This is my debate yesterday on RTE Radio 1’s God Slot with theist author David Glass about his book ‘Atheism’s New Clothes: Exploring and Exposing the Claims of the New Atheists’. After the recording, I had a lengthy chat with David about our respective opinions. While we disagree on the fundamentals of reality and morality, […]
Why we should support the right to legal abortion
This is my contribution, in support of legalising abortion, at yesterday’s debate in the University of Limerick. The Youth Defence/Pro-Life speakers declined to give permission for video of their contributions to be published. When we were addressing the recent Oireachtas hearings on abortion, a lot of opponents of legalised abortion were worried about a line […]
75 songs for atheists, agnostics and freethinkers
This list has been added to and updated, along with an Atheist Song of the Week. You can now find the list of Atheist Songs at this link. .
Secular Sunday, Second Sunday, Second Breakfast, Midday Sunday 10 February
Would you like to meet some other atheists for a Sunday brunch once a month? It’s nothing formal, just getting together for a meal and a chat at midday on the second Sunday of every month. We hope that it will help to cater for people who can’t easily get to the evening events that […]
Lincoln is a thought-provoking movie about the conflict between principle and pragmatism
I’ve just watched Spielberg’s Lincoln, which as well as recording the fate of the bill to ban slavery as the civil war wound down, addresses how Lincoln faced unbearable conflicting pressures from both political opponents and supporters, as well as from within his own family. Because the story itself is familiar, the movie stands or […]
Irish Catholic newspaper says ladies should behave like gentlemen, and be calm not shrill
In a masterstroke of patronizing sexism, The Irish Catholic newspaper has criticized Senator Ivana Bacik for not behaving like a gentleman during the recent parliamentary hearings on abortion law. In an opinion piece titled ‘We can’t be cowed by shrill voices’, editor Michael Kelly wrote: “Ms Bacik clearly disagrees with the Catholic view that all […]
David Quinn is misrepresenting abortion hearings as including a “session for the Churches”
David Quinn of the Iona Institute, like the Irish Catholic Bishops, is trying to promote the fiction that there is (or should be) a Church-State dialogue process that excludes nonreligious groups. He has described as ‘inexplicable’ that Atheist Ireland took part in the recent Oireachtas hearings on abortion laws during the same session as some […]
Catholic Schools Week: can you opt your child out of a full week of Catholic indoctrination?
In Ireland, parents have a constitutional right to opt their children out of school classes, including religious education, if what is being taught is not consistent with their philosophical beliefs. In practice, it is hard to exercise this constitutional right, because some schools will not supervise children who opt out and because the Catholic ethos […]
Irish Catholic Bishops misrepresenting meeting as ‘the Church-State structured dialogue process’
The Irish Catholic Bishops are misrepresenting their meeting with the Government last Friday as part of “the Church-State structured dialogue process.” After the meeting Cardinal Sean Brady said “It is in the common good of Irish society to have in place a vibrant and organised structure where the Catholic Church – as well as other […]
Atheist Ireland requests meeting with government as partner in dialogue process
Atheist Ireland has written to the Taoiseach requesting to meet him and ministers and officials, under the structured process of dialogue between the Government and churches, faith bodies and non-confessional bodies. Atheist Ireland is a partner in this dialogue process, having been accepted as such at a meeting with officials of the Taoiseach’s Department in September […]