You Need to Know What Really Happened in Ireland
I almost never do this, but I felt it was very important to share a letter with you so that the whole world could understand what really happened in Ireland as this predominantly Catholic nation voted decisively to redefine marriage.
After the vote, I posted this on Facebook:
“What can we learn from the vote to redefine marriage in Ireland, a traditionally Catholic country?
“1) Traditional ‘Christian’ religion cannot stop the juggernaut of gay activism. Only a living, vibrant faith will have the energy and commitment and depth to stand firm.
“2) Sex-scandals in the Catholic Church in the 1990s robbed the Church of its moral authority. How can the Church speak to the society about sexual morality when it has largely disqualified itself? Scandals like this take a long time to get over, and here in America, we have been plagued by evangelical scandals as well, involving some of our well-known leaders. To the extent we are deemed hypocritical, to that extent we lack moral authority.
“3) Ireland was not ready for the massive influx of gay activist funding from America. Sadly, from President Obama down, America has been an aggressive force for normalizing homosexuality, and without American funding and vision, it is doubtful that Ireland would have voted so strongly for such radical change.
“What happened in Ireland should be a wake-up call for the church worldwide.”
In response to my post, a woman who supports our ministry and lives in Ireland wrote to me, concerned that I was implying that believers in Ireland “hadn’t done enough to get the gospel out.” (Actually, the reverse was true: I wanted people to understand the opposition they faced.)
She continued: “Let me tell you more about what really happened here … .”
What she wrote is so important, giving detailed support to what I had read elsewhere, that I wanted to shout it from the rooftops for everyone to hear. There was extraordinary pressure brought against those who stood for marriage in Ireland, and the vote hardly reflects an unbiased enlightenment.
She wrote: “I am an Irish citizen who voted and campaigned for a NO vote. For anyone who thinks we were negligent concerning the gospel or in any other way, let me tell you some of what we were up against…
“This news is devastating to the nearly 37.9 percent of us who voted NO, many of us born-again Christians. We tried so hard to prevent it, but were up against every political party and up against millions of U.S. dollars that were being poured into the yes campaign. American billionaire Chuck Feeney alone contributed over $24 million. Every ‘civil rights’ group on the block was behind the yes vote. When NO vote campaign signs were posted in Dublin and other places, they were vandalised. Public media (are) supposed to allow 50:50 coverage for each side of a constitutional issue. This was blatantly ignored. The public police force was drafted in to support the YES vote and to register college students to vote, and they passed out YES badges to each student as they did so. And these things are only part of the story. The pressure was incessant and unbelievable. Even the ballot paper was biased. We argued that the term ‘marriage equality’ was biased, but yet that term made it on to the ballot paper.
“Meanwhile, Christians fasted and prayed. We passed out flyers. We used social media to communicate our concerns. But all this was on a very grass-roots level. Only the Iona Institute stood up for the NO vote. Only three representatives in our entire Dail (our parliament) stood up for a NO vote. Is there any small nation on earth that would survive such an onslaught? I’m actually amazed that the NO vote was as high as 37.9 percent after what I have seen.
“As for the gospel, can any of us really do ‘enough’? No matter how much we do, will we not always wish we could do more? We have God on our side though. I believe He has allowed this to happen for His reasons. But we will have the ultimate victory.”
Sadly, the tried and true tactics of bullying, intimidation, media bombardment, aggressive activism and massive U.S. funding won another victory for the gay revolution.
But this Irish Christian woman is absolutely right: We will have the ultimate victory (not over gays but in the Lord), which is one of the main points I make in my newest book, due out in September, Outlasting the Gay Revolution: Where Homosexual Activism Is Really Going and How to Turn the Tide.
Right now, though, the believers in Ireland need our prayers, our encouragement and our solidarity. This is part of an all-out war on the gospel.
Michael Brown is the author of 25 books, including Can You Be Gay and Christian? and host of the nationally syndicated talk radio show “The Line of Fire.” He is also president of FIRE School of Ministry and director of the Coalition of Conscience.
