|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial
Misuse of public funds regarding religious instruction
 Since last December, Atheist Ireland has been lobbying to vindicate the constitutional right to not attend religious instruction in schools, and to uphold parental authority in the education of their children, which the Supreme Court has described as a foundational pillar of the Constitution.As well as lobbying individual politicians and the Oireachtas Education Committee, we have met with the Department of Education and the NCCA. As these constitutional requirements are conditions of the funding of schools, we have also engaged with the Oireachtas Committee on Public Accounts, the Comptroller and Auditor General, and the Minister for Finance.
We have supported our position with decisions made by the High Court and Supreme Court in relevant cases, including the Campaign to Separate Church and State case in 1998, which was about the payment of chaplains by the state, and the recent Burke case, which was about the obligation of the Department of Education to respect constitutional rights in its administrative schemes.
Over the coming days and weeks we will be publishing all of our correspondence on this issue, so that you can follow how the arguments have evolved. Please let us know if you would like to to help us with this lobbying campaign after the Oireachtas summer break.
You can also help us to continue all of our 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.
– Secular Sunday Editorial Team
|
|
|
Contents
*|MC:TOC|*
Back Issues
*|MC:SHARE|*
|
|
|
Éire Aindiach
Éire Aindiach
Chun ár gcuid feachtais a leathnú agus a neartú, tá sé beartaithe ag Éire Aindiach níos mó úsáid a bhaint as an Ghaeilge.
Ba mhaith linn meitheal a eagrú, chun cuidiú le:
- Polasaithe agus feachtais Éire Aindiach a phlé ar an raidió nó ar an teilifís
- Cuidiú le doiciméid ghaeilge a scríobh
- Bualadh le polaiteoirí chun stocaireacht a dhéanamh
Táimid i mbun aistriúcháin a dhéanamh ar dhoiciméid polasaí faoi láthair, agus teastaíonn cabhair uainn le aistriúchán agus profáil. Más maith leat bheith páirteach san iarracht seo, cur ríomhphost chugainn ag gaeilge@atheist.ie.
English translation:
To broaden and strengthen our campaigns, Atheist Ireland have undertaken to make more use of the Irish language.
We are looking to assemble a group of volunteers, to help with:
- Discussing our policies and campaigns on radio or tv
- Helping to write documents in Irish
- Meeting with politicians to lobby them
We are in the process of translating policy documents at the moment, and we need some help with translating and proofreading. If you would like to assist with this effort, please email us at gaeilge@atheist.ie.
|
|
|
Atheist Ireland News
Documents about misuse of state funds regarding religious instruction
Since last December, Atheist Ireland has been lobbying to vindicate the constitutional right to not attend religious instruction in schools, and to uphold parental authority in the education of their children, which the Supreme Court has described as a foundational pillar of the Constitution.
As well as lobbying individual politicians and the Oireachtas Education Committee, we have met with the Department of Education and the NCCA. As these constitutional requirements are conditions of the funding of schools, we have also engaged with the Oireachtas Committee on Public Accounts, the Comptroller and Auditor General, and the Minister for Finance.
Over the coming days and weeks we will be publishing all of our correspondence on this issue here, so that you can follow how the arguments have evolved. Please let us know if you would like to to help us with this lobbying campaign after the Oireachtas summer break.
1. December 2021 — our original submission
We sent a major report to the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee. We argued that the Department of Education and the NCCA are misusing public funds by ignoring constitutional conditions about the right to not attend religious education in schools.
You can read this report at these links in three parts:
Still to come
We will be publishing more of our correspondence on this issue here over the coming days and weeks. Read online…
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?”
**Schools Special Offer**
Atheist Ireland are offering the book ‘Is my family odd about gods‘ free (excluding postage and packaging). This means that you can get this book for the total price of 10 euro. This offer is aimed at families with school going children, who would like to read this book. This offer is limited to one book per family unit and for postage within Ireland only. Read more…
Have you noticed that your school and your teachers may tell you one thing about religion, while some of your friends and family may have different ideas about god?
If you think that this is a little odd, then this book is for you. Buy this book here.
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
 Be Good without Gods
Atheist Ireland ‘Good Without Gods’ Kiva team members have made loans of $37,075 to 1292 entrepreneurs in the developing world. You can join the team here. Before you chose a loan, make sure you do not support religious groups. You can check the loan partner’s social and secular rating here.
Notme.ie
Atheist Ireland’s ‘notme.ie‘ is a place where people can publicly renounce the religion of their childhood. Currently there are 1932 symbolic defections. Many share their reasons for making a public symbolic defection which you can read here.
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 4,113 Help us reach it’s target of 5000. Please sign and share this petition if you haven’t already done so. Thank you.
Tell us what you think
Have you any feedback that you would like to give us on the Secular Sunday newsletter. What are we getting right? What could we improve on? Is there something you would like to see included? Drop us an email at secularsunday@atheist.ie.
Please consider joining or re-joining Atheist Ireland
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:
- You can help to build an ethical and secular Ireland.
- You have a say in determining policy and electing officers.
- You can attend members meetings and our AGM.
- You will have access to our members only Facebook group
- Your membership fee will go towards supporting our many campaigns.
You can join Atheist Ireland here.
Thank you for your continued support
Atheist Ireland Committee
|
|
|
Opinion and Media
Material on atheism, secularism, human rights,politics,science etc. collected from media and the blogosphere from Ireland and beyond; used without permission, compensation, liability, guarantee or implied endorsement. We aim to include a variety of diverse opinions and viewpoints.
Blogs & Opinions
National
Irish people adopted abroad as children to get full access to their records
By Lisa O’Carroll
Irish people who were sent to Britain, the US and elsewhere for adoption when they were children as a result of decades-long Catholic hostility towards unmarried mothers will be entitled to unrestricted access to their birth certificates and other official records in Ireland for the first time thanks to a new law. Read more…
Consent, online pornography and gender stereotyping part of new proposals in sex education syllabus
By Carl O’Brien
Minister for Education Norma Foley has described a proposed revamp of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) for the Junior Cycle as “a step in the right direction” and as the catalyst to empowering students to cope with life in the 21st century. Read more…
Updating sex education is the easy bit. Ensuring the topic is taught effectively will be far more difficult
By Carl O’Brien
“We don’t even know what we should know,” said one student. “We haven’t a clue,” said another. “We never learned about relationships,” added another pupil. “We just did diet, nutrition and bullying all the time.” They are just a handful of the comments gathered by researchers who reviewed the sex education curriculum across primary and secondary schools in 2019. Read more…
Internationa
In the Face of Fact, the Supreme Court Chose Faith
By Pamela Paul
Imagine your boss fervently proclaiming his religious beliefs at the end of a companywide meeting, inviting everyone on the team who shares those beliefs to join in. You’re surrounded by colleagues and other higher-ups. Everyone is watching to see who participates and who holds back, knowing that whatever each of you does could make or break your job and even your career, whether you share his convictions or not. But hey, totally up to you! Read more…
Pharmacist fights legal battle after refusing to fulfil morning-after pill prescription in Poland
By Daniel Tilles
A pharmacist is challenging her punishment for refusing to fulfil a patient’s prescription for the morning-after pill. Her case is being supported by Ordo Iuris, a prominent conservative legal group, which argues that pharmacists should be protected by the same “conscience clause” as doctors who refuse treatments contrary to their beliefs. Read more…
Greek parents succeed in court case challenging procedure for exemption from religious education
By Humanists International
A group of parents had launched a legal challenge in order to reform the process for applying for an exemption from religious education in Greece. In a ruling last Thursday, Greece’s highest administrative court found in their favor. Up until now, students seeking an exemption from religious education in Greece were required to make a solemn declaration invoking “reasons of religious consciousness” Read online…
Secular subjects at faith school limited to English and maths
By The National Secular Society
A faith school has failed an inspection for devoting most of its curriculum to religion, with “little time” for secular subjects. Talmud Torah Tiferes Shlomo, an independent Jewish school in London, was rated “inadequate” by Ofsted, who said pupils “spend most of the school day on their Jewish studies”. Read more…
Abortion just one element of US White Christian Nationalist agenda
By Mary Hunt
The big, but not only, religion story in the United States is the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v Wade. Abortion is no longer a constitutionally protected right. For the first time in American history a right, once granted, has been rescinded. With abortion laws reverting to the decision-makers in individual states, soon half of the country’s citizens will be unable to access nearby reproductive health services. Read more…
If you are a blogger or vlogger writing or talking about atheism, secularism, ethics, skepticism, human rights etc. and would like us to include your work here please email the link to secularsunday@atheist.ie
Podcasts, Videos and Interviews
Ireland
Do you host an Irish-based podcast on atheism, secularism, science, skepticism, human rights etc.? Let us know and we will link to it here.
International
BBC Video – Killed for blasphemy in Nigeria: ‘It felt like a spear pierced my heart’
Media Watch
News and views from Ireland and around the world. Sharing is not an endorsement.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
