Re: [Marxism] Irish Catholics

["Calvin Broadbent" <calvinbroadbent@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

Accusing me of disrespect for those who have suffered in the six counties of
northern Ireland is deeply offensive to me, so I won't rise to it.

My description of 'catholic' as a social category is just that, descriptive.
If you think that a person's 'ethnic' background (more or less what
identifying a person's religious affiliation amounts to in the partitioned
north) has no bearing on their life in Northern Irish society, then you are
much mistaken. Anyway, I still don't think your posts on the matter have
been very informative. Most people on the list will know Ireland has been
occupied by Britain for 800 years. That that is the major factor holding
back Ireland's economic and political development I wouldn't disagree.
Still, you need to provide some details as to how and why so as to prove
that assertion. Religious sectarianism, alas, is not merely an ideology,
except (as you yourself do) when used to explain social conflict in Northern
Ireland
.
This is my last post on this subject for the next few days as its my fourth
or fifth post today.

cheers.

JOE WROTE:

> Referring to the occupied six counties as exactly that and not as the name
> given them by the British ruling class and the transplanted loyalist
> ascendancy is NOT sloganeering. Before even beginning to tackle the issues,
> as you refer to an 800 year occupation, you would do well to understand the
> importance which sensitivity and respect for those who've suffered and are
> suffering plays in so doing.

> Moreover, your description of catholic as a social category plays into the
> hands of those in whose interest it is to maintain the status quo. The
> British ruling class, as they have throughout history in India, Africa, and
> the Middle East, have sought to split the Irish working class through the
> classic colonial strategy of divide and rule by fomenting religious
> sectarianism.

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