Date         : Tuesday, 21^st June 2011

Time        : 20:00

Venue     : Oakwood Arms Hotel, Shannon, Co. Clare.

Date         : Tuesday, 17th May 2011

Time        : 20:00

Venue     : Oakwood Arms Hotel, Shannon, Co. Clare.

The President shall enter upon his office by taking and subscribing publicly, in the presence of members of both Houses of the Oireachtas, of Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Court, and other public personages, the following declaration:

“In the presence of Almighty God I    ,do solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will maintain the Constitution of Ireland and uphold its laws, that I will fulfil my duties faithfully and conscientiously in accordance with the Constitution and the law, and that I will dedicate my abilities to the service and welfare of the people of Ireland. May God direct and sustain me.”

This clearly contradicts Article 44, Paragraph 2, Section 3 which states;

The State shall not impose any disabilities or make any discrimination on the ground of religious profession, belief or status.

It also effectively bars atheists and others who aren’t monotheists from holding the office of President.

This seems wrong to me and I’d like to suggest a way we can bring this issue to the notice of the mainstream. Any time you interact with the campaigns of the prospective candidates ask them to refuse to swear this oath if they are elected. Explain that the issue here isn’t their personal religious view but rather the wider question of whether it is correct that there is a religious qualification for the Presidency. People could also email, tweet, or write to the candidates and ask them to refuse to swear this discriminatory oath.

So far Sen. David Norris (Ind) and Mairead McGuinness MEP (FG) are the only declared candidates but there are likely to be others who’ll declare as the election gets closer.

For Atheists and Free Thinkers this is easy to do, simple mark the “No Religion” box, but for many people this will be difficult. There are many people who have a belief in a god or the supernatural and who were raised Roman Catholic or Church of Ireland but aren’t sure how to describe themselves now.

Below is the current text of the Nicene Creed as used by the Catholic church (it’s due to be changed later this year) and I’d like to suggest that people who find themselves unsure if they are Catholic, Christian or just Theist should read it. If they really believe in everything it says then Catholic or Christian is probably the correct option for them. If not then I’d suggest that they consider marking the other religion box and writing Theist or even Deist.

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
one in Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he was born of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died, and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son
he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic
and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the
resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

By way of contrast you might like to read this as well.

An Atheist’s Creed

I believe in a purely material universe that conforms to naturalistic laws and principles.

I believe that the life we have is the only one we will have, that the mind and consciousness are inseparable from the brain, that we cease to exist in any conscious form when we die, and that it is therefore incumbent on us to enable each person to live their one life to the fullest.

I believe in the power of science and reason and rationality to further deepen our understanding of everything around us and to eventually overcome superstition and erase the petty divisions sown by religion, race, ethnicity, and nationality.

I am in awe of the beauty, vastness, and complexity of nature and the universe, and the fact that all arose purely by the working of natural laws.

I believe in the power of ideals such as peace and justice and shared humanity to inspire us to create a free and just world.

I believe in kindness, love, and the human spirit and their ability to overcome challenges and adversity and to create a better world.

I believe in the necessity for credible and objective evidence to sustain any belief and thus deny, because of the absence of such evidence, the existence of each and every aspect of the supernatural.

I refuse to bow, prostrate myself, or otherwise cower before the deities of any religion.

I am neither tempted by the fiction of heaven or any other form of eternal life nor fearful of the fiction of hell.

I choose to live the dignified and exhilarating life of a free-thinker, able to go wherever knowledge and curiosity takes me, without fear of contradicting any dogma.

Date     : 15th March 2011

Time    : 20:00

Venue  : Auburn Lodge Hotel, Galway Road, Ennis

Agenda:

- Introductions

- Humanist / Atheist / Agnostic News.

- Logical Fallacies – a presentation by Louis Burke and Larry Maher.

- Any Other Business.

Thanks for your recent email. I set out a response to each of your questions which I trust will be of interest to you.

* Do you favour a secular education system fully under state control?

– Labour wants to reform our education system so that it is more democratic, and recognises the diversity of ethos within modern Irish society.

* Do you believe blasphemy should be a crime?

– At last year’s Labour Party Conference, the conference called on the Labour Party, that as part of its programme for Government it should promise to hold a referendum proposing to delete the word ‘blasphemous’ from Article 4.1.6 of the Constitution and to repeal any legislation that made reference to blasphemy as a form of defamation. This motion was passed at conference.

* Do you favour removing the constitutional requirement that judges and the President swear a religious oath upon entering office?

– Any alteration to the constitution would require a constitutional referendum on the issue, at present Labour does not foresee such a referendum taking place.

* In light of the recent ECHR ruling, do you favour the introduction of legislation to regulate abortion?

– The Labour Party policy on the question of Abortion is that we support the removal of the eighth amendment to the constitution and its replacement with modern legislation providing for abortion in defined circumstances. There are in the Labour Party as in all political parties, members who have deep conscientious reservations about abortion. Nevertheless a strong majority support the policy decided at our national conference in 2001 and confirmed in 2003. It is entirely in keeping with the legacy of Dr. Noel Browne that the Labour Party should take a stand against those who would seek to dictate a particular religious dogma, whatever its provenance as state legislation, and which puts the well-being of women at risk.

* Do you favour the removal of funding for religious chaplains in state funded institutions?

– The state is constitutionally (Article 44.2.2) obliged to remain secular and not to fund any one religion.Religion is a matter of personal conviction, it should be noted that it should not be publicly funded, especially given the more multi-ethnic nature of today’s Ireland and the potential for exclusion for citizens of the state.

* Do you favour a secular education system fully under state control?

Yes. The state cannot outsource it’s responsibility to education children. I think there have been enough examples that prove the need for public control over public education, and I believe that this should be fully democratic, with the schools run by elected representatives of staff, parents, the community and in the case of secondary schools, students.

* Do you believe blasphemy should be a crime?

No. It is an outrage.

* Do you favour removing the constitutional requirement that judges and the President swear a religious oath upon entering office?

Yes. I believe people of all religions and none should be equally able to take up public office.

* In light of the recent ECHR ruling, do you favour the introduction of legislation to regulate abortion?

Yes. There is no nice way out of a crisis pregnancy. No one is ‘pro-abortion ‘ as the religious right claim. In my view there is abortion for people in Ireland already, you just have the extra expense and stress of having to travel. I believe we should support and facilitate the decisions of women in crisis pregnancies.

* Do you favour the removal of funding for religious chaplains in state funded institutions?

Yes, I don’t believe the state should subsidise any church. The idea of non-denominational centres, for instance in hospitals, for people of all religion or none to go to relax and contemplate however is something I would support.