I should maybe leave this alone, but something makes me want to prod it with a stick as I’m an atheist, and that’s kind of what we do. First off I’m just not buying the ‘Irish thing’, and it’s not the first time you’ve tried to attack someone here with that (Andrew P the other week where you managed to read something into his username that was clearly not there). Ireland, like much of the world, is blighted by religious division, but so what? What is unique about that? It is not a one-religion dictatorship, and one would sincerely hope atheism/agnosticism was well on the rise now anyway. Also this is just religion, a belief set, it is not racism the way anti-Semitism is. A Catholic is not a race.
Now, if we have an MP who aligns firmly with a given religion (I’ve no idea if RL-B does or not, and I don’t want this to be about her) it is fair to question them on some of the beliefs and behaviours of that religion and how their beliefs relate to their ministerial role. As stated upthread Tim Farron, an otherwise highly likeable chap, was found wanting here. The Catholic Church stands very firmly against woman’s rights, it is anti-contraception, it is anti-abortion, and it has a longstanding reputation of covering up the most hideous institutional child abuse going back pretty much forever. It was endemic. It is also a hugely wealthy and elitist institution that I’d have expected those on the far-left to be rather critical of, especially given the way it uses that wealth to conceal and buy-out its abuse victims.
To be honest I want to take RL-B out of this particular post as I actually had no idea she was a Catholic or even religious, and it certainly doesn’t make me dislike her, though I would like to see her answer a few of the above questions. This is not about her, it is about your reaction to what I read as a benign comment.
My point is really what your issue is as a) Ireland/NI is a multi-faith country, and b) the Catholic Church is a bit whiffy by most left/liberal/civil-rights standards. What exactly did I get wrong here? Genuinely curious. If I’m out of line I’ll happily apologise.