A few years ago an Irish comedia called Tommy Tiernan performed a controversial sketch on the most convervative and traditional of Irish television shows, The Late Late show. The sketch depicted Jesus Christ’s (the one from Nazareth circa 30AD) last moments on the cross. It was certainly irreverent, probably blasphemous and left a large portion of the show’s studio audience stunned. Hundreds (not thousands or millions) of calls were received by the RTE switchboard condemning the joke for its tastelessness and blasphemy. Then something strange happened. We quickly got over it. Yes, a country renowned for its staunch catholicism revealed to the world that it had grown up and could accept religious criticism and humour. So just to summarise what happened for those less enlightened than our good selves. To the best of my knowledge:
- There were no marches in the streets
- Nobody was killed for expressing their opinion
- No buildings or cars were set alight
- No children bearing terrorist slogans were put in front of the world media so their parents’ outrage could be recorded
- No death threats were issued
- No beatings resulted
- People within the media were not fired for expressing coherently argued and above-all, peaceful, beliefs
- No foreign contracts with Irish companies were lost
- Nobody needed to be evacuated from our embassies
- No protests, peaceful or otherwise, were staged
- There was no incitement to kill those who insulted a prophet
- There was no cry for a holy war or divine retribution
- No scripture was cited to justify violent and threatening actions
- Freedom of speech was not curtailed
- The world did not look on in horror.
On an island unfortunately known throughout the world for sectarian violence in a northern province, there was little response to mild religious provocation. It was not always so but it’s difficult to sympathise with religious fervour that’s so menacingly displayed. Liberty, fraternity and equality.