(LifeSiteNews) — Many of you have likely seen footage of the recent riots in Dublin in response to a knife attack against children by an Algerian migrant. In response, the Irish government has decided to crack down—not on migration but on the Irish people’s ability to vocally oppose it. They have revived efforts to pass an onerous “hate speech” law called the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022. To get an idea of just how radical it is, read for yourself:
As Rod Dreher pointed out over at The European Conservative: “If you have in your possession a book, photo, meme, newspaper, or anything at all critical of a ‘protected’ class – including racial and sexual minorities, transgender people, and migrants (because ‘nationality’ is a protected characteristic) – you can be guilty of a hate crime. Note that under the proposed law, they don’t have to prove you incited violence or hatred. All you have to do is to possess material that is likely to do so, in the judgment of authorities.”
This law is sweeping in scope and serves multiple functions. First, as Dreher (and others) have noted, it is a useful tool to silence those Irish who oppose the government policy of shipping migrants and refugees into their communities. Second, it allows the government to begin prosecuting the remaining traditionalists who oppose the Sexual Revolution by reclassifying what were once the views of nearly all Irish people as “hatred.” For the government, genuine freedom of speech is actually dangerous—and Irish Green Party Senator Pauline O’Reilly came out and said as much while defending the bill earlier this year.
READ: Ireland vows to crack down on ‘hate speech’ after knife attack by Algerian immigrant
“When you think about it, all law, all legislation, is about the restriction of freedom,” she said. “That’s exactly what we’re doing here – we are restricting freedom – but we’re doing it for the common good. You will see throughout our Constitution – yes, you have rights, but they are restricted for the common good. Everything needs to be balanced, and if your views on other people’s identities go to make their lives unsafe, insecure, and cause them such deep discomfort that they cannot live in peace, then I believe that it is our job as legislators to restrict those freedoms for the common good.”
What O’Reilly is saying is that those who reject transgender ideology – the view that men can become women, or women can become men – must be silenced by the force of the state “for the common good.” Using “preferred pronouns” will become compelled speech. Refusing to play along with someone’s delusional identity claims will become subject to punishment and perhaps prosecution. Indeed, the scope of the hate speech law indicates that even making fun of transgender claims could result in charges being laid. O’Reilly is openly admitting that goal of this legislation is to take away freedoms – but insists that it is always the goal of lawmaking. (Notice how begrudgingly she admits that “yes, you have rights.”) This is why elections matter – because when tinpot totalitarians like O’Reilly form government, their definition of “common good” rule the day.
As Rod Dreher noted, the Irish government is determined to protect the Irish people from themselves—and is willing to forcibly shut them up to do it.
READ: New report: Anti-Christian violence, suppression of religious liberty on the rise in Europe
