O.M.G... Not another serious one...
I was on a chat room earlier, and I happened upon some chap who started talking Irish issues at me...
Now as the people that know me know, my choice of nickname is based on a cartoon character from a comic I used to read as a kid, but sometimes people tend to assume I am Irish based on the name Slaine...
Anyway, this guy was a bit confused/confusing, and he really isn't the subject of the post, but he told me (in amongst various drivel) that he was a Fenian, and a terrorist... (although I strongly suspect he's really a shelf stacker from the Tescos who just wants to impress...)
The terrorist bit is fairly straight forward - terrorists (private or state sponsered ones) want to prove to the world that their cause is right, regardless who gets in the way - but the word Fenian got me curious...
I had heard the term before, years ago when I knew a couple of girls from Northern Ireland, but I really didn't know where it came from or what it meant... So I Googled...
Sure enough I found some (hopefully) factual explanations of the Fenian movement, but what disturbed me was the amount of blatent hatred present on so many websites...
I'm sure its easy for me to sit here and ponificate (probably a bad choice of words...) on the rights and wrongs of such a complicated situation, but it suddenly struck me that while we (as in the country we) go off trying to effect regime change in foreign lands where we don't know the culture, there STILL is a major problem on our own doorsteps waiting for resolution.
(I wonder if such sites are strictly speaking liable under the religious hatred laws that the government is bringing in, or has brought in, or are those reserved for Islamic 'baddies'?)
I don't know the history, and frankly don't care for the religious side of it, but as an ignorant outsider, it does seem that some people are happier to judge people based on the record of their ancestors than take the chance to take people as they find them.
We (again the governmental we) often see fit to point the finger at 'third world' countries in Africa, or the human rights records in China, but do we have the right when the 'civilised' ones still can't find common ground?
I hope my worm's eyed view of the situation doesn't upset anyone - not my intent at all... it just amazes me that some people seem able to live in a state of hatred with another group of people, and actively perpetuate that hatred apparently based on what happened back in the mists of time, quite often in the name of a supposedly loving God...
Arse I say... Lets all get naked and have a group hug...
Now as the people that know me know, my choice of nickname is based on a cartoon character from a comic I used to read as a kid, but sometimes people tend to assume I am Irish based on the name Slaine...
Anyway, this guy was a bit confused/confusing, and he really isn't the subject of the post, but he told me (in amongst various drivel) that he was a Fenian, and a terrorist... (although I strongly suspect he's really a shelf stacker from the Tescos who just wants to impress...)
The terrorist bit is fairly straight forward - terrorists (private or state sponsered ones) want to prove to the world that their cause is right, regardless who gets in the way - but the word Fenian got me curious...
I had heard the term before, years ago when I knew a couple of girls from Northern Ireland, but I really didn't know where it came from or what it meant... So I Googled...
Sure enough I found some (hopefully) factual explanations of the Fenian movement, but what disturbed me was the amount of blatent hatred present on so many websites...
I'm sure its easy for me to sit here and ponificate (probably a bad choice of words...) on the rights and wrongs of such a complicated situation, but it suddenly struck me that while we (as in the country we) go off trying to effect regime change in foreign lands where we don't know the culture, there STILL is a major problem on our own doorsteps waiting for resolution.
(I wonder if such sites are strictly speaking liable under the religious hatred laws that the government is bringing in, or has brought in, or are those reserved for Islamic 'baddies'?)
I don't know the history, and frankly don't care for the religious side of it, but as an ignorant outsider, it does seem that some people are happier to judge people based on the record of their ancestors than take the chance to take people as they find them.
We (again the governmental we) often see fit to point the finger at 'third world' countries in Africa, or the human rights records in China, but do we have the right when the 'civilised' ones still can't find common ground?
I hope my worm's eyed view of the situation doesn't upset anyone - not my intent at all... it just amazes me that some people seem able to live in a state of hatred with another group of people, and actively perpetuate that hatred apparently based on what happened back in the mists of time, quite often in the name of a supposedly loving God...
Arse I say... Lets all get naked and have a group hug...
posted by Slaine at Saturday, November 19, 2005
2 Comments:
A topic close to my heart.
"Fenian is a term used since the 1860s for an Irish nationalist who espouses violence, usually by people opposed to their aims. It can also specifically refer to the Fenian Brotherhood of America."
Having been married to one for the past 13 years, and being in the possession of a fairly healthy pair of knees I try to keep on her good side for the best part(healthy in the sense that they don't have any bullet holes in them, cos they are knackered otherwise)).
It's also a term I heard quite often whilst watching Rangers and Celtic when based in Scotland...
As in "Far Cough ya fenian bast'd"
Umgangssprachlicher Ausdruck für Republikaner. Die Fenians waren ursprünglich eine Gruppe republikanischer Rebellen in den 60er Jahren des 19.Jahrhunderts
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