Ian Paisley: an anti-Catholic softening?

[MarcoPolo]

Ever heard of Ian Paisley? I’ve heard some of his stuff and he is your typical anti-Catholic shock jock. He’s also 81. But I read this article from October 2006 that he has met with the Archbishop of Ireland and found the meeting helpful.
(by the way, the end of the article contains some samples of his rabid anti-Catholic speech)

Any European friends out there who have an update on his attitude towards Catholics from the last year? Or anyone else?

I wonder if he could become one of the lifelong anti-Catholics who convert late in life like I posited in another thread. We can only pray!

 

[Sean_Boyle]

His attitude toward the Church can only change for the better or stay the same. It can’t get worse!!

 

[MarcoPolo]

His attitude toward the Church can only change for the better or stay the same. It can’t get worse!!

You have a point!

 

[Maranatha]

You have a point!

It seems to me the point is that truth is always working in our favor. (Our meaning to the benefit of all mankind.) Sometimes truth has the deck stacked against it as when media spin willfully disregards objectiveness in favor of a single point of view. Other times, truth is flatly rejected but later the Lord opens one person’s eyes. It is always heartening and uplifting to see the grace of the Holy Spirit at work.

 

[EDKidd]

I don’t know about softening but as leader of the Northern Ireland assembley Paisley has a duty to act in the best interests of both Catholic and Protestant citizens of NI. He also has as his deputy Martin McGuiness who is Catholic, though as far as I know (and I may be wrong) Paisley and McGuiness have yet to publicly shake hands.

A friend of mine is from NI and has numerous tales of Paisley’s anti-Catholic words from his childhood. (Paisley was his MP when he lived there)

To know whether Paisley has softened, one first has to attempt to understand the complexity of the history of Ireland and especially post partition (not the easiest thing to do) in order to appreciate why there may be scepticism regarding this.

Having said that, Paisley appears to be a God fearing man and therefore presumably open to His will. People with more hardline feelings towards Catholicism than Paisley have acted in accordance to God’s will and swum the Tiber, so who knows??!!

 

[MarcoPolo]

To know whether Paisley has softened, one first has to attempt to understand the complexity of the history of Ireland and especially post partition (not the easiest thing to do) in order to appreciate why there may be scepticism regarding this.

I know you said the situation is complex, but what is “the partition”?

People with more hardline feelings towards Catholicism than Paisley have acted in accordance to God’s will and swum the Tiber, so who knows??!!

Did you have someone in mind more hardlined than Paisley?

 

[EDKidd]

I know you said the situation is complex, but what is “the partition”?

The partition of Ireland took place in c1921 and was when the island of Ireland was effectively ‘split’ into two countires - The Republic of Ireland became a country in her own right, with her own parliament, head of state etc. At the same time the 6 counties of Ulster (which I believe were actually 9, though I may be wrong) remained - and does to this day - under the authority of the UK.

The reasons for and why are extremely complex and open to huge debate, which still goes on today.

Did you have someone in mind more hardlined than Paisley?

To be honest I don’t - though I’m sure a search on CAF may point you in the right direction. My statement was intended to merely suggest that God can change the hardest of hearts.

 

[Dempsey1919]

Ian Paisley will never change! He’s a horrible, disgusting man!

I dislike him and all of the Unionists. This is the man that accused his holiness John Paul II of being the Anti-Christ, when the Holy Father gave an address to the European Parliament in 1988.

This man’s aim is to “expose the Papacy” and speak out against “revolting superstitions” such as the Eucharist.

He’s a member of the Orange Order which does nothing more than provoke Catholics and denounce the faith.

Paisley is one of the most ignorant, hate-filled, abusive people on this earth. The lies he spreads about Catholicism are terrible.

He does nothing more than add fuel to the fire of hate. He’s probably responsible for the death of hundreds of Catholics throughout the years, as a result of him inciting hatred.

To know whether Paisley has softened, one first has to attempt to understand the complexity of the history of Ireland and especially post partition (not the easiest thing to do) in order to appreciate why there may be scepticism regarding this.

Ireland unfree shall never be at peace. The Republican movement will always fight for freedom and a united Ireland. The Ulster Unionists will always remain loyal to the crown. This dispute will never end. There may be a cease fire now, but trouble is always brewing beneath the surface.

I know you said the situation is complex, but what is “the partition”?

In 1921, the Anglo-Irish Treaty gave independence to Ireland. However, Protestant Ulster opted out of this treaty and remained under British rule; the Protestants did not want to join with the vast majority of Catholic Irish.

Ulster still remains part of the UK today, with Southern Ireland being an idependent country.

However, nationalists within the Republic and Northern Ireland resent the idea of a divided country and have fought to unite Ireland. The Protestants, otherwise known as the Loyalists and Unionists have fought to preserve British rule of Northern Ireland. Ian Paisley is a prominent Ulster Unionist.

The divide is both religious and political. The Unionists do not want to live in a Catholic country, and do all they can to remain British.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Dempsey, what do you make of Paisley’s meeting with Archbishop Brady in the article I cited in post #1? A political show perhaps?

 

[Dempsey1919]

Dempsey, what do you make of Paisley’s meeting with Archbishop Brady in the article I cited in post #1? A political show perhaps?

I don’t interpret the meeting as anything other than political; Paisley knows that things have changed and needs to adapt if he wants to remain in power.

However, Paisley’s attitude towards Catholicism will never change. He’s protestant to the core. In lots of ways, the majority of Protestants today are protestants in name only; they don’t spend that much time protesting the Catholic Church. Paisley does. He’s even established the European Institute for Protestant Studies.

Paisley will never ever say anything positive about Catholicism. He may shake a Bishop’s hand if he feels that the political gains are worth the effort however.

 

[The_Iambic_Pen]

Paisley’s attitude towards Catholicism will never change.

It seems to me that we should never stop hoping and praying for people, no matter how opposed to the truth they seem. God can do all things.

 

[DL82]

I think Paisley’s meeting with the Archbishop was to discuss political and social development. It is important because many of Northern Ireland’s state schools (what would in the USA be called public schools) are controlled by the Catholic Church, so the government has to work with religious and voluntary organisations.

From what I hear, Paisley was genuinely complimentary about the bishop, and is perhaps beginning to see that the Catholic Church actually does genuine works of charity that benefit everyone in the community, not just ‘looking after our own’.

That doesn’t stop him from thinking that the Pope is the Anti-Christ, which is part of the covenant of faith of his Free Presbyterian church.

Sadly, religion in Northern Ireland is far too caught up with political and social groupings, and has almost nothing to do with people’s beliefs about the Truth of their faith, and everything to do with where they were born and brought up and which political party they vote for.

The saddest thing of all is that, since the 1960’s, Americans have had Kennedy, Nixon, Johnson, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr, Clinton and George W. They’ve had the Civil Rights movement, Vietnam, Watergate, the end of the Cold War, the abolition and then reinstatement of the death penalty, the rise of the Christian Right, the War on Terror, etc. etc. In those same 45 years, the people of Northern Ireland have had Gerry Adams, Iain Paisley and sectarian conflict. That’s it, constantly, non-stop, for all those years. And even now Northern Ireland’s politics is dominated by these two old dinosaurs.

 

[feargalmac]

That Ian Paisley is Anti-Catholic goes without saying, but he is a Christian. He is known to have dealt with his constituents on an equal basis (Protestant or Catholic) regardless of religion, right through the troubles.