Alive! and misinformingly kicking

A few months ago I wrote an open letter to the editor of Alive! magazine, one  Fr Brian McKevitt, describing how I felt his publication was filled with lies and propaganda and instead of promoting Catholicism, which is its primary goal, the overwhelming self-righteousness found on its pages served only to alienate those who are not the biggest fans of dogma. The open letter was printed in my college newspaper, Fr McKevitt displayed the Catholic bravery which he so strongly pushes in his editorials by not responding to me in any way, shape or form and everyone was happy. Except today another copy was pushed through my letterbox. So I’ll be sending him this little post too. You can read everything which I comment on here- http://www.alive.ie/archives.php and judge for yourself but since you are currently on the internet and presumably not a home-ridden cross-wielding hermit you will most likely see what I see. You might ask yourself “Why is this handsome rogue spending so much time reading and discussing this drivel?” and I must admit I can understand why. But you see I started on this road as a news writer and genuinely did my best to be as fair as possible to all sides whom I talked about. So when I see this absolute abomination of a publication, it makes me feel physically unwell.

I will surrender one point to the bigots who write this, I am certainly not the target audience this paper it aimed at. They look to deliver the good word to the elderly and the weak minded dependants out there and as a 19 year old who writes opinion pieces for a college newspaper, I don’t think I tick any of those boxes. But I am a Roman Catholic, admittedly not a very devout or practising one, but a Catholic none the less. I suspect this is less of a personal choice on my part and more of a conditioned fear that if I deny this I will burst into flames and continue to burn for all eternity, which is just unfair. However if I was looking for confirmation of my beliefs Alive! “news”paper is not where I would look (I use the bunny-marks over news there because they might call themselves a newspaper but believe me, every word in it pushes a ridiculously conservative agenda). 

The aspect of Fr. Brian McKevitt’s editorial I shall focus on today is the article he entitles “Cork hospital lecture should be cancelled”. This was regarding a pro-euthanasia lecture by UK Professor Len Doyle at Cork University Hospital. The editor’s argument was that “Some things are so clearly evil we refuse to even debate them, to consider any argument in favour-rape, the gassing of Jews, child sexual exploitation, and so on”, and instead of running with the richness of a priest talking about the sexual exploitation of children I will take issue with the idea that we should not be allowed to talk about mercy killing. You see I am a fan of the Socratic Method, whereby any half-reasonable issue should be at least be given a floor for debate. I don’t have an opinion on euthanasia myself, I prefer not to comment on medical/moral issues which do not concern me (and hopefully will never!), but the idea that we should not be permitted even to speak about it is shameful.

So, you may wonder, what happened at this lecture? It was, of course cancelled due to the actions of enraged pro lifers who shouted abuse at Prof. Doyle. Led by the dogmatic scum-bags, the Youth Defence, they chanted the Rosary and screamed that euthanasia was state sponsored murder. Not the activities of any organisation/religion I would like to be a part of.

Another small note which annoyed me was the fact that the good Father felt homosexual relationships should not be granted legal standing. One really wonders why he would be against such a move. The argument against gay marriage was that it was ‘against God’, but why are homosexuals not allowed the secular rights we are? He stated “The RTE radio show, Today With Pat Kenny, had a discussion about giving legal standing to homosexual relationships. The guests were 4-0 in favour. This was not simply RTE pushing the gay agenda; it was also the deliberate exclusion of the Christian voice.” I personally think this is more to do with the fact that gay people deserve to have an equal legal status as the rest of us. I’m a Christian and I’m in favour of not only the equal recognition of gay civil marriages, but of gay Catholic marriages also. It’s a sign of the times that all four members of the panel would agree with the introduction of the right. Unfortunately the extremists are holding the Civil Unions up in the Dail, where they fear it will cause a 50/50 split in the country. Of course the reality would be more in the region of 90/10 but the vocal bigots will continue to instill fear in the hearts of our weak-minded TDs.

Before I spend any more time sending myself grey or tearing out my hair entirely I will stop reading this edition. But do have a look at the link and let me know how you feel about this. I am personally of the opinion that this magazine should not be allowed to be printed without a warning label stating “NONE OF THIS IS FACT” or “READING THIS MAY CAUSE INTOLERANCE, HOMOPHOBIA AND RACISM”. Or better yet, not printed at all. I honestly believe every opinion should be heard but this goes beyond opinion. It is presented in a way which may look to some as fact and is the literal definition of propaganda. The editor’s email is editor@alive.ie, if you feel as strongly as I do about accuracy and truth in the media, feel free to send him a message telling him, and let him know Byron says hi!

P.S. I know this is neither a gaming article nor a comic but its my only little soapbox so I do hope you will forgive its posting. I’ll get cracking on some comics as soon as possible, apologies in the delay but the college exams are coming up soon!