Atheist Ireland is asking European and Local Election candidates to support this Secular Statement

Atheist Ireland is contacting European and Local Election candidates, asking them to support a Secular Statement supporting freedom of religion or belief and separation of church and state.

The statement is based on the Dublin Declaration on Secularism and the Place of Religion in Public Life, which was adopted in 2011 at the World Atheist Convention in Dublin hosted by Atheist Ireland.

Please ask any election candidates who call to your door whether they support this statement, and if you have time you could also contact them directly to ask them. Please also let us know what response you get from candidates.

We have had initial responses from candidates from most of the major parties, mostly so far in the North West and Dublin regions, and we will publish the responses on an ongoing basis to help secular voters to choose candidates who share their values.

We are not asking candidates to support atheism, or to make any comment on their personal religious or philosophical beliefs. We are asking them to support the principle that the State should be neutral between religion and atheism, while respecting the right of any citizen to freedom of religion or belief while not infringing on the rights of other citizens.

And we are not asking voters to vote solely on the basis of secularism. Obviously you will vote on the basis of a range of different issues that are important to you. However, if you are choosing between candidates who you otherwise agree with on various issues, this extra information might help you to make your decision.

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This is the updated text of the Secular Statement we are asking candidates to endorse.

It is based on the Dublin Declaration on Secularism that was adopted by delegates at the World Atheist Convention in Dublin in June 2011. It includes some clauses that are not the same as the Dublin Declaration.

1. Personal Freedoms

• Freedom of conscience, religion and belief are private and unlimited. Freedom to practise religion should be limited only by the need to respect the rights and the freedoms of others.
• All people should be free to participate equally in the democratic process.
• Freedom of expression should be limited only by the need to respect the rights and freedoms of others. There should be no right in law “to not be offended”. The Constitution of Ireland should be changed to remove the crime of blasphemy.
• The Constitution of Ireland should also be changed to remove the requirement for office holders, such as the President and judges to take religious oaths.

2. Secular Democracy

• The sovereignty of the Irish State is derived from the people and not from any god or gods. The Constitution of Ireland should be changed to remove all obligations to specific deities.
• The creation of laws by the Irish State should be based on democracy and human rights. Public policy should be driven by an application of logic and reason to evidence and not by any particular religious faith.
• Government should be secular. The Irish State should be strictly neutral in matters of religion or its absence, favouring none and discriminating against none.
• Membership or otherwise of any particular religion, should not be a basis for appointing a person to any position within the Irish State.
• The law should neither grant nor refuse any right, privilege, power or immunity, on the basis of faith or religion or the absence of either.

3. Secular Education

• Citizens in Ireland should have the option of a secular education for their children. While all children may be taught about the diversity of religious and non-religious beliefs in an objective manner, no faith formation with respect to any particular religion should be imposed.
• Children in Ireland should be educated in ethical, reasoned and critical thinking, with science education being free from religious interference.
• Children in Ireland whose parents desire a secular education for them (either due to an absence of religious faith or due to a wish for faith formation to take place outside of school hours) should not be ostracised or disadvantaged.

4. One Law for All

• Any private conduct, which respects the rights and freedoms of others, should not be criminalized on the grounds that any particular religious doctrine regards such conduct to be immoral.
• Employers in Ireland should not be allowed to discriminate based on religious beliefs, which are not essential to the job in question.

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This is the text of the Dublin Declaration on Secularism. This the document from which the Secular Statement was adapted. It includes some clauses that are not the same as the Secular Statement. It is not the document that e are asking candidates to endorse.

On Sunday 5 June 2011, the World Atheist Convention in Dublin discussed and adopted the following declaration on secularism and the place of religion in public life. Please discuss and promote it with your friends and colleagues, and if you are a a member of an atheist, humanist or secular group, please discuss and promote it with your fellow members, and with the media and politicians.

1. Personal Freedoms

(a) Freedom of conscience, religion and belief are private and unlimited. Freedom to practice religion should be limited only by the need to respect the rights and freedoms of others.
(b) All people should be free to participate equally in the democratic process.
(c) Freedom of expression should be limited only by the need to respect the rights and freedoms of others. There should be no right ‘not to be offended’ in law. All blasphemy laws, whether explicit or implicit, should be repealed and should not be enacted.

2. Secular Democracy

(a) The sovereignty of the State is derived from the people and not from any god or gods.
(b) The only reference in the constitution to religion should be an assertion that the State is secular.
(c) The State should be based on democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Public policy should be formed by applying reason, and not religious faith, to evidence.
(d) Government should be secular. The state should be strictly neutral in matters of religion and its absence, favouring none and discriminating against none.
(e) Religions should have no special financial consideration in public life, such as tax-free status for religious activities, or grants to promote religion or run faith schools.
(f) Membership of a religion should not be a basis for appointing a person to any State position.
(g) The law should neither grant nor refuse any right, privilege, power or immunity, on the basis of faith or religion or the absence of either.

3. Secular Education
(a) State education should be secular. Religious education, if it happens, should be limited to education about religion and its absence.
(b) Children should be taught about the diversity of religious and nonreligious philosophical beliefs in an objective manner, with no faith formation in school hours.
(c) Children should be educated in critical thinking and the distinction between faith and reason as a guide to knowledge. Science should be taught free from religious interference.

4. One Law For All
(a) There should be one secular law for all, democratically decided and evenly enforced, with no jurisdiction for religious courts to settle civil matters or family disputes.
(b) The law should not criminalise private conduct because the doctrine of any religion deems such conduct to be immoral, if that private conduct respects the rights and freedoms of others.
(c) Employers or social service providers with religious beliefs should not be allowed to discriminate on any grounds not essential to the job in question.