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Are you trying to persuade us that Paisley spent most of his time and energies preaching and ministering to his tiny flock and that he dabbled in politics on the side? Is that your argument?

Again, one has no personal knowledge of how Paisley ever chose to apportion his time.

What we do know is that the time he accorded to both aspects of his career was spent very effectively.

You appear to be plagued with a kind of zero-sum myopia. That is: if he was doing activity related to his ministry he could not possibly have been doing things politically at the same time -- and vice versa.

It may be that your perspective is simply jaded by all that "popular" talk about separation of church and state in the US, which at its core is only meant to effect separation of Biblical morality from political discourse.

From what I know of Paisley (and you might know too if you listened to any of his sermons, as I have already recommended to you twice before) it would be entirely fair to say that Paisley considered his participation in the political debates and processes of his time to be something he did both as the voice of Christian morality and as an extension of his ministry.

That said, most of us can walk and chew gum at the same time. Others, perhaps yourself included, are not able to do more than one thing well at a time. And that's OK. That's not necessarily a "bad" thing, per se, but it might be that this condition is impoverishing your perspective somewhat -- at least in this discussion.

So, did your priest say he'd provide at least some measure of absolution for you, if the two of you sat down and listed to Paisley's sermons together -- if for no other reason than learning how one who is both a theologian and a statesman might be able to hold forth so effectively and for so long on what he believes about issues in both contexts?

FReegards!

Again, one has no personal knowledge of how Paisley ever chose to apportion his time.

Apparently you do.

I told you the majority of his time and energies were spent on politics and you disagreed.

I'm forced to conclude that you're arguing for the opposite case; namely that most of his time and energies were spent on ministering to his tiny flock.

Right?

From what I know of Paisley (and you might know too if you listened to any of his sermons, as I have already recommended to you twice before) it would be entirely fair to say that Paisley considered his participation in the political debates and processes of his time to be something he did both as the voice of Christian morality and as an extension of his ministry.

I'm unpersuaded and unimpressed by your condescending "I'm a Paisley expert" shtick. From the times and dates you gave in posts above, it appears that you really know very little about Paisley. He was a Member of Parliament for 40 years (not 44) and quit in 2010. Further, his political activism long predates his entry into Parliament in 1970. He spent most of the 1960s fighting the Catholic civil rights campaign then in its infancy and founded the Ulster Defence Committee and several paramilitary affiliates including the Ulster Volunteer Force during this period. Your claim that he spent 20 years as a dedicated minister prior to 1970 is pure fantasy. His election to Parliament was simply the culmination of all the political activism in the preceding decade and a half.

For 25 years he was actually a member of not one but two Parliaments simultaneously; one in London and one in Strasbourg. One wonders just how much time he actually spent in Belfast, still less ministering to his congregation.

I'm here to tell you that all his public utterances during this period addressed political issues related to the "Troubles" and the governance of Northern Ireland. Again, entirely consistent with the political focus of his work.

The remainder of your post does you no favors. The self-congratulatory bombast is an embarrassment to you.

The Catholics are silent as an oyster when it comes to their own in politics, if you’ll notice. It’s all right for Catholic politicians to walk and chew gum at the same time, as you put it. but not an outspoken Protestant like Paisley. They do indeed have the zero-sum myopia you spoke of.