Secular Sunday #42 – Stay Tuned

Welcome to this week’s Secular Sunday.

In this issue:

• News
• Upcoming Events
• On the Box
• Blogosity

News

• Atheist Ireland’s fourth Annual General Meeting will take place next Saturday, 20 October from 2-5 pm in Buswell’s Hotel in Dublin. We’ll be reviewing our activity for the last year, and planning our priorities for the next year. All members of Atheist Ireland may attend, and you can join or renew your membership on the day (annual membership is €25, or €10 for students or the unwaged.) We’ve had to reschedule our planned guest speaker, Sanal Edamaruku, until next month because of passport and visa problems, so we will have more time next Saturday to focus on planning for another successful year of local, national and international activity.
• Last Thursday’s Dublin Atheists in the Pub was a very interesting discussion between our own Harry Guinness and Vegan Ireland‘s Dr.Roger Yates, on the subject of Atheism and Veganism. It’s now available to watch. The Q&A session will be online soon. The topic generated quite a lot of heated discussion in our Facebook group.

Upcoming Events

• Wednesday 17 October, 8:00 pm, Absolute Hotel, Sir Harry’s Mall, Kings Island, Limerick (map)
  The Mid West Humanists are meeting. The meeting will continue the plan for members to visit all the TDs in Limerick, Clare, and North Tipperary with their list of desired changes to the Constitution, and to ask that these issues be sent to the Constitutional Convention. The September meeting decided that the visits would take place when the Constitutional Convention is about to deal with the blasphemy issue.
• Saturday 20 October, 2:00 – 5:00 pm, Buswell’s Hotel, Molesworth St., Dublin 2 (map)
  Atheist Ireland AGM. See above for details.
• Saturday 20 October, 8:00 pm, Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork (map)
  Cork Skeptics in the Castle present “The Nocebo Effect”, a talk by KeirLiddle of the Edinburgh Skeptics. Keir will be beamed live via Skype from Scotland. Also speaking – in the flesh – will be the editor of Walton Magazine, a new science publication based in Cork. Read more
• Monday 22 October, 8:30 pm, McSwiggans Bar and Restaurant, Woodquay, Galway (map)
  Galway Skeptics in the Pub #43. More science and skepticism. Facebook event page

On the Box.

Two television programmes of particular interest this week:

• Monday 15 October, 10:00 pm, More4 Sex, Death and the Meaning of Life: Richard Dawkins examines sin and asks whether the old religious rules about what is right and wrong are helpful and explores what science can tell us about how to be good. The first episode deals in part with the research of Darrel Ray on sex and secularism. Darrell gave a great talk at the 2010 Atheist Ireland AGM in Dublin about his book The God Virus, and he has since published Sex & God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality. Read more
• Tuesday 16 October, 11:15 pm, RTÉ 1 Beyond Belief: Mick Peelo and guests explore blasphemy. Atheist Ireland’s chairman Michael Nugent will be on the panel, arguing the case for repealing the Irish blasphemy law and combatting blasphemy laws internationally, particularly in Islamic countries. Read more

Blogosity

• Watch a TV episode that features a bombing from the 1980’s and you’ll see a husky terrorist with a hint of red in his hair, a love of Guinness and an Irish accent that exists only in Hollywood. Watch one now and you’ll see he’s been smoothly replaced by a swarthy equivalent who speaks of infidels. – Geoff reminds us of the danger of stereotyping.
• The language used by religious organisations such as the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child and Youth Defence, is highly emotive, yet grossly scientifically inaccurate. There is a fine line between outright fanatical delusion and deliberate lack of regard for facts. The boundary between the two becoming so blurred that it is often difficult to distinguish. – Cyril takes on the controversial issue of abortion and religion.
• I agree with the Bible that the creator of the universe came to planet Earth, circling one of a hundred billion stars in one of a hundred billion galaxies, so that he could impregnate a virgin in order to give birth to himself, then be tortured and die and dictate a book about it. – Michael Nugent takes a temporary break from disagreeing with the outlandish claims of religions.

That’s it for this week. Don’t forget: we have a website, a Facebook page and group, a Twitter feed, and a YouTube channel so there’s always plenty of Atheist Ireland-related goodness to enjoy.

Till next time,

Derek Walsh
Editor, Secular Sunday
Atheist Ireland