Atheist Ireland attended events this week organised by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the National Women’s Council of Ireland. We also made a submission to the Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality, and Michael Nugent was on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence this morning to discuss the efficacy of prayer.

The NCCA event marked the conclusion of a consultation on the new draft Primary curriculum framework. We spoke to Minister for Education Norma Foley about the recent Burke case at the Supreme Court, which confirmed the duty of the Department of Education to respect the constitutional rights of parents in the education system.

The NWCI event was a rally outside the Oireachtas to mark the coming International Women’s Day. There is a huge historic overlap in Ireland between discrimination against women and the influence of the Catholic Church. One important current issue is the need for the new National Maternity Hospital to be publicly owned and secular.

The Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality is now examining how to implement the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly. We made a submission highlighting the Constitution; online harassment; the school curriculum including RSE; domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence; and the Influence of the Catholic Church.

As always, you can help us to continue this work by joining Atheist Ireland as a member, or by asking anybody who you think may be interested in joining us to do so. We are an entirely voluntary body with no paid staff, and we depend on our members to continue our work. You can join Atheist Ireland here.

 

The recent report of the Commission on the Defence Forces has recommended change in the chaplaincy service to reflect the religious and non-religious beliefs of modern Ireland. It also wants an end to exclusionary religious practices such as convening Masses during induction.
If implemented, these changes would show respect for personnel of minority faiths or with non-religious philosophical convictions.
There is similar religious discrimination in our equality laws, which the Department of Justice is now reviewing, and in the religious oaths in our Constitution for the president, judges, and the Council of State, which includes the taoiseach and tánaiste.
Ireland is no longer a Catholic country. We are now a pluralist country with outdated privileges for Catholics.
Atheist Ireland, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland, and the Evangelical Alliance Ireland, made a joint submission to the commission seeking change in its Catholic culture that discriminates against all of us.
While the three groups have very different world views and policy emphases, we campaign together for secularism and human rights. Every person should be treated with respect, as should our right to hold our beliefs, and the State should treat us all equally before the law by remaining neutral between religions and beliefs.
The Defence Forces is a microcosm of society and should have a clear neutral policy on religion and belief. It should not promote any particular religious or atheistic belief, or oblige personnel to participate in religious rites as part of military events.
The Irish Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and religion. The State is forbidden to discriminate between religions, or between religions and those with no religion. Despite this, Catholicism has always been part of the culture of our Defence Forces.
About 9 per cent of Defence Forces personnel are non-Christian or have no religion, yet 15 of its 16 chaplains are Roman Catholic and full-time, and the other is Church of Ireland and part-time.
Catholic chaplains are responsible to Catholic bishops of their dioceses and provincials of their orders for religious ministrations and promoting the spiritual and moral welfare of all members of the Defence Forces under their spiritual care.
They must also co-operate with the head chaplain and the commanding officer in promoting the social and recreational welfare of such personnel. The duties are therefore seen as both sacramental and pastoral.
This means all full-time Defence Forces chaplains are responsible to a Roman Catholic bishop for promoting the spiritual and moral welfare of all members of the Defence Forces under their spiritual care, while merely co-operating with the commanding officer.
Does this mean Roman Catholic chaplains are responsible for the spiritual and moral welfare of Evangelicals, Ahmadiyya Muslims and members of other religious minorities, as well as atheists, humanists, and secularists in the Defence Forces?
Or does it mean that only Roman Catholic personnel have this privilege? Neither of these options is satisfactory. Over the years Defence Forces personnel have had to attend mandatory Masses, participate in ceremonial duties in churches and be generally deferential to Catholicism.
There are no rules or guidelines to ensure that personnel need not participate on the grounds of conscience in religious rituals.
While there have been some reforms, the commission has identified the chaplaincy and Masses during induction as outdated practices that must change or end. It also wants an end to other discriminatory practices, including the treatment of pregnancy and childbirth as an irregular absence from duty, and not permitting certain facial hair including beards.
The rights of minorities to freedom of conscience and religion cannot be reconciled with fully State-funded employees of the Defence Forces being appointed by Catholic bishops, or by forcing personnel to participate in religious practices.
It is time for the Defence Forces to embrace pluralism and equality in relation to religion or belief. The phrase “religion or belief” is important here. While it is obvious to most that the conscience of Evangelicals and Ahmadi Muslims should be protected, the Venice Commission has stressed that the “belief” aspect of this phrase includes deeply held conscientious beliefs that are fundamental about the human condition and the world, including atheism.
The Department of Justice is now reviewing our equality laws. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has recommended that the “religion” ground in the Acts should be amended to “religion and belief”, to bring it in line with EU law.
This would help us move to a more inclusive culture based on human rights.
Atheist Ireland, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and Evangelical Alliance Ireland welcome the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, and we look forward to a time when all State bodies recognise and include all minorities. Read online…

 

New Draft Primary Curriculum must respect rights of atheists as decided by the courts

See our submission to the NCCA here

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Calling concerned teachers

If you are a teacher and concerned about unwanted religious influence contact Chris at teachers@atheist.ie

List of Atheist Ireland Submissions

Buy this book “Is My Family Odd About Gods?”

Lessons about Atheism

Atheist Ireland has published a set of free lesson plans about atheism for children aged 8 and up. We welcome feedback, which we will use to develop the lessons. You can download the lesson plans here

Be Good without Gods

Notme.ie

Petition on Schools Equality PACT 

Atheist Ireland currently runs one petition – The Schools Equality PACT. This seeks to reform religious discrimination in state-funded schools. Currently this stands at 4,108 Help us reach it’s target of 5000. Please sign and share this petition if you haven’t already done so. Thank you.

Atheist Ireland is an entirely volunteer run organisation. We receive no grants or government funding to continue our campaign work. We rely entirely on membership fess and donations.

Annual membership is nominal; €25 waged, €10 unwaged/student and €40 for family membership. Please consider becoming a member. Membership means:

Four weeks to the Census on Sunday 3 April. If you’re not religious, mark ‘No Religion’.

29 days to the Census on Sunday 3 April. If you’re not religious, mark ‘No Religion’.

30 days to the Census on Sunday 3 April. If you’re not religious, mark ‘No Religion’.

One month to the Census on Sunday 3 April. If you’re not religious, mark ‘No Religion’.

National

Podcasts, Videos and Interviews

Ireland

International

Freethought Radio – Katherine Stewart
The Friendly Atheist Podcast – How Many Atheists Are in Prison?

Ireland

• Stained-glass piece for sale: Catholics only

International

• Atheists should go to hell – CS Magoha
• Argentinian bishop sentenced to prison for sexual abuse despite pope’s defense.
• Kenya atheists seek ban on school prayer days
• Turmoil in small Italian town after judge silences church bells
• In Pakistan, the use of blasphemy laws to satisfy personal grudges is rampant