't forgotten their history and heritage. 

So, why and how did this happen? 

Well, growing secularism cannot be denied, along with many modern-day movements for women's rights, gay rights, etc. Ireland certainly hasn't been immune to these. 

But we have another reason for why this happened -- a deeper, more emotional reason which may lie at the core of it all. 

And you may have already figured out what it is. 

It's the Church's child sexual-abuse scandal -- the great, horrifying stain that continues to haunt the Church. 

And Ireland was hard hit by the priestly sexual abuse and the coverup -- a coverup that spread like a vile rot into the highest levels of the Church. 

For a religion founded on the notion of forgiveness and salvation, how could something so venal, so pervasive, so destructive and so apparently systematic be forgivable? How? It's almost beyond human comprehension. 

The scandal destroyed the credibility of the Church. 

And the deeper a nation's belief in the Church, the greater the sense of betrayal that was felt by the faithful. The Irish people felt, and still feel betrayed by their own Church -- a Church that permitted irreparable harm; that hid horrendous acts from them; that deceived them; that lied to them. 

You don't do that to your fondest and fiercest adherents -- people who have fought your battles; taken the front line for you and shed their blood for you. 

You don't betray them like that. When you do that, people stop listening to you; they stop believing you; they turn their backs on you; they walk away from you and they chart a new path -- their OWN path. 

And that's basically what happened -- and what continues to happen -- in Ireland.