I'd like to spend a few minutes talking about a hero that I don't believe we have covered previously at Twitchy. But we should be talking about him in America because even though this hero lives in Ireland, what his government is putting him through is a dire warning for America if we are not careful (and do not vote wisely in November).
His name is Enoch Burke. He is -- or was -- a schoolteacher. He is also a devout Christian. And his government is insistent on continuing to persecute him for his religious beliefs.
Burke has made the news a few times since 2022, when he defied the demands of his employer, Wilson's Hospital School, and refused to call 'trans kids' he was teaching by their 'preferred pronouns.' He was first suspended by the school in August 2022 for this unspeakable thought crime, and then they banned him from school grounds. He defied this injunction and was jailed for 100 days starting in September 2022.
After his release, he continued to return to the school and was fined many times over, Then, in December 2023, he was arrested and sent to prison a second time, all for refusing to compromise his beliefs or principles. Throughout these events, Burke has been challenging his suspension from the school and maintains that he did nothing wrong and has a right to be present at and teach at the school.
On Monday this week, Burke was arrested for a third time. This time, his family (also traditional Christians) were on hand to try to defend him and denounce the Gardaí arresting him. Watch:
🚨🇮🇪 Irish Police Arrest Enoch Burke the teacher who refuses to endorse & affirm Transgender Ideology ‼️
— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) September 2, 2024
“Mr Burke has broken no Laws”
“I have a right to be here, I have a right to work here”
“Shame upon you - your a disgrace”
This should seriously shock every single person… pic.twitter.com/Z1Jk5yowDQ
Teacher Enoch Burke arrested at Wilson’s Hospital School in Ireland after refusing to endorse and affirm transgender ideology. For him there are only two genders: male and female. Do you agree with him?pic.twitter.com/b1gJ7STLfr
— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) September 2, 2024
Well, I don't agree that there are only two genders, but it is true that there are only two sexes. 'Gender' does not enter into the equation at all. Because 'gender' is something that applies to language, not people.
I'm not sure, however, how these police officers can even look themselves in the mirror.
Do these policemen honestly believe they’re on the right side of this?
— Chica'sBailBonds (@IrinaMoises) September 3, 2024
“I was just following orders” isn’t going to cut it.
— Winter_Rewind (@WinterRewind) September 2, 2024
These corrupt foot soldiers need to be held responsible.
They said it correctly, “This is a disgrace”.
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) September 2, 2024
It just keeps on getting worse pic.twitter.com/x9nZGoj0KA
— Pumponomics (@ClownPeasant) September 2, 2024
What an outstanding and accurate meme (and I am not just saying that because I am a Tolkien nerd).
But of course, there is always more to the story, and in this case, that 'more' is horrible. For those details, we turn to the account of Burke himself:
BREAKING: Teacher Enoch Burke arrested at Wilson’s Hospital School after refusing to endorse and affirm transgender ideology.
— Enoch Burke (@EnochBurke) September 2, 2024
Judge Barry O’Donnell, who made almost €400,000 from 2016-2018 representing TUSLA as a barrister, ordered his arrest.
TUSLA is the Irish State ‘Child… pic.twitter.com/Ni8xLSRS7a
The rest of the tweet is very revealing:
TUSLA is the Irish State ‘Child Protection’ agency, an organisation saturated with LGBT ideology, urging staff recently to learn about cross-dressers and drag performers, and making acceptance of LGBT and transgender ideology a condition for fostering children.
What a mockery to expect Enoch Burke, a Christian teacher, to sit before this man and expect justice.
What a shocker. The judge who wants Burke behind bars has made a half-million Euro from gender cultists.
Always follow the money.
This same judge had sent police to Burke's home a couple of days prior, trying to arrest him there and take him to jail. So, it's not just about Burke violating an injunction at the school. This judge wants him in prison for his religious beliefs.
BREAKING: Four Gardaí have arrived at the Burke home to arrest teacher Enoch Burke after he refused to endorse and affirm transgender ideology.
— Enoch Burke (@EnochBurke) August 30, 2024
It’s a sad and dark day when the Gardaí, many against their will, are tasked by the courts with denying citizens their constitutional… pic.twitter.com/yYXhRmIhUs
If anyone belongs in prison, it sounds like this judge does ... and maybe these officers.
Many news agencies reported that Burke was arrested for being on school grounds. But the video above sure looks like they were ready to arrest him no matter where he was.
But when Burke was arrested this time, he offered a powerful defense in the simplest of terms:
'This court is simply denying me my religious beliefs, and my right to my religious beliefs. I am a Christian. I have Christian beliefs. My belief is male and female, God made them male and female.
I did not force my beliefs on anyone. That belief was forced on me. I was commanded to feed that poison to young people in my care.'
Burke will now be sent to Mountjoy Prison until at least October 11, when his case will be heard.
I could spend some more time talking about Burke, but I want to talk about the larger implications of this and similar incidents, not just for Ireland and the U.K., but also for the United States.
Though Twitchy has not covered Burke before, we have provided extensive coverage of what is happening in the United Kingdom since 'Two-Tier Kier' Starmer was elected as Prime Minister. The country has announced that anyone protesting violence by illegal immigrants will be arrested. People will also be arrested for 'hate speech' on social media. Schoolchildren are being indoctrinated into woke ideology. And in a truly Orwellian nightmare, the U.K. is even threatening to extradite people from other countries for social media 'hate speech.'
This woke ideology is also pervasive throughout the Irish government. Recently resigned PM Leo Varadkar and current Taoiseach Simon Harris have both chosen to ignore the migrant perpetrators of violent crime in the country and instead condemn and arrest their own citizens for protesting against it.
This is not the United Kingdom or Ireland that the U.S. has maintained a 'special relationship' with for decades. This is George Orwell's Oceania.
In America, we like to snuggle under the blanket of the First Amendment, and we should take comfort in that. But we should also recognize how fragile it is. Recently, Democrat VP nominee Tim Walz has already expressed that he would like to restrict free speech the same way the U.K. and Ireland are doing.
HOLY SH!T
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) August 7, 2024
Governor Tim Walz: NO RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH if the government decides it is misinformation or hateful
This man is a dangerous commie pic.twitter.com/hE8xGcRx87
Walz's would-be boss, Kamala Harris, has expressed the same predilection.
President Kamala Harris would regulate speech, censor social media, & remove accounts and content she doesn't like.
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) August 30, 2024
Listen to this if you don't believe me: pic.twitter.com/WJ4uXRQD3f
Harris even strongly pushed for Donald Trump to be kicked off of social media when she was running for President in 2020.
Neither Harris nor Walz has explicitly mentioned jailing thought criminals (yet), but come on. Given how the Biden-Harris administration has already weaponized the Justice Department, how long do you think it would take for that to go into force? Remember that the current Justice Department has already sent Douglass Mackey to jail for creating memes that hurt Hillary Clinton's feelings.
There is no question that freedom of speech is under assault across the globe and from the left here in the United States. Harris will almost certainly try to shut down Twitter -- the only real bastion of free speech we have left -- if she is elected President. That would suck for my job here, but it would suck a LOT more for everyone in America. Without Twitter, we are pushed further back under the umbrella of the lying, corrupt mainstream media.
No. Absolutely not. As Harris herself likes to say, 'We are NOT going back.'
Recently, New Zealand actor and director Russell Crowe very eloquently expressed the importance of America to the world in a conversation with podcast host Joe Rogan:
On Joe Rogan. Russell Crowe said it very well.
— OldnSlow (@oldn_slow) August 23, 2024
We must keep are mind on whats important vs the noise. pic.twitter.com/OHfSXHWiK6
These comments make me proud to be an American. But they also remind me that we can only remain a beacon to the world, we can only keep that fire of freedom from being extinguished if we fight for it.
The election in November won't be the end of that fight, not by a long shot. But it can be a victory for freedom in a much larger war.
I don't know about everyone else, but I am ready to fight.
