Atheist Ireland

Last updated

Atheist Ireland
Formation30 November 2008;15 years ago (2008-11-30)
Region served
Ireland
Chairperson
 Michael Nugent
Affiliations Humanists International
National Women's Council of Ireland
Coalition to Repeal the 8th
Children's Rights Alliance
International Coalition Against Blasphemy Laws
Website atheist.ie

Atheist Ireland is an association of atheists based in Ireland. The group was initially founded by members of Atheist.ie, an online community set up by Seamus Murnane in June 2006. Its current chairperson is writer and activist Michael Nugent. [1] Atheist Ireland is a former member of Atheist Alliance International, [2] and a former member of Humanists International (previously known as The International Humanist and Ethical Union), [3] and current member of The Coalition to Repeal the 8th, [4] Children's Rights Alliance, [5] the International Coalition Against Blasphemy Laws [6] and the National Women's Council of Ireland. [7] The group estimates it has about 500 members. [8]

Contents

Background

In Ireland, the Roman Catholic Church retains an influence in public-funded state services such as the provision of education and health care. Atheist Ireland oppose this influence. [9]

Atheist Ireland formation started in 2006 from an online forum set up by Seamus/James "Catherder" Murnane. The forum proved popular and quickly grew into a social and issue-focused group. [10] [11] [12] In October 2008, forum members discussed setting up a physical campaigning group. [13] [14] [15]

Atheist Ireland was founded at a meeting in the Central Hotel in Dublin on 30 November 2008. Its stated aims were to promote atheism, reason and secularism. [16] [17] Michael Nugent was elected as chairperson at the meeting.

Atheist Ireland describes itself as an advocacy group for secularism, rationality, pluralism and human rights. [18] It is run by a management committee consisting of four elected officials, chairperson, Secretary, Finance Officer and Regional Officer and other co-opted volunteers. It is a voluntary, non-profit, unincorporated civil society organisation. [19] The current[ when? ] committee consists of Michael Nugent (chairperson), Sean O'Shea (Finance Officer), Kelvin O'Connor (Regional Officer/Membership Officer) and Helen O'Shea (Secretary). [20] Past committee members include Derek Walsh as Editor of Secular Sunday, [21] Ashling O'Brien who campaigned on repealing the 8th and spoke to the Citizen's Assembly on this issue [22] and John Hamill of thefreethoughtprophet.com. [23] Jane Donnelly has taken on the role of human rights officer focusing on the Irish education system.

Activities

Atheist Ireland at Dublin Pride 2016 Dublin pride 2016 parade - Dublin, Ireland - Documentary photography (27286765013) (cropped).jpg
Atheist Ireland at Dublin Pride 2016

Not long after its formation, members of the Atheist Ireland community appeared on radio station Clare FM to discuss the role of atheism in Irish culture. [24] Since then Atheist Ireland spokespersons Michael Nugent, Jane Donnelly and John Hamill have frequently been interviewed on Irish media [25] on freedom of thought issues.

In 2009, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, proposed amendments to the Defamation Bill, including a statutory offence of blasphemous libel prosecutable liable to a fine of up to €100,000. The proposed penalty was later reduced to €25,000. [26] Atheist Ireland launched a campaign of opposition to the law. [27] The group received support from author and scientist Richard Dawkins, politician Ivana Bacik, and writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, among others. [28]

Chairperson Michael Nugent described the law as "silly and unjust", and highlighted other areas of the Irish Constitution which he felt were anomalous. He pointed out that to become a judge, a member of the Irish Council of State, or President of Ireland, a candidate must first swear a religious oath, and said that amendments were immediately required to address all such issues. [29]

On 1 January 2010, the date on which the law came into effect, the group published a series of potentially blasphemous quotations on its website and vowed to challenge any resulting legal action. It also said that it would be holding a series of public meetings to launch a campaign for secular constitutional reform. [30] [31]

On 25 June 2015 Michael Nugent discussed Atheist Ireland's complaint about RTÉ broadcasting the Angelus, with George Hook on Newstalk Radio. Michael identified that he believed RTÉ think that their proposed alterations were appropriately inclusive, yet have failed to meet the requirements of a state-funded television network. He suggested renaming the Angelus to something with a more neutral name. [32]

In 2016 Atheist Ireland refused an invitation to attend the state commemoration of the Easter Rising the chairman, Michael Nugent saying "The 1916 Rising involved an undemocratic group killing innocent people, based on a Proclamation whose authors claimed that Ireland was acting through them in the name of God...The reason for using the wrong date is to make the commemorations coincide with the Christian holiday of Easter". [33]

Campaigns

Repeal of the Blasphemy Law

Defamation Bill

The Defamation Bill 2006 (enacted as the Defamation Act 2009) was developed by Minister for Justice, Brian Lenihan; however a shuffle in the cabinet meant Dermot Ahern would later assume responsibility for the bill. It was signed on 23 July 2009, to be commenced on 1 January 2010. Section 36 of the Act indicted the publication or utterance of blasphemous matter: [34]

36.— (1) A person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €25,000.

(2) For the purposes of this section, a person publishes or utters blasphemous matter if— (a) he or she publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion, and

(b) he or she intends, by the publication or utterance of the matter concerned, to cause such outrage.

The justification for defining the law that had been in the Irish constitution since 1937 [35] was "A spokesman for Mr Ahern maintained that under the Constitution the Minister must have a crime of blasphemy on the statute books. 'The Minister's hands are tied in this,' said the spokesman." [36]

In response, Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland said the proposed change was "silly and dangerous" and "incentivises outrage". [37] [38]

25 blasphemous quotations

Atheist Ireland in response to the proposed law published 25 quotations from popular culture, the quotes were attributed to a wide range of sources including senior Irish politicians, highly popular artists, and authors, Jesus Christ and Muhammed. 12 of the quotes were by people not resident in Ireland and 10 were by people deceased or fictitious. Atheist Ireland claimed the goal was to demonstrate the law's ineffectiveness legally as well as its intention to protect religious belief as "the legislation is so ambiguous that it’s impossible to tell how it will be interpreted by the authorities. If they attempt to prosecute us [Atheist Ireland], we will take a constitutional challenge to the courts." [39] New York Times columnist Robert Mackey described Atheist Ireland's efforts as seeming "particularly tame". In an article on the Lede blog he said: [40]

What makes the Irish group’s attempt to break the law seem particularly tame is that it came on the same day last week that an ax-wielding man in Denmark tried to attack a cartoonist who offended millions of Muslims by publishing a drawing thought to show the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban. Say what you will about the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which intentionally published 12 cartoons mocking Islam in 2005, but that publication certainly showed how to cause the kind of outrage described in Ireland’s new law.

If the Irish atheists had wanted to make sure that they were breaking Ireland’s new law, they could simply have republished those cartoons, as the blogger Andrew Sullivan did last week in response to the attack on the cartoonist.

Members of Atheist Ireland themselves did not make any potentially blasphemous statements after the law was passed and no prosecutions or charges were ever considered or brought by the authorities.[ citation needed ]

"The proposed law does not protect religious belief; it incentivises outrage and it criminalises free speech. Under this proposed law, if a person expresses one belief about gods, and other people think that this insults a different belief about gods, then these people can become outraged, and this outrage can make it illegal for the first person to express his or her beliefs." [41]

The publication received a lot of international attention to the law. [42] [43] [44] [45]

Shortly afterwards Pakistan began to adopt the wording of the Irish definition of blasphemy in a submission to the UN: "the uttering of matters that are grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matter held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage to a substantial number of adherents to that religion." [46]

Proposed referendum

In March 2010, Ahern's press officer said the minister might ask the cabinet to hold a referendum to remove the reference to blasphemy from the Constitution in autumn 2010, at the same time tentatively planned for a referendum on an amendment relating to children's rights. [47] Asked about this in the Dáil, Ahern did not offer any commitment, but said: [48]

the programme for Government did indicate the possibility of referendums on a number of issues ... If we were to have a number of referendums on one day, it would be appropriate to put to the people a question on the section of the Constitution relating to blasphemous and seditious libel.

In the event, no referendums were held before the dissolution of the 30th Dáil in January 2011 and to date no referendum on the blasphemy law has been held.[ needs update? ]

A provisional date for the referendum was announced in September 2017 for a referendum on blasphemy to be held in October 2018. [49]

25-day walk

Atheist Ireland member Paul Gill in protest of the blasphemy law walked the length of Ireland i.e. from Mizen Head to Malin Head, to bring attention to the issue and encourage people to vote "yes". The walk began on the 6/5/10 (International Day of Reason) and finished 31 May 2010 taking him his goal of 25 days to achieve. [50]

Secularising the Irish Constitution

In its current form the Irish Constitution (Bunreacht na hÉireann) [51] stipulates many preferences for theism over atheism but more specifically for Christian religions over other religions. Throughout the document there are references to God, religious offences and the Holy Trinity; some act as barriers to public offices and other references restrict the document's protection of non-Christians.

Atheist Ireland wishes for a referendum(s) that remove these references from the constitution. [53] [54]

Secular education

There are approximately 3,300 primary schools in Ireland. [55] The vast majority (92%) are under the patronage of the Catholic Church who state "Catholic schools seek to reflect a distinctive vision of life and a corresponding philosophy of education, based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ", [56] and that "Religious education, prayer and worship form an essential part of the curriculum, functioning at its core. Such learning is founded on faith and inspired by wonder at the transcendent mystery of God revealed in the complex beauty of the universe." [56]

A small minority of (1.2%) are under either multi or inter denominational schooling under the patronage of Educate Together. The remainder of the schools are stewarded by other minority religions. [55] In 2015, Secular Schools Ireland was established by a group of parents as a prospective patron body for national schools. [57]

Schools run by religious organisations, but receiving public money and recognition, cannot discriminate against pupils based upon religion or lack thereof. A sanctioned system of preference does exist, where students of a particular religion may be accepted before those who do not share the ethos of the school, in a case where a school's quota has already been reached.

This system contrasts to Ireland's agreement to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights in which a UN Human Rights Committee drew attention to the Irish Government not upholding: Freedom from Discrimination (Article 2 of the Covenant); Freedom of Conscience (Article 18); the Rights of the Child (Article 24); and Equality before the law (Article 26). [58] [59]

Atheist Ireland has a resource website for secular education Teach Don't Preach [60] that contains information on how to opt out of religion in schools. [61] They also have a website to symbolically renounce church membership. [62] They also took over CountMeOut.ie after it disbanded. [62]

In August 2015 Atheist Ireland published the School P.A.C.T. campaign. This outlined the four areas they wanted reform for in the school system to remove "religious discrimination": Patronage, Access, Curriculum and Teaching.

In July 2016 Atheist Ireland published a report on the setting up of the State exam course on religion, [63] developed by the National Council for the Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). This was done under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI). [64] This showed that the course was not suitable for all religions and none, as suggested by the NCCA [65] and had a very strong bias towards Christianity.

In September 2017 Atheist Ireland used the Freedom of Information Act [64] to investigate the level of "religious indoctrination" in Education and Training Board [66] (ETB) Schools, the alternative to Catholic schools provided by state bodies. Again a strong bias towards Christianity, particularly Catholicism was found. [67] [68] [69] [70] [71] [72] [73]

In November 2018 Atheist Ireland launched their One Oath For All campaign to enable conscientious atheists to hold the office of President, Judge, Taoiseach, or other members of the Council of State. [74]

In September 2019 Atheist Ireland produced free lesson plans for primary schools [75] which can also be used in conjunction with their 2017 self published book Is My Family Odd About Gods?. [76]

In August 2020 Atheist Ireland commissioned barrister at law James Kane to give a legal opinion [77] on specific questions on the right to opt out of religious instruction under Article 44.2.4 of the Irish constitution. This discusses the legality regarding students' rights to not attend religious instruction and to be supervised or be given an alternative subject, under Article 44.2.4° (and other Articles) of the Constitution.

Atheist Ireland make frequent national and international submissions on secularism related issues. [78]

See also

Related Research Articles

Blasphemy, as defined in some religions or religion-based laws, is an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religious crime, including insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, speaking the "sacred name" in Judaism, and the "eternal sin" in Christianity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dermot Ahern</span> Irish former Fianna Fáil politician (b. 1955)

Dermot Christopher Ahern is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Justice and Law Reform from 2008 to 2011, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2004 to 2008, Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources from 2002 to 2004, Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs from 1997 to 2002 and Government Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of Defence from 1991 to 1992. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Louth constituency from 1987 to 2011.

Laws prohibiting blasphemy and blasphemous libel in the United Kingdom date back to the medieval times as common law and in some special cases as enacted legislation. The common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel were formally abolished in England and Wales in 2008 and Scotland in 2021. Equivalent laws remain in Northern Ireland.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Ireland since 16 November 2015. A referendum on 22 May 2015 amended the Constitution of Ireland to provide that marriage is recognised irrespective of the sex of the partners. The measure was signed into law by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, as the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland on 29 August 2015. The Marriage Act 2015, passed by the Oireachtas on 22 October 2015 and signed into law by the Presidential Commission on 29 October 2015, gave legislative effect to the amendment. Same-sex marriages in Ireland began being recognised from 16 November 2015, and the first marriage ceremonies of same-sex couples in Ireland occurred the following day. Ireland was the eighteenth country in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry, and the eleventh in Europe to recognise same-sex marriage nationwide.

Blasphemous libel was originally an offence under the common law of England. Today, it is an offence under the common law of Northern Ireland, but has been abolished in England and Wales, and repealed in Canada and New Zealand. It is a form of criminal libel that consists of the publication of material which exposes the Christian religion to scurrility, vilification, ridicule, and contempt, with material that must have the tendency to shock and outrage the feelings of Christians.

In Ireland, the state retains laws that allow for censorship, including specific laws covering films, advertisements, newspapers and magazines, as well as terrorism and pornography, among others. In the early years of the state, censorship was more widely enforced, particularly in areas that were perceived to be in contradiction of Roman Catholic dogma, including abortion, sexuality and homosexuality. The church had banned many books and theories for centuries, listed in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blasphemy in Pakistan</span> Pakistani penal code on insulting religion

The Pakistan Penal Code penalizes blasphemy against any recognized religion. Penalties provided range from a fine to death. It is the main criminal code of Pakistan. According to human rights groups, blasphemy laws in Pakistan have been exploited for persecuting minorities, and for settling personal rivalries - often against other Muslims and not as much for protecting religious sensibilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rónán Mullen</span> Irish politician (born 1970)

Rónán Thomas Mullen is an Irish senator and former delegate to the Council of Europe. He is the leader of the Human Dignity Alliance, an anti-abortion political party formed in 2018. He was elected by the National University Seanad constituency in July 2007 and re-elected in 2011, 2016 and 2020. He has topped the poll in every NUI Seanad election since 2011. Mullen is a frequent media commentator on social and political topics. The first National University of Ireland senator appointed to the Council of Europe, he received international coverage for his role in defeating the controversial McCafferty Report which sought to limit the right to conscientious objection for medical staff in the case of abortions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Nugent</span> Irish writer and activist

Michael Nugent is an Irish writer and activist. He has written, co-written or contributed to seven books and the comedy musical play I, Keano. He has campaigned on many political issues, often with his late wife Anne Holliday, and he is chairperson of the advocacy group Atheist Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in the Republic of Ireland</span>

The predominant religion in the Republic of Ireland is Christianity, with the largest denomination being the Catholic Church. The Constitution of Ireland says that the state may not endorse any particular religion and guarantees freedom of religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blasphemy law</span> Law prohibiting blasphemy

A blasphemy law is a law prohibiting blasphemy, which is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. According to Pew Research Center, about a quarter of the world's countries and territories (26%) had anti-blasphemy laws or policies as of 2014.

Blasphemy law in Indonesia is the legislation, presidential decrees, and ministerial directives that prohibit blasphemy in Indonesia.

The main blasphemy law in Egypt is Article 98(f) of the Egyptian Penal Code. It penalizes: "whoever exploits and uses the religion in advocating and propagating by talk or in writing, or by any other method, extremist thoughts with the aim of instigating sedition and division or disdaining and contempting any of the heavenly religions or the sects belonging thereto, or prejudicing national unity or social peace."

In Ireland, "publication or utterance of blasphemous matter", defamatory of any religion, was a criminal offence until 17 January 2020. It was a requirement of the 1937 Constitution until removed after a 2018 referendum. The common law offence of blasphemous libel, applicable only to Christianity and last prosecuted in 1855, was believed to fulfil the constitutional requirement until a 1999 ruling that it was incompatible with the constitution's guarantee of religious equality. The Defamation Act 2009 included a provision intended to fill the lacuna while being "virtually impossible" to enforce, and no prosecution was made under it. The 2009 statute increased controversy, with proponents of freedom of speech and freedom of religion arguing for amending the constitution. After the 2018 constitutional amendment, a separate bill to repeal the 2009 provision and residual references to blasphemy was enacted in 2019 by the Oireachtas (parliament) and came into force in 2020. The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989, which includes religion among the characteristics protected from incitement to hatred, remains in force.

The publishing of any "blasphemous libel" was a crime in New Zealand under Section 123 of the Crimes Act 1961 which allowed for imprisonment for up to one year. However, Section 123 protected all publications and opinions on any religious subject expressed in good faith and decent language against prosecution and specified that prosecution may proceed only with the leave of the attorney-general.

Irreligion is present among a minority of mainly young people in Pakistan. Atheists in Pakistan face discrimination, persecution, and prejudice in society. Pakistan is reported by some sources to be among the thirteen countries where atheism can attract capital punishment, but according to the Library of Congress of the United States, "there is no specific statutory law that criminalizes apostasy in Pakistan." On the other hand, the Pakistani government can impose the death penalty for blasphemy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irreligion in the Republic of Ireland</span>

Irreligion in Ireland pertains to the population of Ireland that are atheist, agnostic, or otherwise unaffiliated with any religion. The 2022 census recorded that 14% of the population was irreligious; the second largest category after Roman Catholicism. The population was traditionally devoutly Catholic throughout much of Ireland's modern history, with a peak of 94.9% identifying as Catholic in the 1961 census. This percentage has declined to 69% in the 2022 census, the lowest recorded. Conversely, those with no religion made up less than 0.1% of the population in 1961; the proportion grew slowly until the 1991 census where it began to rapidly increase to its current share of 14% of the population in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland</span> 2018 amendment decriminalising blasphemy

The Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution is an amendment to the constitution of Ireland which removed the constitution's requirement to criminalise "publication or utterance of blasphemous matter". The amendment was effected by an act of the Oireachtas — the Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Act 2018, which was introduced in Dáil Éireann, passed by the Dáil and Seanad, approved by the people in a referendum, before it was signed into law by the president.

Secularism in the Republic of Ireland has been described as a "Quiet Revolution", comparable to the Quiet Revolution in Quebec. It is an unofficial term that encompasses a number of significant social and political movements related to secularism and secularization, which have occurred within the last thirty years, and involved no violence or force. It has been described as a period where "the people led, and the politicians followed". Since the passing of a 1972 amendment with overwhelming public support, Ireland has had a secular constitution, although a high degree of religious influence over laws, education, and state business still persisted in the decades which followed, diminishing only in more recent times. In an assessment of the Irish state's overall secularity, Humanists International gave Ireland a mixed score, finding "systematic discrimination" against non-religious people in government, education, and society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apostasy in Islam by country</span>

The situation for apostates from Islam varies markedly between Muslim-minority and Muslim-majority regions. In Muslim-minority countries, "any violence against those who abandon Islam is already illegal". But in some Muslim-majority countries, religious violence is "institutionalised", and "hundreds and thousands of closet apostates" live in fear of violence and are compelled to live lives of "extreme duplicity and mental stress."

References

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