Campaign for Conscience

TylerIE

The lovely people behind the "think of the children" banners and the protests outside the Dail have finally launched their website.

Im not going to give them the liberty of a link here, as Im sure they are tracking referrals, but you can find a link on google if you click here! Its either of the first two links.

Their website has been discussed a bit on another board... However I'd love to see any flaws or thoughts that ye can find...

One I see is where they quote

What the Consequences of the Bill Could Be
Is this what Ireland needs?

Edinburgh, UK: Grandparents Forced To Accept Homosexual Adoption Of Their Grandchildren

In January 2009, two Edinburgh couples were told that at 46 and 59 they were too old to adopt their four and five-year-old grandchildren.
When they objected to Edinburgh County Council’s decision to give the children to a gay couple, they were told to drop their opposition or be cut off from the children immediately.
The couple had fought for two years for the right to care for their grandchildren, whose 26-year old mother is a recovering heroin addict. The couple agreed to an adoption only after they faced being financially ruined by legal bills and were promised continued contact with the children.

The developments came after grandparents made an official complaint to council bosses. The couple claim they were warned they would never see their children again unless they dropped their opposition to the adoption, and were threatened with the same fate for speaking out publicly.

If we click on the link to the full article we find that the mother was indeed a recovering drug addict. There is no mention of the father, yet in subsequent articles the mother says

she wants her children to be raised by a "mum and dad".

She said: "I did not under any circumstances want my children to be placed with gay men. I wanted them to have a mum and a dad.
"I have nothing against gay people. I've got gay friends, but children need a mum and a dad.



The 59-year-old grandfather, who has seven children of his own, told the Daily Telegraph: "There is no way we'd have allowed the children to be adopted if we'd known they were going to a gay couple.

However Campaign for Conscience (And the telegraphy) only give the entire story across four articles -

.... social workers stepped in after allegedly deciding that the couple, who are aged 59 and 46, were "too old" to look after the children..... The grandfather is a farmhand who has angina while his wife is receiving medication for diabetes.......

The grandfather has angina while his wife suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, but both say their conditions are controlled and their health is stable....
They began looking after the children at an early age because of their mother's drug addiction, but the children have been with foster parents during the court cases, partly to keep them away from their mother....


....Four of the couple's children still live at home, two at school and two in full-time work, and they said they were "angry and upset" about what had happened to their niece and nephew.....

Is it just me or does the above story not suggest that Social Services altogether felt that an adoption was in the best interests of the Child?



Is it a bit rich for the heroin using single mother to insist that she wants her children with a father and mother? How was she herself going to provide that? We can of course say that the grandfather was going to provide a paternal influence, but whose to say the adopted couple wont arrange a maternal role, without the stress of a heroin abusing mother?


Is it not understandable for the Social Services to prefer a younger stable couple than a man of almost 60 who has reduced health when looking for carers for a 4 year old?


It appears that in this case the child was going for adoption regardless, so is it appropriate for them to be creating a stink because it was a gay couple?





Or maybe you feel that decisions like this just give gay adoption a bad reputation, and are a step backwards?


Also have a look at the organizations website - what are your thoughts? Are they scaremongering with stories like the above...



I notice a few little anomalies. Perhaps in an effort to look like a bigger organisation, or like experts we see that on their Contact Us Page an "Enoch Burke" t is their press secretary... and the front page features links to "Sean Burke" in the Irish Times... and their "Gay Gene Myth Page" is by an entirely new individual - "a political activist" - Aisling de Búrca who "has studied History, Politics, Sociology and Languages at NUI Galway"... and is therefore an expert on the "gay gene".... Oh wait - isnt de Búrca Irish for Burke??? Wow - this entire operation is by three people from the one family?


I'd love to know where the funding for their fancy signs, google adwords and website came from...


All of the above names are clearly displayed on the website so I don't believe Im committing any offence or breaking a charter!

rainbow kirby

The entire site reads like this:


The Burkes appear to be the same family that has been coming down from Mayo several times a week to protest outside the Dáil about the bill. The website is the same old Cóir-style frothing at the mouth lunacy that they're spouting. Enoch Burke is one of Sean's children and appears, according to the Tallyman blog, to be involved with the Christian Solidarity Party. It appears to really just be the loony Christian fringe trying to appear as a bigger organisation.

wonderfulname

Bit late for the website now isn't it?


I have voiced this opinion in other threads but may as well repeat it, I absolutely love to see completely out of touch nut jobs speaking out against controversial movements I'm all for. It removes any impression of credibility from similar movements, meaning less people fall under their spell. The campaign for conscience spouts ridiculous points, especially through considering gay as a choice and crap like the quote below, however they are also, as a Christian group, thrown in with the RCC. This diminishes the RCCs power over the issue and exposes them to ridicule.

Nobody really believes crap like

There are very high rates of sexual promiscuity among the homosexual population.

Homosexuals can have tens of thousands of partners in a lifetime.

* Many “lesbian” women also have sex with men. These women were more than 4 times as likely to have had more than 50 lifetime male partners than women in the general population.

They've destroyed themselves by expressing such ridiculous opinions, the RCC is smart about these things, yes it spews think of the children crap but they are careful not to rock the boat too much, they recognize now that just alienates people. This group lacks the brains and media savvy to pull off their intentions. And I guarantee the Christian side of their campaign will be stowed in the subconscious of the general public under "why you shouldn't pay attention to the religious" alongside groups like the westboro baptist church.

So have a good laugh, they're doing more for the equality movement than any amount of fact shoving can.

Annasopra

They were on TV3 last week - Mammy, Daddy and Enoch - I think Enoch is a total closet case to be honest - also I think they are best off ignored - They remind me of Fred Phelps and his family and I have always been of the opinion that the Phelps should not be given publicity

A lemon

Johnnymcg wrote: »

They were on TV3 last week - Mammy, Daddy and Enoch - I think Enoch is a total closet case to be honest - also I think they are best off ignored - They remind me of Fred Phelps and his family and I have always been of the opinion that the Phelps should not be given publicity

Well I'm sorry for dragging this thread up, but I came across this thread because I was looking for information about these protestors. I saw them outside the Dail a while back and remember thinking that the younger guy was obviously gay, so it's interesting to read this here, I'm pretty sure it's spot on. He's now running davidnorris4president.com Sad, really.

Please do not give these guys traffic through links - Johnnymcg

TheReverend

A lemon wrote: »

Well I'm sorry for dragging this thread up, but I came across this thread because I was looking for information about these protestors. I saw them outside the Dail a while back and remember thinking that the younger guy was obviously gay, so it's interesting to read this here, I'm pretty sure it's spot on. He's now running davidnorris4president.com Sad, really.

Please do not give these guys traffic through links - Johnnymcg

Sent him a nice email last night after this showed up on the politics board

A lemon

I'd say my now deceased hyperlink wasn't even a drop in the bucket when it comes to this chap's traffic. Look up "David Norris" on google - this guy has already taken out a sponsored link that shows up at the top of the page (or the right) under the title "David Norris 2011"

L1011

A lemon wrote: »

I'd say my now deceased hyperlink wasn't even a drop in the bucket when it comes to this chap's traffic. Look up "David Norris" on google - this guy has already taken out a sponsored link that shows up at the top of the page (or the right) under the title "David Norris 2011"

Do hope you clicked through to waste Enoch's pocket money.

(doing it multiple times has no effect, before anyone bothers wasting time)

Chuchoter

Tens of thousands of partners? When do we eat and sleep?:p

jamijary

This won't do him any harm these type wouldn't normally vote for him anyway!
However He has to be prepared for everything he has said in the past to be brought up in a campaign so don't be suprised at that and all candidates will face that.
I'd be more worried if I was advising him that at times he can come accross as a little removed from reality! Listened to him on the country programme on Radio 1 last sat morning 8am and I have to say I felt he was a bit preachy and even condesending!

L1011

crayolastereo wrote: »

Tens of thousands of partners? When do we eat and sleep?:p

eat: off each others writhing bodies
sleep: in mass beds with tens of other homosexualists

Didn't you get the memo? :P

Mike 1972

I like the bit where they allege that there has been little takeup on civil partnership

If the takeup is so low then why is it such a "problem" :rolleyes:

MYOB wrote: »

eat: off each others writhing bodies
sleep: in mass beds with tens of other homosexualists

Didn't you get the memo? :P

Damn blasted Gays having more fun than me..........:pac:

L.Jenkins

We could have a whole come to the dark side thingey! We have cookies... and all the sex you can shake a stick at :P

Annasopra

ItsThatManAgain wrote: »

We could have a whole come to the dark side thingey! We have cookies... and all the sex you can shake a stick at :P

or we could ignore them, refuse to publicise themselves and let them make fools of themselves

L.Jenkins

True, that could work too. I hate to be such an antaganist.

cgcsb

I wouldn't be surprised if the Burke family were actors employed by LGBT Noise, to make a holy show of remaining homophobs in Ireland.

My favourite part of their rantings is that they seem to believe that they somehow represent a "silent" majority. That indicates either a seriously delusional mindset or they are a pack of waffelers.