"Jim, the Church has no input into your legislature."
Your moronic repetition of this downright falsehood (with all the evidence to hand you cannot possibly believe something that flies in the face of reality even recent history and personal experience.
The woman who was denied her life saving operation and the children who were forced to flee the country to save their lives were in the situation they were on religious grounds
Savita Halappanavar was actually told by a member of the medical staff that her pregnancy could not be terminated because "Ireland was a Catholic country" - the family of the 11 year old who was raped, given two sexually transmitted diseases and achieved a pregnancy which, it was admitted by medical experts, would kill her, was told that "she should accept her martyrdom with pride".
Church influence in the governance of 'religious' countries is and always has been a fact of life - it is only when really bad things happen that things are forced to change.
The politicians who had the courage to bring about the meagre changes that (hopefully - nowhere near finished yet) have been decided on, did so by running a gauntlet of abuse, postings of horrific images of so-called "murdered" unborn children, and most important, the greatest threat taken seriously by anybody who has received a religious education, the threat of excommunication - eternal damnation.
The Jesuits had it in a nutshell "Give me a child for for his first seven years and I'll give you the man" - the Manchurian Candidate didn't come anywhere near the power of the established church for technique.
In all the arguments we have had I have never once seen you display one single shred of humanity - Israel, Ireland, the Arms Trade, Travellers, massacred refugees, and now religion; you have never displayed a single degree of sympathy for human beings or understanding of the human condition.
On all of these subjects you have chosen your side and thrown an enormous amount of your time and energy in backing the various establishments - human rights abusers, mass murderers, the dealers in and users of Chemical weapons, and now the present bunch of mind-benders you are defending here.....
You have never once attempted to explain the mass rape of children at the hands of the clergy - here you are openly defending Church inspired laws which sent a pregnant woman to her death because "Ireland is a Catholic country" - you have made no reference to this whatever despite the fact that it concerns every Catholic living in a Catholic country - who cannot even use contraception without risking the damnation of their soul, according to the church.
Once again you are defending part of The Establishment (the Established Church) and its malign influence on people in general.
Your arguments (what there is of them - only continued and repetative denials here and a refusal to produce counter-arguments) are equivalent to those in defense of the clerical pedophiles who laid the blame on the children who tempted the priests and allowed themselves to be raped, and the parents who "looked the other way while it was happening".
You have either totally failed to grasp the power wielded by any influential church or you are happy that those who have that power continue to use it in the way they unarguably do.
If you genuinely believe that the church has no influence in "religious countries", show us that it hasn't - it is a long established and fully accepted fact that it most certainly has.   
Muskett had it about right when he quoted the old adage about "the Church of England being the Tory party at prayer?" - even in 'enlightened' Britain.
Mike
Sorry - you are still counting corpses and comparing the numbers and resorting to the old schoolyard accusation "he hit me harder sir".
The Christian Church has been an active exponent in massive atrocities in the past and will be in the future should they feel the need and be given the opportunity.
Concentrating on one single set of atrocities by one particular group of religious head-cases will only make that threat an inevitability.
Unlike your friend here, you've moved away from your dismissive attitude to the situation all Catholics find themselves in regarding pregnancy termination.
I can't ever recall your commenting on the religious (inter-Christian) conflict that has claimed many thousands of lives in the North Eastern part of this country in recent times, and continues, or at least, threaten to do so - do you have an opinion - do you care?
You haven't commented on these arguments in relation to the power of the various churches: malign, neutral, good.... do you have an opinion or is your concern only for the current body-count?   
The fact that Islamic fanatics hold centre stage at the present time is immaterial to our and our children's future well-being.
Islamism, Christianity, Judaism are brand names of the same product - if they are going to serve humanity as they should and claim to do, they need to be given their rightful place in sciety, which is certainly not where any of them are at the present time.
Jim Carroll