by Grania Spingies

Most of you won’t know that Ireland has a Catholic publication called Alive! although it should have three or four more exclamation points to convey the nuances of fervent and slightly rabid editorial style. It should be pointed out that in spite of the paper being distributed widely and for free, the average Irish Catholic neither endorses nor reads the paper, espousing as it does all the favorite hits of ultra conservatism, otherwise known as Vatican-approved Catholicism.

It appears they may be in trouble for this edition that declares:

They no longer live happily ever after… Being the child of parents with no faith is tough. It was inevitable that people who lost sight of God would eventually turn against fairy tale endings, in the name of “realism”. Being the child of parents with no faith and no ultimate hope is tough. However, the “realists” have got it wrong. Hope and happiness, not despair, are the realistic attitude to life. The resurrection of Jesus tells us that God has created us to live ‘happily ever after’. Children learn from fairy stories that we are destined for eternal happiness with God.

Pulitzer Prize stuff it ain’t.

RT if you think @dina_goldstein should sue Catholic Publication Alive http://t.co/XAXrmvaNAD pic.twitter.com/Tt0RTxhmiO — Sabina Brennan (@timelesstotty) June 6, 2015

The Irish Examiner reports that Dina Goldstein, Canadian photographer and creator of the Fallen Princesses series may sue for unauthorized reproduction.

As much as Alive! is a not particularly good example of an influential or representative view of non-believers; the opinion of this month’s op-ed isn’t that far off that espoused by people like Oprah who do have influence and no doubt regard themselves as open-minded and liberal: atheists are miserable. Or in this case, atheists are Snow White and have no understanding of birth control. Either statement is about as accurate as the other.