World Blasphemy Day

Posted on September 25th, 2015 by peterohara

On Wednesday 30 September 2015, which is World Blasphemy Day, some Mid-West Humanists will be on the street in Limerick.

We will probably be in Cruises Street, from close to 13:00…
hoping to stay there until 15:00 or so.

We will have the map of the world with countries coloured by their laws against blasphemy.

We will also show a poster inviting people to hold up a picture that some people will see as blasphemous, just for 10 seconds only!

We will have a choice of 4 blasphemous pictures for any volunteer to show – kept in a bag until someone volunteers to show one. We don’t want to offend all of the people all of the time.

Actually, we hope the pictures will make people laugh.

Of the pictures, 3 will blaspheme 3 different religions, and 1 tries to similarly offend people who have no religion.

See you there!

Happy World Blasphemy Day!

Filed under: announcements, atheism, blasphemy, constitution, god, humanism, humour, law, political issues, religion, Secularism | Tagged: atheism, blasphemy, christianity, free speech, Human Rights, islam, judaism | 1 Comment »

We keep up the campaign to remove Blasphemy from the Constitution

Posted on July 25th, 2015 by peterohara

The Mid West Humanists have continued on the street in Limerick, nearly every 2 weeks on Saturdays, giving leaflets to the public on why we should remove the sentence that makes blasphemy an offence, from the Constitution as soon as possible.

We have stood at the corner of Thomas Street and O’Connell Street in Limerick on 7 occasions since March 2015. On one weekend we were in the People’s Park on the Sunday of the Limerick Spring Festival of Politics. We display a map of the world showing the countries that have laws against blasphemy. We give leaflets with the reasons to remove the law now, as outlined in January 2015 after the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris.

People could also sign a petition, which we will bring to TDs, when there are enough signatures, to ask for the referendum to remove this sentence from the constitution.

Here we are in the People’s Park at the Limerick Spring festival.

Mid-West Humanists for a Referendum to remove Blasphemy from the Constitution

We should have a referendum in 2015 to remove the provision that makes Blasphemy an offence from Ireland’s Constitution. Sign a petition at the street stall, or visit all your TDs to give your view.

Filed under: announcements, blasphemy, constitution, Dáil Éireann, debate, humanism, political issues, Secularism | Tagged: blasphemy, constitution of ireland, free speech, secularism, society | Leave a comment »

June 2015 meeting

Posted on June 19th, 2015 by peterohara

The meeting on 17 June 2015 discussed the definition of Atheism in the Mid-West Humanists’ leaflet on Humanism and the Mid-West Humanists. The consensus was to keep the definition as a view that there do not exist any gods.

The meeting heard that some of our members had met the Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan T.D. since the May meeting. The Minister has very recently confirmed to us that the decision to change the Lease of a National School by signing a Deed of Variation is a decision reserved to the Minister and not delegated to any civil servant. She had told us at the recent meeting that the Department of Education is allocated to the Labour Party for the length of this coalition government, and the Labour Party favours secular education. Thus it is unlikely that any Deeds of Variation will be signed under the present government. The Mid-West Humanists will continue to seek more information about school leases, and will seek to avoid any leases being modified by the draft Deeds of Variation.

Filed under: atheism, Dáil Éireann, education, humanism, Meetings, political issues, religion, Secularism | Tagged: atheism, Deed of Variation, equal rights, Human Rights, National School, National School Lease, politics, secularism | Leave a comment »

Mid-West Humanists ask Minister for Education not to entrench religious control of National Schools

Posted on April 27th, 2015 by peterohara

A delegation from the Mid-West Humanists met Jan O’Sullivan T.D. Minister for Education and Skills on 24 April 2015, about the Leases of National Schools.

Our National Schools – origins and rules

Now most people believe that our National Schools are tied to principles of various religions (mostly the Roman Catholic religion).

Well, the popular awareness of the origin of National Schools is correct, that the United Kingdom government set them up from 1830 onwards. The government wanted Trustees for each school to include people of a mixture of religions. No such mixed Trustees volunteered, and only sets of clergy of a single religion became Trustees. From the religion of the Trustees, National Schools got called Roman Catholic schools, Church of Ireland schools, etc.

Historians have described the one-religion nature of every set of Trustees as the churches subverting the UK government’s plan. However the plan was subverted only in that the Trustees do not include a mixture of religions.

The Lease of each school vested the running of the school in Trustees, who thereby promised to run the school by the Lease and by the rules from the Minister for Education. From the beginning to the end, the Leases did not mention a religion.

The Leases write “…the object of the system of National Education is to afford Combined literary and moral, and Separate Religious Instruction to children of all persuasions, as far as possible in the same school, upon the fundamental principle that no attempt shall be made to interfere with the peculiar religious tenets of any pupil.”

This may be a surprise to readers, as our National Schools are indeed controlled by clergy of religions – and to most people this includes the idea that those clergy as Trustees run the schools in the style of that particular religion, and that they are entitled to run them in a religious manner. This is actually contrary to the statement in the Lease that we just mentioned. Continue reading →

Filed under: atheism, constitution, education, humanism, ireland, law, political issues, religion, Secularism, social issues | Tagged: atheism, constitution of ireland, Deed of Variation, equal rights, Human Rights, humanism, National School, National School Lease, religion, roman catholic, secularism, society | Leave a comment »

Mid-West Humanists’ letter to Minister for Education and Skills on National School Leases and the model Deed of Variation

Posted on April 27th, 2015 by peterohara

The Mid-West Humanists met Jan O’Sullivan T.D. Minister for Education and Skills on 24 April 2015.

We asked the Minister not to change the Leases of National Schools via a 1997 model Deed of Variation.

In another post we explain about National School leases.

We show here the letter which we gave to the Minister, in which we explained our concerns.

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24 April 2015

To Jan O’Sullivan TD, Minister for Education and Skills

Deeds of Variation should not be applied to National School Leases

Dear Minister O’Sullivan

Summary

We seek information on whether (and if so, when) the Department of Education and Skills plans to apply the Deeds of Variation to the leases of schools, Deeds that were first drafted about 1997.
We ask that the Leases of Primary (National) Schools not be altered as in the model Deeds of Variation of 1997 or as in any similar model. The schools are now managed by persons or groups of persons who belong to particular religions, and, contrary to popular belief, their leases (which are their agreements with the Department) do not restrict the operation of the schools to fit with those religions, and are quite neutral about religion. (The Education Act 1998 requires a school to have a characteristic spirit, but this is not solely about religion, and the schools’ leases of which we know do not determine any aspect of the characteristic spirit.)

We seek that the leases not be changed according to the model Deed of Variation of 1997 or similar model, because the present leases would allow a school to be secular in many aspects, and the varied leases would make each school tied to the particular religion. Between 1997 and 2015 society in Ireland has become more secular; it has not become more religious. Continue reading →

Filed under: atheism, constitution, cultural issues, education, humanism, law, political issues, religion, Secularism | Tagged: atheism, constitution of ireland, Deed of Variation, equal rights, Human Rights, humanism, law, National School, National School Lease, politics, religion, roman catholic, secularism | Leave a comment »

Minister for Education responds to our request for State Secular schools, and we reply

Posted on March 19th, 2015 by peterohara

The Mid West Humanists met the Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan TD on 28 November 2014. We told her then that we seek a system of State secular schools to replace the present system of schools devolved to patrons. We put our detailed requests in writing also.

On 10 March the Minister responded to our request. We sent a reply to the Minister on 16 March. We show both of these here. You will see that the Minister and Department of Education and Skills are making some changes. Yet the need for a peaceful society is still for schools to be secular and not divided by religion, and the State should own the schools. The Minister’s letter does not mention this our main idea.

In our reply we noted to the Minister that at present, because 92% of primary schools are under the Roman Catholic patrons, those schools could feel some duty now to adapt to pupils who are not Roman Catholic. Recently the Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland wrote a report about this adaptation, and the publication alone shows that they feel under some such pressure. Our response to the Minister is about this pressure, and how even that pressure will disappear if the country’s schools come to contain a substantial minority of schools with patrons which treat all children in a secular, egalitarian manner. The RC schools would then be more like their own ethos than they are now, and children at those schools would hear little of the variety of cultures that exist in Ireland.
We are not endorsing the particular plans in the report, which Atheist Ireland has reviewed and found greatly wanting.

The Minister’s letter to the Mid West Humanists: –

10 March 2015

Dear Mr O’Hara,

I refer to your correspondence following our meeting in November 2014. Please accept my apologies for the delay in replying to you. Continue reading →

Filed under: atheism, constitution, education, humanism, ireland, political issues, Secularism, social issues | Tagged: constitution of ireland, equal rights, Human Rights, law, secularism, society | Leave a comment »

We campaign to remove Blasphemy from the Constitution, on the streets

Posted on March 19th, 2015 by peterohara

The Mid West Humanists have been on the street in Limerick, giving leaflets to the public on why we should remove the sentence that makes blasphemy an offence, from the Constitution as soon as possible.

We have stood at the corner of Thomas Street and O’Connell Street in Limerick on 24 January 2015, and 2 further times. We displayed a map of the world showing the countries that have laws against blasphemy. We gave leaflets with the reasons to remove the law now, as outlined in January 2015 after the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris.

People could also sign a petition, which we will bring to TDs, when there are enough signatures, to ask for the referendum to remove this sentence from the constitution.

There is to a similar stand soon on the street in Ennis.

We should have a referendum in 2015 to remove the provision that makes Blasphemy an offence from Ireland’s Constitution. Sign a petition, or visit all your TDs to give your view.

Abolish All Blasphemy Laws! Humanists launch new campaign

Posted on February 5th, 2015 by peterohara

The Mid West Humanists received this message recently from the European Humanist Federation. Atheist Ireland is one of the 200 supporting organisations.

It is good to see international support for our campaign to remove the law against Blasphemy from Ireland’s Constitution.

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The End Blasphemy Laws Campaign is thought to be the first campaign focusing solely on the issue of laws against “blasphemy” including “ridicule” and “insult” to religion or “hurting religious sentiments”.

The coalition behind the campaign, led by the European Humanist Federation (EHF), the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) and various national partners, represents around 200 Humanist and secular organizations globally.

Campaign’s website: end-blasphemy-laws.org

Sonja Eggerickx, President of the IHEU, said, “In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings there have been renewed calls to abolish ‘blasphemy’ and related laws in almost every country where they still exist. Our organizations have worked for many years to protect this important right: to question, criticise, and yes even ridicule religion. Given this new impetus to challenge these anachronistic laws, we believe that we can work together across national boundaries to support local voices calling for the repeal of all such laws.

“The idea that it is wrong to satirize religion, lends false legitimacy to those who murder in the name of being offended. The idea that it is taboo to question or to criticise religious authorities is one reason why sexual abuse in the Catholic Church persisted so long. The idea that “insult” to religion is a crime, is why humanists like Asif Mohiuddin are jailed in Bangladesh, is why secularists like Raif Badawi are being lashed in Saudi Arabia, is why atheists and religious minorities are persecuted in places like Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan, Iran, Sudan, and the list goes on!”

Pierre Galand, EHF President, explained: “Our campaign does not target laws against incitement to hatred, which are legitimate. What we are concerned about is laws which restrict freedom of expression about religion. As a first step, we want to see the remaining laws against blasphemy and religious insult in Europe repealed. There is an obvious double standard issue as the EU has taken a clear stand against blasphemy laws in the world. Now it must encourage its Members States to abolish existing blasphemy laws, as recommended by the Council of Europe.”

The campaign calls on transnational bodies and world leaders to look on “blasphemy” laws as they might look on law restricting press freedom: as a restriction on free expression and indicator of social harm.

Contact information:

EHF (European Humanist Federation): Pierre-Arnaud Perrouty (Executive Director): T +32 4 84 18 35 35, p-a.perrouty@laicite.net

IHEU (International Humanist and Ethical Union) : Bob Churchill (Director of Communications): T +44 7743971937, bob.churchill@iheu.org

EHF
Campus de la Plaine ULB
CP 236 1050 Brussels
Belgium

International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU)
39 Moreland Street
London EC1V 8BB
United Kingdom

Filed under: atheism, blasphemy, constitution, Dáil Éireann, humanism, law, political issues, religion, Seanad Éireann | Tagged: blasphemy, campaign, constitution of ireland, EHF, equal rights, European Humanist Federation, free speech, International Humanist and Ethical Union, law, secularism | Leave a comment »

Blasphemy outlawed in the Constitution – why we should remove this urgently

Posted on January 25th, 2015 by peterohara

Pakistan quotes Ireland’s law against blasphemy to defend against democratic countries urging them to abolish it. Laws do maintain culture within a society, and the culture in Pakistan against blasphemy has resulted in the murder of – people released from a blasphemy charge, a lawyer who defended an accused, a judge who did not make the popular decision, and a state governor who had spoken in public of the problems with this law and favoured repealing it.

These murders contribute to views that to kill people who blaspheme (and anyone who favours the “blasphemers”) is right and reasonable. This contribution probably extends, at least indirectly, to those who did the murders on 07 01 2015 in Paris.

To prohibit blasphemy does not add to freedom of religion; it reduces it

Religions have rules. There are usually rules about what you will think or believe, mostly about the god and related people or things. A second set of rules tell you to do some things, and also not to do some other things.

Freedom of religion in democratic societies means you are free to join a religion, and also free not to join a religion; to choose which religion; and to leave the religion at any time.

When you choose a religion you can agree to follow its rules (otherwise, you are not bound by such rules.) If a thousand million people thereby undertake not to draw pictures of Mohammed, that does not create a right for any of those people to stop the other six thousand million people on earth drawing and publishing what they choose. A law against blasphemy is not about freedom of religion: rather it lets some people stop other people exercising freedom of religion and some other freedoms.

Continue reading →

Filed under: blasphemy, constitution, cultural issues, debate, humanism, ireland, political issues, religion, Secularism | Tagged: blasphemy, constitution of ireland, free speech, Human Rights, law, politics, religion, secularism | Leave a comment »

Support Charlie Hebdo and freedom of speech

Posted on January 8th, 2015 by peterohara

We are Charlie Hebdo

Nous sommes Charlie Hebdo

Is sinn Charlie Hebdo

I and I hope most Mid West Humanists support the right to life of 10 staff at Charlie Hebdo in Paris and of 2 officers of French police; and support their right to freedom of speech, and all people’s right to read any writing and any cartoon or other communication, whether or not it criticises or satirises any idea, whether religious, political, social, sporting, or scientific.

I praise Charlie Hebdo staff for publishing words and pictures without any respect for the ideas of several religions.

Are you powerless to do anything about some people murdering cartoonists and journalists who are doing their job (enabling you to read things that are prohibited in some countries)?

You are not powerless.

On TV I see that all the government of France and very many of the people support the right to speak, draw, and publish any matter, irrespective of any offence to any ideas.

France has a principle of secularism in the state (laicité) since 1905, now nearly half the time since the revolution in 1789. Ireland is weak in secularism, as the Constitution since 1937 states that blasphemy is an offence, and in 2009 our legislators continued a law to give effect to that article of the Constitution. Government and other people in Pakistan quote Ireland’s law to say that it is normal, including in Europe, for the law to prohibit criticism of religion. Our constitution and law fail to support the strong efforts of the constitution and law of France to maintain and defend freedom of speech. Today Thursday 08 January Dr Ali Salim of the Islamic Cultural Centre in Dublin said on RTE Radio 1 lunchtime news that it is correct that outraging many adherents of a religion is prohibited by law, and he said that if such outrage comes to his attention he will consult his lawyer as to what to do.

In 2013 the Constitutional Convention voted to suggest to the Government that they hold a referendum to let us choose to remove the law against blasphemy from the Constitution. The Government promised that it would hold this referendum, but at the end of 2014 they said that they will not let us vote on this.

You have power as a voter.

Visit all of the TDs in your constituency soon, and tell them that you demand that the Dáil and Senate vote for a bill to let us vote in a referendum on removing the sentence making blasphemy an offence from our Constitution. And tell them NOT to include substituting any sentence in its place.

I feel I owe this support to Charlie Hebdo’s journalists and cartoonists, and to all publishing staff there and in other parts of the world, and to the police who have been trying to protect them, as they are defending my right to freedom of speech.

Vive la liberté!