This is me, Eccles

This is me, Eccles
This is me, Eccles
Showing posts with label IRA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IRA. Show all posts

Sunday, 4 June 2017

How would God vote?

In this post about British politics we shall (as usual) take the mainstream Christian view of God, namely as the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit. So those with imperfect viewpoints who see God as Allah, Vishnu, the Tiger God, or a bowl of porridge (the Quakers) will be disappointed.

GOD the Father

This one is easy. The Father is an authoritarian figure; indeed He produced the Ten Commandments as a definite policy. He must be a Conservative, probably even a Thatcherite. He would certainly be described as "Strong and Stable".

Allowing the vast majority of his people, except for a wealthy yacht-owner (Noah) and his family, to be drowned in a flood, is the sort of policy that conservatives can only look on with envy.

All right, there's some stuff in the psalms about the Lord being a shepherd, and people lying down in green pastures (definitely appealing to the Greens), but generally the Old Testament has little to say about carbon footprints and recycling plastic bags. So a Tory He must be.

God the Father

"Vote Conservative! Mind you, I'm not all that keen on Theresa May."

GOD the Son

Jesus is easier to pin down, as He is the only one of the Trinity who is actually human. He was very keen on helping the poor, so it is not surprising that the Labour party would like to claim Him. After all, their main appeal is to poor people such as celebrities (footballers, actors, BBC comedians, etc.), doctors, professors, etc. Oh and a few ex-miners and ex-steelworkers aged about 95.

The other reason why we assign Jesus to the Labour party is that He bears a distinct resemblance to the young Jeremy Corbyn, although without his fondness for Marxism, terrorism, etc. Indeed, as a Jew, Our Lord might feel unwelcome in the modern Labour party.

Corbyn and the IRA

The IRA theatre players with their re-enactment of the Last Supper.

Still, the "what would Jesus do" people tend to focus on His "Labour" credentials as a touchy-feely softie, rather than His habit of chastising people with ropes of knotted cord (surely a UKIP habit?) - not to mention the threats of Hellfire - so let's provisionally assign Him to Labour.

GOD the Holy Spirit

The problem with the Holy Spirit is that He (or She if you believe James Martin SJ) has never been known to make a precise statement. A lot of hot air rushing around with good intentions... well, that suggests the Liberal Democrats.

Pope and charismatics

"Kumbayah, Lord," say the Lib Dems.

You'll find that the people who mention the Holy Spirit a lot (especially when implying that Christ's teaching could do with a little updating) would fit in well with the Lib Dems: think of their leader Tim Farron and his "these are my principles, but if you don't like them I've got others" attitude to abortion and same-sex weddings.


So, according to the Trinity, we must expect a hung parliament. Of course, by looking at the early church, we can find representatives of other parties: St Andrew, the Scottish disciple, would be SNP; St Peter, with his suspicion of foreigners, would be UKIP, and so on.

Quaker oats

Maybe we can get more guidance by asking a bowl of porridge.

Saturday, 7 March 2015

ISIS and IRA unite against Cardinal Dolan

After Cardinal Dolan made the assertion that ISIS is to IRA as Muslim is to Catholic, both ISIS and the IRA have united in condemning his words.

Dolan and baby

A fascinated baby stares at a dummy.

Said Seamus O'Ballyclava of the IRA, "These words of Dolan's are despicable. We are a peace-loving organization that shoots people rather than decapitating them. What's more, all we want is a united Socialist Ireland, and we are not in the least interested in Catholicism."

Said Jihad Jimmy of ISIS, "These words of Dolan's are despicable. We are a religious army, similar to your own Salvation Army. We're not very good at shooting, so we throw people off the top of high buildings and remove their surplus heads. What's more, we are deeply religious Allah-fearing people, and we throw our shoes at Cardinal Dolan."

wellie throwing

"Here comes Dolan!" Three Irishmen adopt Islamic customs.

Both: WE HATE DOLAN.

Said Seamus, "You know, Jimmy. This could be the start of a beautiful friendship between us. I think we could learn a lot from you. Tell us more about decapitation."

Said Jimmy, "Brother Seamus, you may be an infidel, but you're our sort of infidel! How can we get away with murder by becoming involved in a 'peace process'?"

stockbrokers in balaclavas

When terrorists become respectable.

Ecumenical negotiations continue.