Blasphemy

In a previous post, I suggested that the designation of the enemy in Ireland's politics had changed fundamentally. Rather than seeing our enemy as the British or British imperialism, our politics now increasingly sees Catholicism as the enemy.

As discussed in that post, the political is that part of discourse that is concerned with distinguishing friends from enemies in a somewhat black and white fashion. In a democratic republic, the process of enemy designation is a public process determined by as wide a range of the population as possible. In a more elitist system, the process is largely privatised and monopolised by the few.

In the Ireland of 1918, British imperialism was the enemy of a newly emerged and broad-based provincial middle class.  Some culturally influential was this class that it spilled over into Dublin in a rare example of reverse colonisation. This class was the effective ruling class in its day and so its politics reigned supreme. In the Ireland of 2018, Catholicism is the enemy of the current ruling class, which in contrast to the ruling class of a century earlier, is geographically concentrated around Dublin and oriented around international capital interests.

The politics of any given society is in a constant state of flux. The enemy is always being re-defined to suit the needs of that society's ruling class. No society has the moral high ground when it comes to this ugly business. However, I think it is fair to say that a politics which tracks a broader range of interests is superior to one which tracks a narrower range. On this basis, I believe that the politics of the present is inferior to the politics of the past.

The Blasphemy referendum is very much the politics of the present, let us call it Varadkarism, asserting itself. To a naive person, it would seem like confused priorities; why are we focussing on a defunct provision that isn't even enforced when we should be focussing on real issues like housing? But there is no confusion here.

To the people who determine what the political priorities are in this country (by definition the ruling class) blasphemy and the removal of any notion that Christianity is sacred in this land is more important and urgent that the fact that some people don't have houses or can't get houses. The support base of Varadkarism sees Ireland as some sort of beacon of liberal democracy for the whole world. It values that image very dearly, to the point of obsession. Because this base is well off - and it doesn't even include young professional couples looking to get on the housing ladder - it has the luxury of putting a premium on such an image.

Marriage equality, abortion, blasphemy - these are all premised on the idea that Catholicism, at least in a public sense, is the enemy. Under Varadkarism, ordinary people are mobilised around this phantom enemy. In this way, it is largely a politics of mass distraction.

I will not vote no in this referendum. Nor will I vote yes. I object to this referendum taking place at all. But I don't want to abstain as that would be akin to political apathy when I am in fact fully politically engaged. Therefore, I will spoil my vote. By spoiling my vote, I will be declaring my rejection of Varadkarism.

Some people say that if we objected to referenda because they are not urgent then we would never have referenda because there will always be something more pressing than a constitutional provision. This argument is not convincing. We vote on important constitution provisions all the time and quite legitimately in relation to EU treaties or even matters like creating a Court of Appeal or reforming the Seanad. Of course there are times when reforming the constitution is an important issue. Also, inserting a constitutional provision to the effect that water as a resource shall never be privatised is something that would have alleviated the concerns of reasonable people in relation to water charges.  Why was there no clamour for this?

Only in the most ideologically anti-Catholic sense could a toothless blasphemy law be considered a priority. But ideological anti-Catholicism is the key plank of Varadkarism.