CHRISTIAN JOURNALIST ‘CAN’T SLEEP, LOST 14 LBS, AND MAY “CHRISTIAN WRITER TO LEAVE CITY’ AFTER THREATS BY GAY MARRIAGE ADVOCATES
The Republic of Ireland, once a rock-solid Christian country, has now become so intolerant of Christian beliefs that its leading opponent of gay marriage, John Waters, may be forced to leave the country because of fears for his personal safety.
The attacks began after Waters threatened the state-owned broadcaster RTE with legal action after a drag queen called ‘Panti Bliss’ appeared on a television programme and called Waters and other conservatives “homophobic.”
RTE settled the action out of court in January, issued an apology and paid damages a €40,000 in settlement. In an interview at the weekend with Ireland’s Sunday Independent newspaper he said he believes he could have received €4m from the national broadcaster if the libel proceedings had gone to a full hearing.
However, gay-rights activists like GLAAD and its constituent pols have continued to criticise RTE for paying damages to Waters and so harass the journalist as well. In the interview Waters said his opposition to gay marriage and adoption was “about free speech. It is about the rights of people to speak about what is important without being demonised.”
He is now frequently subject to obscene abuse in shops and in the streets by people who, he says, “are cowards, they shout something and keep walking, they don’t want to engage.”
“I won’t go into Dublin city centre at night. When you have that kind of toxicity generated out of nothing, what are you going to do?”
He says he has become frightened “almost in a metaphysical way, that people could be so full of hatred. That, in accusing me of hatred, they could manifest a hatred infinitely greater than anything I could possibly imagine.”
Waters described how the backlash had damaged his health: “I lost nearly a stone in the first few weeks of this. I didn’t sleep.” He said he considered abandoning journalism and is still considering leaving Ireland to work elsewhere. “I have no friends in the media anymore.”
He said his lowest point was when he realised no one would speak out in his defence: “You have a certain hope that somebody, somewhere knows you for who your are, you kind of have some kind of naïve hope that one of these people are going to stand up and say, ‘hang on, this is wrong, this is not this guy’ and that moment never came.” …(ed. the mob makes crowds of us all) from Breibart News….
In my anguish... 