Yes voters must recognise others have right to differ

FOR decades, liberals justifiably railed against being silenced and neutralised by clerical dogma. In the wake of the marriage referendum and the repeal landslide, a new secular authoritarianism is beginning to assert itself. The recent referendum vote has been recognised as a belated recognition of our need to protect women and embrace compassion.

It was marked by reasoned and respectful argument, therefore it is all the more jarring to hear the winning side now call for the Church and institutions like the Iona to be banished from the argument.

The sign of any liberal democracy is that it respects – no, insists – on the right of every voice to be heard.

Tolerance after all implies no lack of commitment to one’s own cause or campaign. Intolerance on the other hand tends to stimulate the building of walls at the expense of bridges.

When Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran, speaking on RTÉ radio yesterday, said Catholics who voted Yes to repeal the Eighth Amendment should consider going to confession, he came under sustained attack. He was merely stating the position of the Church; whether one agrees with him or not, he has as much right to do so as anyone else.

There was outrage that a bishop might suggest voting Yes was a sin if someone “knew and intended abortion as the outcome” of their vote.

Surely to be pro-choice acknowledges that others can make up their own minds too and you can agree to differ?