Secular Sunday #90 – Brevity etc.

This week’s newsletter is a little more compact than usual, which is entirely due to all the important work we’re doing behind the scenes and not at all because I spent most of yesterday listening to TED talks and most of today looking at aeroplanes.

– Derek Walsh, Editor

News

• The 2013 Atheist Ireland AGM takes place next Saturday 21 September, in the Harbour Hotel in Galway. The morning session (for members only) will be from 10:00 am to 12.30 pm. The afternoon session will be from 2:00 to 5:00 pm, and open to the public. If you’re not already a member of Atheist Ireland, you can join here. You will also be able to join or renew a lapsed subscription on the morning of the AGM. Please arrive early if you wish to do this.
  As well as reporting on our activities and finances, we will be launching the Declaration on Women and Secularism that we put together at our recent conference, and we will be announcing an exciting new project for the coming year.

Calendar

All events are free and open to everyone unless otherwise stated.

• Wednesday 18 September, 8:00 pm, Absolute Hotel, Sir Harry’s Mall, Limerick (map)
  The Mid West Humanists are meeting and will be appointing people to go to the TDs (and maybe Senators) in the region between about 5 and 19 October, as the Constitutional Convention is to discuss the Blasphemy provision on 19 and 20 October; and finalising the letter to give to each TD and what each pair or trio of Mid West Humanists will say there. The Mid West Humanists are now on Facebook and Twitter.
• Friday 20 September, 5:00pm – 11:00pm, various locations around Ireland.
  Culture Night 2013. A night of entertainment, discovery and adventure in Dublin and across 34 towns, cities and counties in Ireland. Arts and cultural organisations open their doors until late with hundreds of free events, tours, talks & performances. Read more
• Saturday 21 September, 10:00 am, Harbour Hotel, Galway (map)
  Atheist Ireland AGM. Details as above.
• Friday 27 September, Trinity College and other locations around Dublin
  Discover Research Dublin. An event to raise public awareness of researchers and research careers, giving the public the opportunity to meet researchers within the context of interactive activities and hands-on demonstrations that highlight the appeal of pursuing a career in research. Read more

Blogism

As an Irishman I am surrounded by Christianity and Catholicism in particular. My family is Catholic as are my friends, relatives, neighbours and pretty much everyone I come across. In fact, throughout our history being Irish and being Catholic were considered the same. The Church traditionally had a major influence on the country and still exerts control over schools and hospitals. I was raised Catholic, was an altar boy and even used to say a decade of the rosary every night. – Robert Nielsen explains why he is not a Christian