Secular Sunday #10 – Educating the Educators
Good morning, afternoon, evening or whatever time you’re reading this. Whatever time it is, there’s always time for Secular Sunday!
In this issue:
- News
- Upcoming Events
- Volunteering
- Bloggery
News
- On Monday 27 February, Michael Nugent and Jane Donnelly of Atheist Ireland met two Council of Europe delegations who were in Dublin monitoring Ireland’s record in protecting human rights. They are the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), and the Advisory Committee for the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM). Read more
- A thread on boards.ie alerted us to the fact that Hibernia College’s teacher training course had been making untrue claims about atheism and atheists. Course notes included the following: “What bothers very few of its latter-day exponents is the fact that atheist humanism produced the worst horrors history has ever witnessed, namely Nazism, Fascism and Marxism”. Atheist Ireland sent a letter to Hibernia College requesting that such statements be removed and that the entire religion module be revised so that it teaches students about religion in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner.
Happily, the response from Hibernia College was very positive and on Friday, Michael Nugent and Jane Donnelly met with representatives from Hibernia College who agreed to remove the offending sections from the course notes.
We will be working with Hibernia College with the aim of developing a more pluralist religion and ethics curriculum, that is consistent with the human right of all students to freedom of conscience regardless of their religious or nonreligious beliefs. Read more
Upcoming Events
- Today (4 March), 4:00 pm, Buswell’s Hotel, Dublin 2 (map)
The Humanist Association of Ireland’s monthly meeting. There will be by a presentation by teachers from North Bay Educate Together school on the ethics and ethos of the school. It should be informative and fun. All welcome. An excellent opportunity to get to know more about Educate Together and ask questions. Facebook event page - Sunday 25 March, 12:00 pm, Quay Co-Op Meeting Room, Cove St, Cork (map)
Cork Humanists present “Positive Psychology and the Good Life”, a speech by Dr. Zelda di Blasi, a psychology lecturer in UCC. Facebook event page
Volunteering
Atheist Ireland will this week be sending a document to all TDs and Senators, outlining our policies for equal civil rights for all in a secular Irish Republic. The policies will include what needs to change in the Constitution, education system, lawmaking, government and courts. You can read an early draft of this policy document here.
To promote these policies effectively, we are now looking for volunteers to lobby politicians and research the relevant beliefs and actions of local politicans. Learn more. If you think you can help please email chair@atheist.ie
Bloggery
More from the usual suspects this week. Seriously people, you need to bookmark these blogs.
- Consider the Tea Cosy has two more posts in her “Atheism and Me” series: Talking about religion and You’re going to hell!
- Geoff’s Shorts continues his dissection of John Lennox’s Gunning for God, and announces some upcoming radio appearances.
- Peter Ferguson responds to Hibernia College’s claim (since removed, see above) that atheism is responsible for all manner of evils.
And that’s it for another week. Keep up with the latest news on our website, Facebook and Twitter.
Till next Sunday,
Derek Walsh
Editor, Secular Sunday
Atheist Ireland
