Last Tuesday, I took part in the inaugural event of the new Armagh Faith and Science Partnership. The main speaker was Sir John Houghton, former director-general of the British Meteorological Office and a committed Christian. He gave a lecture on the topic of faith, science and global warming. Father Timothy Bartlett and I then joined Sir John for a panel discussion with audience questions, chaired by the BBC’s Mark Carruthers.
A video of the event will soon be online, courtesy of the Faith and Science Partnership, so in this article I will focus on my own contribution to the panel discussion, as reconstructed from my bullet point notes from the evening.
Last Thursday in Friends House in London, I debated with Sami Zaatari of the Muslim Debate Initiative. The topic: Is religion less relevant to modern society? Here is my opening contribution:
A year ago today, my wife Anne Holliday died of cancer. I miss her every day, and I would like to thank everyone who has been so supportive during the past twelve emotionally difficult months. I’m in Scotland this week visiting Anne’s sister Carrie, and we are reminiscing about Anne’s life. Here’s a tribute to Anne that I wrote shortly after she died, which I hope conveys her inspirational character and her many contributions to Irish society:
I will be debating in London with Sami Zaatari of the Muslim Debate Initiative on Thursday 19 April at 6.30 pm. The topic is: “Is religion less relevant to modern society?” The venue is Friends House at 173-77 Euston Road. Admission is free.
Here’s a recording of my discussion yesterday on Newstalk Radio with Father Vincent Twomey about the Hibernia College teacher training course controversy.
Jane Donnelly and I met today with Hibernia College to discuss the course notes that made untrue statements about atheism and atheists. The meeting was very productive. The relevant course notes have been removed, and I am preparing an initial one-hour introductory lesson for Hibernia College on atheism and nonreligious ethics.
Hibernia College Dublin, in its Higher Diploma in Arts in Primary Education, is teaching as part of its Religion module several untrue statements about atheism and at least two defamatory allegations about modern atheists.
Last Monday in University College Cork, I debated with Brendan O’Neill of Spiked magazine and Adnan Rashid of iERA on the merits of Catholicism, Islam and secularism. The debate was jointly organised by the UCC Philosophical, Atheist and Muslim Societies. Here is my opening contribution: You can watch the full debate on the Atheist ireland [...]
Has religion poisoned politics in Ireland? I took part in this debate last December in Queens University Belfast. It was organized by the Belfast Humanist Group. Speaking along with me for the motion were journalist Malachi O’Doherty and Jon Dickinson of QUB Humanist Society. Speaking against the motion were Leon Litvack of Queens University Belfast, [...]
Does religion do more harm than good? Here are the opening speeches from my debate in NUI Galway, on Thursday Feb 9 2012, with Adnan Rashid of the Islamic Education and Research Academy.
Last Tuesday, I took part in the inaugural event of the new Armagh Faith and Science Partnership. The main speaker was Sir John Houghton, former director-general of the British Meteorological Office and a committed Christian. He gave a lecture on the topic of faith, science and global warming. Father Timothy Bartlett and I then joined Sir John for a panel discussion with audience questions, chaired by the BBC’s Mark Carruthers.
