| Atheist Ireland | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Building a rational, ethical and secular society, free from superstition and supernaturalism. |
| Formation | November 30, 2008 |
| Region served | Republic of Ireland |
| Chairperson | Michael Nugent |
| Website | Atheist.ie |
Atheist Ireland is an association of atheists based in the Republic of Ireland. The group was initially founded by members of Atheist.ie, an online community which had been set up by Seamus Murnane in June 2006. Its current chairperson is writer and activist Michael Nugent.[1] Atheist Ireland is a member of the Atheist Alliance International.[2]
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Ireland has a long history of religiosity and religious conflict between its mainly Catholic and Protestant communities (a conflict based on political as well as religious reasons). The religious conflict between these two groups in the Republic of Ireland is now almost non-existent. According to the most recent census conducted by the Central Statistics Office of Ireland (CSO) in 2006, 259,084 people (6.11% of the population) stated they were atheists, agnostics, had no religion or did not state their religion.[3]
In the Republic of Ireland the Roman Catholic Church retains an influence in public funded state services such as the provision of education and health care. Thanks to a series of government commissioned reports that were published in 2009 and 2010, it has also come to light that during the period from independence to the early 1990s, many of the state's social services such as care for orphans, which were delegated to the Catholic Church, were riven by widespread and systematic physical and sexual abuse of children at the hands of Catholic clergy and the religious orders.
The organisation was launched in late 2008 at a public inaugural general meeting in Dublin. In January 2009, Michael Nugent, the elected chairperson of the group, appeared on the radio station Phantom FM to discuss its inception, as well as its aims and objectives.[4]
Not long after its formation, members of the Atheist.ie community were featured prominently on radio station Clare FM to discuss the role of atheism in Irish culture.[5]
In light of amendments to Ireland's Defamation Act proposed by Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, including changes which rendered the crime of blasphemous libel prosecutable for a fine of up to €100,000 (later reduced to €25,000),[6] Atheist Ireland launched a campaign of opposition to the concept of the law.[7] The group received support from author and scientist Richard Dawkins, politician Ivana Bacik, and writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, among others.[8]
Chairperson Michael Nugent described the law as "silly and unjust", and highlighted other areas of the Irish Constitution which he felt were anomalous. He pointed out that to become a judge, a member of the Irish Council of State, or President of Ireland, a candidate must first swear a religious oath, and said that amendments were immediately required to address all such issues.[9]
On January 1, 2010, the date on which the law came into effect, the group published a series of potentially blasphemous quotations on its website and vowed to challenge any resulting legal action. It also said that it would be holding a series of public meetings to launch a campaign for secular constitutional reform.[10][11]
The Defamation Bill 2006 was being actively developed before coming to fruition in 2009 subsequently being renamed The Defamation Bill 2009. The bill was the brainchild of Irish Minister for Justice, Brian Lenihan originally however a shuffle in the cabinet meant Dermot Ahern would later inherit the responsibility of being the bill's steward. It was signed on the 9/7/09 with a stipulation that it would come in to effect on the 1/1/10. The law defines blasphemy person as a person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €25,000. He or she publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion. [12]
The justification for re-defining the law now that has been in the Irish constitution since 1937[13] was "A spokesman for Mr Ahern maintained that under the Constitution the Minister must have a crime of blasphemy on the statute books. 'The Minister’s hands are tied in this,' said the spokesman."[14]
In response Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland spoke out publicly against the bill. He argued the proposed change was "silly and dangerous" and "incentivises outrage" .[15][16]
Atheist Ireland in response to the proposed law published 25 quotations from popular culture, the quotes were attributed to a wide range of sources including senior Irish politicians, highly popular artists and authors, Jesus Christ and Muhammed. 12 of the quotes were by people not resident in Ireland and 10 were by people deceased or fictitious. Atheist Ireland claimed the goal was to demonstrate the laws ineffectiveness legally as well as its intention to protect religious belief as "the legislation is so ambiguous that it’s impossible to tell how it will be interpreted by the authorities. If they attempt to prosecute us [Atheist Ireland], we will take a constitutional challenge to the courts. ”.[17] In fact not one of the 25 quotes qualified under the legislation because they all preceded the passing of the act. New York Times columnist Robert Mackey described Atheist Ireland's efforts as seeming "particularly tame". In an article on the Lede blog he said:
"What makes the Irish group’s attempt to break the law seem particularly tame is that it came on the same day last week that an axe-wielding man in Denmark tried to attack a cartoonist who offended millions of Muslims by publishing a drawing thought to show the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban. Say what you will about the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which intentionally published 12 cartoons mocking Islam in 2005, but that publication certainly showed how to cause the kind of outrage described in Ireland’s new law.
Members of Atheist Ireland themselves did not make any potentially blasphemous statements after the law was passed and no prosecutions or charges were ever considered or brought by the authorities.
"The proposed law does not protect religious belief; it incentivises outrage and it criminalises free speech. Under this proposed law, if a person expresses one belief about gods, and other people think that this insults a different belief about gods, then these people can become outraged, and this outrage can make it illegal for the first person to express his or her beliefs." [19]
The publication received a lot of international attention to the law.[20][21][22][23]
Shortly afterwards Pakistan began to adopt the wording of the Irish definition of blasphemy in a submission to the UN. "the uttering of matters that are grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matter held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage to a substantial number of adherents to that religion."[24]
In March 2010, Ahern's press officer said the minister might ask the cabinet to hold a referendum to remove the reference to blasphemy from the Constitution in autumn 2010, at the same time tentatively planned for a referendum on an amendment relating to children's rights.[25] Asked about this in the Dáil, Ahern did not offer any commitment, but said:[26]
In the event, no referendums were held before the dissolution of the 30th Dáil in January 2011 and to date no referendum on the blasphemy law has been held.
Atheist Ireland Ireland member Paul Gill in protest of the blasphemy law walked the length of Ireland i.e. from Mizen head to Malin head, to bring attention to the issue and encourage people to vote "yes". The walk began on the 6/5/10 (International Day of Reason) and finished 31/5/10 taking him his goal of 25 days to achieve.[27]
In its current form the Irish Constitution (Bunreacht na hÉireann)[28] stipulates many preferences for theism over atheism but more specifically for Christian religions over other religions. Throughout the document there are references to God, religious offenses and the Holy Trinity; some act as barriers to public offices and other references restrict the document's protection of non-Christians.
Atheist Ireland wishes for a referendum(s) that remove these references from the constitution.[30][31]
There are approximately 3,300 primary schools in Ireland.[32] The vast majority (92%) are under the patronage of the Catholic Church who state "Catholic schools seek to reflect a distinctive vision of life and a corresponding philosophy of education, based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ".[33]
and that "Religious education, prayer and worship form an essential part of the curriculum, functioning at its core. Such learning is founded on faith and inspired by wonder at the transcendent mystery of God revealed in the complex beauty of the universe."[33]
A small minority of (1.2%) are under either multi or inter denominational schooling under the patronage of Educate Together. The remainder of the schools are stewarded by other minority religions.[32] This system contrasts to Ireland's agreement to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights in which a UN Human Rights Committee drew attention to the Irish Government not upholding: Freedom from Discrimination (Article 2 of the Covenant); Freedom of Conscience (Article 18); the Rights of the Child (Article 24); and Equality before the law (Article 26).[34][35]