Secular Sunday #67 – Nothing Fails Like Prayer

The week has hurtled by and it’s Sunday again, so we have a little bit of news, some blog posts, a profile of one of the speakers at our forthcoming conference, and details of all the atheist, humanist and skeptic events we can find, including our simultaneous near-nationwide brunches next week. Enjoy!

– Derek Walsh, Editor

News

  • Our conference Empowering Women Through Secularism is taking place at the end of June, and while the price is as low as we can make it and excellent value for a two-day event with world-renowned speakers, we appreciate that times are hard and €100 is a lot to spend. If you can’t afford to go, but would really like to, let us know and we’ll try to work something out. Conversely, if you want to help someone deserving attend the conference, you can donate (as much or as little as you like) on our website.
  • The Humanist Association of Ireland has announced that it has received approval to solemnise marriages. While in principle, this is a positive step towards our shared goal of a secular state, the wording of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill and its implications have been cause for concern for Atheist Ireland since the bill was first debated. Read more

Profile: Annie Laurie Gaylor

Every week until the Empowering Women through Secularism conference, we’ll be profiling one of the speakers. Annie Laurie Gaylor co-founded the Freedom from Religion Foundation (with her mother Anne Nicol Gaylor) and is its current co-president (with her husband Dan Barker, profiled last week).
She is the editor of the FFRF’s newspaper Freethought Today and has written and edited a number of books.
Annie was a speaker at the World Atheist Convention in Dublin in 2011 and we’re looking forward to her return.

Some videos of Annie speaking:

 

Calendar

  • Monday 8 April, 8:30 pm, McSwiggans Bar and Restaurant, Woodquay, Galway (map)
    Galway Skeptics in the Pub #54.Facebook event page
  • Wednesday 10 April, 9:00 pm, The Exchange, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 (map)
    Dublin Skeptics host Richard Saunders, Australian paranormal investigator. Facebook event page
  • Thursday 11 April, 7:30 pm, Porterhouse, Sheares St., Cork (map)
    Cork Humanists “Think and Drink”. This month the subject for discussion will be ” A world without religion”. Facebook event page
  • Sunday 14 April, 12:00 noon, Trinity Capital Hotel, Pearse St., Dublin 2 (map)
    The third Second Sunday brunch thing. All are welcome. Just pay for your own food. Facebook event page
  • Sunday 14 April, 12:00 noon, Salthill Hotel, Galway (map)
    Galway’s Second Sunday brunch.Facebook event page. You can also contact Peter Ferguson for more details.
  • Sunday 14 April, 12:00 noon, A Casa Mia, Tobergal Lane, Sligo (map)
    Sligo’s Second Sunday brunch.Facebook event page
  • Wednesday 17 April, 7:30 pm, Quay Co-op, Cork (map)
    Cork Humanists’ book club. This month the book being discussed is Alain De Botton’s Religion for Atheists. More
  • Wednesday 17 April, 8:00 pm, Absolute Hotel, Sir Harry’s Mall, Limerick (map)
    The Mid West Humanists are meeting. As well as old and new attendees (new people always welcome) getting to talk about life as an atheist or humanist in a society with a religious-biased culture, they are continuing their plan to meet TDs in the region, on the Constitution, starting when the Blasphemy article arises in the Convention.
  • Monday 22 April, The Roundy Bar, Cork (map)
    Cork Humanists Film Club. This month, the film is The Ledge (IMDB).Facebook event page
  • Saturday 29 & Sunday 30 June, O’Callaghan Alexander Hotel, Dubln 2 (map)
    “Empowering Women Through Secularism” An international two-day conference featuring some of the biggest names in atheism, skepticism, secularism and feminism. Buy tickets now

Bloggery

We must remember the context in which Iona misrepresented the research. It was in a submission to the Constitutional Convention. They were attempting to sway the opinion of the Convention members to oppose same-sex marriage legislation. To do so in such a dishonest manner is quite disgusting and warrants a retraction and an apology: both of which David has completely failed to do in the above post. Peter Ferguson responds to the Iona Institute’s reply to his previous blog post

Every chapter is scary and revealing, with women suffering under strict social conventions all drawn from religious justifications and yet an inspirational story when seen as a personal liberation from that oppressive life. The only problem I had with the book, however,  was dealing with how angry and frustrated I got whenever I sat down to read it. – Paul Kelly reviews Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s memoir Infidel

Secular Sunday

1 Comment

  1. Avatar
    John April 11, 2013

    I would advise that nice-looking lady not to share a lift with any of the other delegates while she is here. One liftgate is enough.