Enoch Burke and backbones

I think we should call people what they ask us to call them. My son Matt for many years was Matthew, but there came a point in his teen years where he wanted to be known as Matt. So we called him Matt. Just as one of my other sons was called Hugh David, and when he was around 13 he said he didn’t like the double name, Hugh alone would be better. So Hugh he is.

Although I find it a little harder, maybe because it’s dubious logically, to call a single person ‘them’. But that’s what a lot of transgender people want to be called and if so, fine. And if you want me to call you  Suzie instead of Stephen, I’m willing to accommodate you.

Which should make me opposed to the Burke family. You’ll know that Enoch Burke, a young man who was teaching in a Dublin school, refused to call one of the students, who apparently is intent on transitioning, ‘they’.  I would prefer them to go with the flow and call the student whatever s/he requestions. But one of the Burke family, Enoch, has refused to do that and in consequence has spent over 500 days in prison.

You may say he won’t comply with the law, but in that case the law is a  ass. All of the Burkes are highly intelligent, it appears, and they are likewise very committed to their Christian beliefs. And they believe – Enoch believes – that  going with the ‘they’ thing and the trans thing would be to compromise their principles.

Enoch’s mother and brother button-holed a Catholic bishop (the Burkes are Protestants) at a service station a  while back and asked why, as Catholic link-man with the prison,  he never raised the case of Enoch Burke. It’s safe to say that the bishop made a balls of it. He kept saying he didn’t like being door-stepped and he didn’t like the bad manners of those filming him. Enoch’s mother suggested that as a successor of St Peter and St Paul, he should show some concern about her son, in prison for all those long 500 days. The bishop didn’t.I don’t agree with the Burkes but I admire their flinty refusal to compromise with what they believe is wrong. Surely to God it’s not beyond the wit of the school and the Minister for Education that they can’t resolve the problem.

Enoch Burke is one of a dwindling species: a man of principle. I don’t agree with him but I wish I had 20% of his backbone.

You can view the service station encounter using the link below.

9 Responses to Enoch Burke and backbones

  1. GABRIEL Fintan MCCAFFREY January 13, 2025 at 4:19 pm #

    Apply the same logic to Loyalist bigots.
    Yes, their core belief system informs them that Fenians are scum, sub-human rats, good only for walking knee deep in their blood.
    Doing the bouncy etc.
    We are the people! For God and Ulster!
    Sometimes, bigotry, reinforced by peculiar religious beliefs, has to be opposed, punished, and eradicated from acceptance as the norm, if we desire to live in decent communities, governed by fair laws and justice (and I realize that we’re a long way from it).
    Strong religious beliefs are not justification for discrimination, bigotry, exclusion or intolerance.
    How would this sentence sound if you inserted a different name than Enoch Burke?

    “A DUP politician is one of a dwindling species: a man of principle. I don’t agree with him but I wish I had 20% of his backbone”.

    I agree with most of your commentaries Jude, but not on this issue, because I grew up in 1950s/60s Belfast and saw fundamentalist nut jobs close up. They even chained our children’s playgrounds on Sundays, informed by their strong religious beliefs system.

    • Jude Collins January 13, 2025 at 5:32 pm #

      You argue a good case, Gabriel. I think, though, there’s a difference between right-wing loyalists and the Burkes.The loyalists would impose their will on others, define their actions, while the Burkes simply stand by their beliefs. I think they’re entitled to opt out of the plural pronoun, but I wouldn’t go with their mockery of the student in question by insisting on the singular pronoun. And if a DUP politician spent 500 days in prison in support of his/her beliefs, I’d admire their resolve if not their analysis;;;

      • Cluffmurf January 13, 2025 at 6:57 pm #

        Hi Jude
        The Burke’s believe that the bible is literally true. I think this is where there intelligence hits a brick wall . the bible thumpers of the south who were defending slavery with reference to the text, felt they were on firm ground , because an honest reading of the text was on there side. the English protestants that opposed slavery won the argument but it was from outside the text of the bible.
        the Burke’s ,I believe would impose there view of world on others given the chance…… praise be

        • Gabriel Fintan McCaffrey January 13, 2025 at 8:01 pm #

          I respectfully disagree, Jude.
          Wishing to impose their will (driven by their religious interpretation) on others, is precisely what the Burke family are attempting. If religious fanatics are allowed to do this, they will move on to the next issue where they are driven by their pure, infallible belief system.
          I grew up in the intolerance of the Catholic church, and I witnessed the intolerance and bigotry of Paisleyism and other post reformation type fundamentalism, and I know where it leads.
          I have a very non-religious belief system in civic life being unaffected or controlled by Paisleyites, Catholic extremists, Taliban, Jews, Buddhists, Islamists or Burkes.
          Please keep posting interesting issues. I love your daily thoughts.

          • Carl Duffy January 13, 2025 at 8:21 pm #

            I don’t see how Enoch refusing to use they/them pronouns is him imposing his will on anyone. If anything, it’s the insistence on these pronouns and gender ideology that’s being imposed.

  2. Carl Duffy January 13, 2025 at 4:21 pm #

    People are free to identify as a ‘they’ if they want, but it takes a pretty entitled attitude to expect everyone else to go along with this nonsense. I agree with Enoch Burke’s stance and wish more had his backbone. Unfortunately, far too many are willing to sacrifice their principles at the altar of political correctness.

  3. jpm January 13, 2025 at 7:47 pm #

    “Surely to God it’s not beyond the wit….”
    Surely, if there is a God, s/he/them would not care.

    If these people are “Christians,” they should ask WWJD (what would Jesus do)? My guess is nothing like their carry on.

    Live and let live. Life’s too short.

  4. Paul jones January 14, 2025 at 12:49 am #

    In my opinion and interpretation of Jesus’s teaching he is wrong, he’s pig headed and believes he’s being persecuted for his beliefs. Does he think he’s being treated like St. Peter? .

    The bible teaches us to respect the law of the land, and if he feels this is against his Christian beliefs he should get another job. Jesus made it clear to the apostles what to do if a town rejected their teaching. Matthew 10:14, Mark 6:10–11, and Luke 9:4–5.

    If he was a muslim dictating how he should teach according to his beliefs I dint think the would get much sympathy. He has caused annoyance and disruption to a school.

    Homosexuality was -and in some quarters still is- viewed as a sin and until recently was against the law, Jesus never mentioned it but condemned the self righteous.

  5. Cluffmurf January 16, 2025 at 7:13 pm #

    I do agree with you regarding the Burke’s Paul but if the bible is meant to be a divine book, the big man could have made it a bit clearer. unfortunately these lunatics can find plenty of firm ground in there.