Blasphemy Law is never outdated.
The following was written for the build-up to the Referendum in Ireland in October 2018:
Why Blasphemy Law is never outdated.
All referendums include the same premise, and which is: should there be a change from that which is currently in place? And that begs several questions, such as, why the suggestion for a change now? What has changed from before? What would be improved? Who would benefit? And in what ways?
The provision in the 1937 Irish Constitution concerning Blasphemy law being:
“The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law.” (Art 40 (60 1 (i))
The reasons put forwards by those approving of a referendum include as to what should be reflected in a modern society. And that Blasphemy laws do not reflect “Irish values.” The Irish justice minister, Charlie Flanagan, stating in June 2018 that:
“ By removing this provision from our constitution, we can send a strong message to the world that laws against blasphemy do not reflect Irish values, and that we do not believe that such laws should exist.” (C. Flanagan, Irish Justice minister, June 2018.)
Interesting that the announcement of the referendum drew an immediate response from atheists; the group “Atheist Ireland” looking upon it as a response to their ten year campaign.
And so from all of this we can ask, what is a modern society? What should it endorse? What do “Irish values” consists in? What message should be being sent to the world?
And all of which brings us to the main point, and which is that this referendum is not really about what values should be upheld, but whose values should be upheld.
The “whose” values to be upheld is really the key to understanding what this is all about, because we know whose values we should be the most concerned about to uphold. Indeed Blasphemy law in the Irish Constitution is unique and in a very special category in the most profound sense because it concerns due reverence owed to God. And due reverence owed to God very much includes His Commandments, and which are written in stone; written for us by God Himself,(Deut.5:22, 10:2.) And part of the Divine Law; that which never changes; Eternal Truth is always the same. It is of Eternity. And far better that humans be aligned with It than not! The words of The Our Father are “Thy will be done.”
The First commandment is:
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Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment."[Mt 22:37]&[Deut. 6:4-5]
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The Second Commandment is:
'You shalt not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. For the Lord will not leave unpunished him who takes his name in vain.[Duet 5:11]
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God wrote the Commandments in stone for us to know and to adhere to, as part of His loving and merciful plan of salvation for mankind.
When Adam and Eve fell in the garden of Eden at the prompting of Lucifer; the devil “the serpent” the whole of mankind fell with them, and which meant an automatic descent into hell; the abode of the devil and his demons, upon death.
But God, in His great Mercy and love for mankind, and in the way of a good Father caring for His children, set in place a plan of salvation; the way for mankind. This meant meeting mankind in our contemptible fallen state, choosing a people to reveal Himself through; making things understandable to them, and for them to write it down (The Bible.). And to nurture and cajole, to forgive, to chastise, and to sanctify; never casting them of, always preparing them; always bringing them back along the course of His loving plan, and all culminating “in the fullness of time” with the birth of our Saviour; Our Lord Jesus Christ. And all of which was good of Him, who has no need of us whatsoever. All glory and honour is due to Him, He who is our one and last end, and upon Whom all depends. And rightly do the words of the preface of the Feast of the Epiphany say:
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"It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; for when Thine only – begotten Son was manifested in the substance of our mortal flesh, with the new light of His own immortality He restored us...." (Traditional Latin Mass.)
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Those who deny that which took place, are denying historical facts, and they are denying much indeed. Our Lord; our Saviour came to prevent a man and a woman's automatic descent into hell upon death. All Our Lord God did for us fits with that foretold in scripture. Our Lord God, Jesus Christ, who dwells in glory, humbled Himself to partake of our humanity; making Himself "the Son of Man" for our sakes. He gave commands; freed us from the slavery of sin; restoring the life of grace, and giving us the means by which to be joined with Him in His glorious resurrection from the dead.
And humans should never mistake how serious this is. He warned us about hell on numerous occasions, for example:[Lk12.5] [Lk16:19] [Mt5:22] [Mt5:29-30] [Mt7:13][Mt13:41-42][Mt25:41][Mt25:46] [Mt13:50] [Mk9:42-48.] It is a place where, at all and every cost, humans Must Not Go! For there, human souls (soul and body) are abased, and in horrifying ways. The harrowing cries of those descending into hell after death from this life, are real cries.
Our Lord God and Saviour gave ample proof of His divinity, and of His purpose in coming amongst us; wondrous miracles; from curing the blind, the lepers, the deaf and mute [Matt9:1-12,lk 17;11-19,Mk 7:31-37] to feeding the five thousand [Matt 14:13-21] all witnessed. Thousands followed Him daily; all that He did took place in time. His life and works on earth an historical fact and reality. His Transfiguration, standing alongside Him Moses and Elias(Elijah) witnessed (Matt 17:1-8, Mk 9:2-8 Lk 9:28-36.) His raising Lazarus from the dead [Jn 11:38-48] witnessed by numerous. His agony in the garden of Gethsemane; where He did sweat Blood for us in anticipation of His suffering ahead in paying for us the price of every sin [Lk 22:44.] witnessed. His own resurrection from the dead witnessed by numerous; there for all to see.[Matt 28, Mark 16, Luke 24,John 20&21]
Indeed it is all too easily overlooked by those who take it upon themselves to deny the Truth of the Bible, that the fundamental basis of All Christian belief, is that our Lord God our Saviour, saved us from an automatic descent into hell upon death. And that we must be joined with Him in His glorious resurrection from the dead.
Modern Society.
And which brings us to what should a modern society consist in? And what are true values? True values pertain to a joyful life, in Christ, free from the slavery of sin, free from the liberty of error, and focused on the goal of salvation. Eternal Wisdom is to be strived for always.
Man does not change in the context of what he needs; he may advance in the sense that he can read scripture by way of electric light rather than candle light and drive to Church by car rather than by horse and carriage, but these and such 'advancements' are very different to what His inherent needs are as pertaining to His Creator; and how man must live to accord with Him; whose destiny for man He set out as shown in the Old Testament and in the New Testament and with all the Eternal Wisdom and commands; Gods commands, contained therein. And God's Rights come first and foremost for man; His divine Revelation. All education should be first and foremost in the Bible and in the true teachings of the Catholic Faith.
Our Lord God and Saviour gave ALL authority to His Church[Matt 28:18-20.] but this overlooked from the earliest times. And with the enforced and ever increasingly enforced rendering to Caesar the things of God. That which Our Lord warned us against (Matt 22:13-18 Mk 12:13-17 Lk 20:20-26.)
And so we must seek to ensure, as much as we can, that the Rights of God come first! He who made the earth, and the sky, and the sea, and all in it! And upon Whom all depends.
Why The Referendum Now?
But we come to the point as to why this referendum on Blasphemy Law is being called now. A number of points are being made by those approving of the referendum, to the effect that Blasphemy law is difficult to enforce. And also that there is now the 2009 law.; this being a reference to the Defamation Act 2009 s.36. But which is very different because the 2009 law concerns the individual and the religious sensitivities, and sensibilities of that individual; if the individual(s) themselves felt insulted etc.
Whereas Blasphemy law in the constitution is concerned with Blasphemy of itself. And is about God and what He makes of it. And what He makes of something is very much what we should be concerned with. The law should reflect that written in the constitution.
The 1937 Constitution.
But what of the Constitution itself? The 1937 Constitution of Ireland is generally regarded as having followed those of modern states (modern democratic values.)
But the Constitution is also quite unique, in that it includes the specific phenomenon of the referendum. A unique “role of the people” although it must be pointed out that this is stated in the constitution as being“under God.” That all powers "derive under God, from the people.” (Art 6(1) )
All modern states; all modern political systems, are based on eighteenth century so called 'enlightenment philosophy' which aligned itself with what had become the ever increasingly post-reformation fragmentations (fragmented beliefs, leading across society to different groups with their doctrines, beliefs, ideas, and values.)
Ideas of how to accommodate all of them increasingly took hold and to soon also include all beliefs and none and increasingly as though all being of one and the same value; and to endorse all such of these under the so called “rights of man.” In effect a form of paganism; an overseer type paganism, and with it the liberty of error set forth and being endorsed.
And with the Catholic Church, in contrast, holding fast to the Truth, and trying to ensure that the Rights of God, and the Kingship of Christ, be placed first, but increasingly undermined, even in a number of Catholic countries. Pope Gregory XVI had the measure of it all when he wrote, in 1832:
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".. indifferentism gives rise to that absurd and erroneous proposition which claims that liberty of conscience must be maintained for everyone. It spreads ruin in sacred and civil affairs, though some repeat over and over again with the greatest impudence that some advantage accrues to religion from it. "But the death of the soul is worse than freedom of error," as Augustine was wont to say. When all restraints are removed by which men are kept on the narrow path of truth, their nature, which is already inclined to evil, propels them to ruin. Then truly the "bottomless pit" opens from which St John saw smoke ascending which obscured the sun, and out of which locusts flew to devastate the earth. Thence comes transformation of minds, corruption of youth, contempt of sacred things and holy laws - in other words, a pestilence more deadly to the state than any other."[Pope Gregory XVI Mirari Vos 1832]
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These were profound and also very prophetic words considering what was then directly ahead! But governments had already long been continuing on under the general excuse of what else could they do but uphold all ?
The great problem being that the rights of man being placed first, and any belief going being treated as though equal and as though one and the same in value with God's Rights and His revelation in His Son, Jesus Christ, will never sit well with God's Justice. And the punishment upon mankind is the final chastisement. And it is a severe one!
The final chastisement is now very far advanced; it is that of “the locusts” amidst mankind; the devil and his demons amidst mankind, warned of in The Apocalypse. A warning was given to the Church at La Salette in the Secret of La Salette; the Church inadvertently missed the significance of the Secret.
The warning given in the Secret is of the release of Lucifer and a great number of demons from hell in 1864; in human form.
The link below shows the way in which the warning in the Secret links directly with the Apocalypse. (see: Locusts amidst mankind.)
The Divine timetable always comes first. And these are now the very last times of the world as we know it. Mankind is ever depleting in numbers whilst the apostate angels (the incarnate demons) increase vastly in numbers.) At all times the apostate angels seek to implicate mankind, individually and collectively, in their rebellion against God.
And so back to the 1937 Constitution. At the time of its drafting and implementation, the following was in place:
The Apostate angels had already been amidst mankind for five or so generations.
The human population is Ireland, as in all countries of the world, was increasingly in decline.
And there was set in place the phenomenon of the Referendum. A referendum draws attention from across the world. It is a very adept vehicle for gaining attention. And that means drawing attention in a profound way, to what Ireland is doing; what it is and what it is not endorsing!
What Ireland should be endorsing are true values:
Ireland should have been already long focused on the profound message given at Knock in 1879, and which accords with significant parts of the Apocalypse and how we must be in preparation for The Lord's Second Coming in Judgement. And this is serious!
In August 1879, a figure of St John the Apostle/the Divine appeared, alongside figures of The Holy Family, at Knock, Co Mayo, St John appeared, with book open, as though speaking, and wearing a mitre. This accords with the beginning of the Apocalypse where he sends the Apocalypse (as a bishop would send) to the bishops of the churches. The Holy Family were dressed in white robes, and with Our Lord; the Lamb. White robes, and our Lord as “The lamb” are very prevalent throughout the Apocalypse. The Lamb standing accords with Apoc. (5:6.) The white robes of the Apocalypse are shown at (3:4-5) (3:18)(4:4) (6:11) (7:9) (7:14) (7:13-17) also (7:3) (9:4) (22:14) They can be seen as a vital teaching as to how we must present ourselves in these crucial times of build up to Our Lord's Second Coming. We are in that shown in chapter 14. Our Lord's Second Coming is Apoc ch 14 v. 14. We need to be as shown in the Apocalypse (ch. 15.)
And which brings us to the point of what is Ireland presenting to the world? Well, in the circumstances of our era, there is being set forth, showcased to the world, a quite different direction to that of Knock. What is being shown is the endorsement of the liberty of error, and the wrong direction of mankind! Many of these referendums include, inevitably, the feature of enticing humans into rebellion against God; against His laws, His ways.
And humans, and not least those in any position of influence, must try to counteract this to put the Rights of God first in all circumstances. That “under God” means putting God first.
But, and as reflected in mankind's depleting numbers right across the world, there are relatively few humans now left in Ireland. But humans must try to help ourselves, and each other. We must prepare urgently for the Lord.
©Angela Anne Mary St John (Angela Margaret Mary Searles) Apostle of the Lord.
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