Indonesian civil servant Alexander Aan was charged with blasphemy for writing about atheism and Islam on Facebook, and has since been jailed for two and a half years for spreading information inciting religious hatred and animosity. In light of the recent Center for Inquiry petition to the White House (which got 8,000 signatures but needed […]
Since we hosted last year’s World Atheist Convention in Dublin, there have been escalating online debates about sexism, harassment and bullying in the international atheist and skeptical communities. Good people including friends who I respect, who have expressed different opinions about these issues, have been victims of unfair personal attacks, based on distortions of what […]
Asia Noreen Bibi, a 41-year-old Christian mother from Pakistan, has now spent three years in prison and faces execution by hanging after a farcical blasphemy conviction. And last year two Pakistani politicians who questioned her sentence were murdered: the governor of Punjab Salman Taseer, killed by his own bodyguard, and Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who […]
Alexander Aan, who was jailed for blasphemy last month in Indonesia, has sent a message from prison thanking his supporters around the world, saying that he would feel alone without our support and love. He says that he is always concerned with science and humanity, and that he is also concerned about misinformation about him. […]
On Wednesday 6 June, I was on a panel discussion about religion and science on the Marc Coleman show on Newstalk Radio. The other panelists were Michael Kelly deputy editor of the Irish Catholic newspaper, Donal O’Sullivan Latchford of the Irish family and Media Association and Dublin City Councillor Dr Bill Tormey of Fine Gael. […]
Indonesian civil servant Alexander Aan was jailed today for sharing material on Facebook about the Prophet Mohammad. Please contact the Indonesian embassy demanding his immediate release, and ask the Irish Government to urgently raise the issue with the Indonesian authorities. In Ireland, Senator Ivana Bacik and Senator Jillian Von Turnhout have raised Aan’s case in […]
Last Saturday in Cologne, I gave this talk about blasphemy laws to the European Atheist Conference in Cologne in Germany.
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 […]
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: You can watch the full debate on the Atheist Ireland website.
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 […]