Secular Sunday #20 – Do You Follow?

Author Secular Sunday Published 13/05/2012

Welcome to this week’s Secular Sunday.

In this issue:

News
Upcoming Events
Be a Follower

News

On 3 May, Atheist Ireland attended a consultation at the Department of Foreign Affairs on the Draft Irish State Report to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights. We have also made a written submission that Government departments will consider as the State prepares its final report, and we will later make a Submission directly to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Read more.
On Thursday Geoff Lillis entertained Dublin Atheists in the pub with tales of his encounters with some of the city’s many street preachers. Watch the video here. For more background and some great articles, read Geoff’s blog.

Upcoming Events

Tuesday 15 May, 7:00 pm, The Market Place Theatre, Armagh (map)
Michael Nugent will be taking part in a panel discussion following a talk by Sir John Houghton on God, Science and Global Warming. Read more
Saturday 19 May, 3:00 pm, The Cottage Bar, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal (map)
Letterkenny Skeptics in the Pub. Facebook event page
Monday 21 May, McSwiggans Bar and Restaurant, Woodquay, Galway (map)
Galway Skeptics in the Pub 32 – Flight of the Pigasus. Facebook Event page
Friday 25 May, 8:00 pm, Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork (map)
Cork Skeptics present John Duignan, an ex-Scientologist talking about his 22 years in Hollywood’s favourite cult. More details. Facebook event page
25-27 May, Cologne, Germany
The European Atheist Convention, hosted by IBKA and Atheist Alliance International. Tickets are still available. Read more.
Tuesday 5 June, National Concert Hall, Dublin 2 (map)
Dublin Writers Festival presents: Richard Dawkins in Conversation. Tickets are sold out but a suitably motivated individual may be able to find some. Let us know if you’ve bought too many tickets and we’ll try to find a buyer. Learn more
Wednesday 6 June, 8:00 pm, Liberty Hall, Dublin 1 (map)
More from the Dublin Writers Festival. Alain de Botton will be discussing his controversial book Religion for Atheists. Tickets are €12/€10. Read more

Be a Follower

If you don’t do Twitter, you might think it’s all about celebrities opining on things they don’t understand, and strangers telling the world what they had for breakfast. And it can be, if that’s what you want. But it doesn’t have to be. It can be a news aggregator, an open-ended narrative, a forum for discussion and debate, a way to stay in touch with friends and a catalyst of revolution. Here’s a beginner’s guide.

Once you’re up and running you’ll need some people to follow. You should, of course, start with Atheist Ireland. You’ll get links to all our posts and news of any events. You can also follow our chairman Michael Nugent, our finance officer Stephen Duggan and yours truly.

Some other groups in Ireland worth following (depending on your location) are Dublin Skeptics in the Pub, UCD Humanist Society, Cork Skeptics, UCC Atheists, Letterkenny Skeptics and Belfast Skeptics.

And some of our members and friends: Aoife O’Riordan, Paul Moloney, Geoff Lillis, Abie Philbin Bowman, Buffy, David Robert Grimes, Conor P, Rebecca O’Neill

Most of the big names in international atheism, skepticism and secularism can be found on Twitter in some capacity:

PZ Myers is as prolific and outspoken on Twitter as you’d expect; Richard Dawkins seems to have people to tweet for him but they provide links to all the news on his site; Skepchick Rebecca Watson tweets frequently on skepticism, feminism and general nerdiness.

And a selection of the rest in no particular order: Sam Harris, Jerry Coyne, Ben Goldacre, Simon Singh, Stephen Fry, Peter Singer, Michael Shermer, Steven Pinker, Brian Cox, Alain de Botton, Phil Plait, Penn and Teller, Tim Minchin, Derren Brown, Richard Wiseman, Maryam Namazie, Salman Rushdie, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Dara O Briain.