It’s said that Saint Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland. It appears, however, that he might’ve missed a bunch. That is, if a recent story out of the Emerald Isle is any guide. To wit:
In a testimonial to our upside-down world, an Irish Christian teacher has been imprisoned for the third time. His trespass?
The educator, Enoch Burke, wouldn’t socially facilitate a student’s “gender transition,” as it’s euphemistically called, and then refused to abide by an order from a judge who sided with his school.
When Irish Eyes Aren’t Smiling
As Newsweek reports:
A teacher at the center of a longstanding dispute over recognizing a student’s transgender pronoun has been jailed for a third time for violating a court order to keep him away from a school.
Christian evangelist Enoch Burke, a history and German teacher, was suspended from Ireland’s Wilson’s Hospital School in County Westmeath in August 2022 after he publicly confronted the then-principal about a transitioning student during a public school event.
Burke has been objecting to using the student’s preferred pronouns and new name, arguing that using their preferred pronoun violates his religious rights.
Following his suspension, he continued to show up to the school in an attempt to teach lessons, resulting in a court injunction that barred him from the school grounds.
He has twice previously been incarcerated at Mountjoy Prison, a medium security men’s jail in Dublin, for breaching the same court order.
On Monday, he was again found in contempt of the order after continuing to visit the school.
What’s in a Name?
Some may now roll their eyes, saying “What’s the big deal about ‘pronouns’ and a name?”
A lot. Words are powerful.
As the book The Tyranny of Words points out, the side that defines the vocabulary of a debate wins the debate. In fact, this reality is why we know about now-famed psychologist Jordan Peterson. That is, he gained prominence in 2016 while opposing a Canadian bill that he said would compel use of MUSS (Made-up Sexual Status, aka “transgender”) pronouns.
The point? Calling a boy “she,” “they,” or by a newly adopted feminine name is a tacit admission that the person actually does have female status. This, of course, is a tacit admission that the MUSS agenda is valid.
To analogize it, imagine a MUSS activist were poised to debate ex-swimmer Riley Gaines on MUSS men entering women’s sports. Now imagine that Gaines, passionate as she is about the issue, insisted the activist call his position “anti-woman.” Would he accept those terms? To consent to using your opponent’s terminology is to kneecap yourself in the debate.
In light of this, a few notes about the language Newsweek (and other entities) uses. People cannot be “transgender.” First, words have “gender,” properly understood; e.g., masculine, feminine, and neuter. People exhibit the status of “sex,” as in male or female. Second, sex cannot be changed — only obscured.
Note, too, that it’s languages that have pronouns. People rightly don’t, not any more than they should have “personal” adjectives, verbs, or adverbs. Having a common tongue unites us. Of course, you can have your own personal language if you wish. But requiring the rest of us to use it, or elements of it, is demanding we facilitate disunity.
A Man of Conscience
As for Burke, naysayers may state about his case, “He doesn’t have to use ‘trans’ pronouns. He just has to stay away from the school.” That’s true. But so is this: Perhaps Burke is mindful of something a fellow Irishman and namesake of his once profoundly stated.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil,” said philosopher Edmund Burke, “is for good men to do nothing.”
And, in fact, Enoch Burke is engaging in that long tradition of civil disobedience. Per The Irish Times:
Mr Burke … said that he was being jailed by the courts over his refusal to accept “the hellish ideology of transgenderism”.
During his submissions to the court Mr Burke accepted that the judge would send him back to prison.
He added that he had been denied his rights as a Christian by the school….
Quoting the book of Genesis and the gospel according to St Matthew to reaffirm his Christian beliefs regards gender the teacher said that the case before the court amounted to “a mockery of justice.”
Stoic Christian Strength
In fact, Burke has been praised for exhibiting a Jesus-like response to his persecutors. As commentator Olivia Murray wrote Monday, reacting to a video (below the following excerpt) of his arrest:
Burke’s disposition and response is gentle but condemning, truthful yet loving, and it is a beautiful example of what it means to love humanity in a long-suffering way. He is enduring the fallout of a fallen world, while resisting any fleshly desire to foment hatred for his fellow man.
It also pains me deeply to see such injustice, and stirs up indignation for those persecuting Burke; he is walking the Christian walk, and receiving the martyr’s crown.
And, somewhere out there in this world is a little boy, a precious soul, vulnerable and in tremendous internal pain, and he’s being abused by those closest to him, who should be protecting him from the sickness of the world — no one is fighting for his right to dignity and a wholesome life … except Enoch Burke. He’s a lion among men.
Actually, Burke is a lion, and a shepherd, among sheep and wolves. Not that many decades ago his beliefs were considered axiomatically true. Now good is called bad, and bad, good. Those once rightly called radicals are now in charge, and devout Christians are often condemned as the radicals.
But as author Edgar J. Mohn sagely noted, “A lie has speed, but truth has endurance.” The sexual devolutionaries are on the right side of current events — not of history. They ultimately will lose for a simple reason: They’re wrong.
