A little light-reading.
Skepchick applies some analsys and critical-thinking skills to Sean Sugrue, a psychic medium based in Dublin (sigh!)
Filed under: humour, skepticism | Tagged: credulity, humour, quacks | 1 Comment »
A bigot amongst us
Posted on November 26th, 2008 by stilldoubting
Just a quick note to highlight just what we are up against as atheists in this country. A recent piece in our very own Irish Independent can be seen here. This article perfectly illustrates the ignorance and intolerance of the religious mind – where truth is not a requirement, and all generalisations must be used to punctuate their fallacious argument. The article is erroneous with the facts and is sloppy journalism at its worst. I will be writing my own letter of disgust to the newspaper, just as was done already. The UK’s freethinker website has also done a piece on it here. You will also note the use of the egregious ‘militant atheist’!
Filed under: atheism | Tagged: atheism, bigotry, journalism | 12 Comments »
Militant Atheism
Posted on November 26th, 2008 by stilldoubting
For my first post I thought I would comment on our meeting last weekend. At some point in the discussion the position of the HAI (who were visiting guests) was questioned, regarding the embryonic Atheist Ireland Association. What followed made me question the motives of the HAI. I was mystified at HAI’s seeming dismissal of any potential affiliation between the Humanist Association and Irish atheists. It struck me that they were desperate to avoid the stigma of being labelled Atheists. They had genuine reasons for this, and this is where the term ‘militant atheist’ entered the conversation and this is a where it rankled. The term militant, when referencing atheists appears to have become a homonym. The meaning of the word changing when referencing religion such as the Christian variety:
Or our friends in the ‘religion of peace’
For these militants, the word seems to have disturbing and dangerous connotations – rightly feared. However, the second meaning of the word, when discussing atheism appears to involve those with the temerity to not sit in the corner and be silent. I am sure I am not alone in my disdain for people using this method of assigning a pejorative to us, when none obviously exist. The motives of militant religionists are clear, bizarre and well documented – those for atheism usually involve the writing of a book or criticism of dogmatic and irrational viewpoints. To emphasise the point, in the Apologetics Press recently the following was written.
Dawkins, who is perhaps the most celebrated evolutionist alive today, was one of the most militant atheists at the conference. He stated: “I am utterly fed up with the respect we have been brainwashed into bestowing upon religion,” i.e., God (p. 9; cf. Ecclesiastes 12:12-13). Passive atheism apparently should not be tolerated. Dawkins is “ready to mobilize” his “big…enthusiastic choir” of evolutionary colleagues. He said: “There’s a certain sort of negativity you get from people who say ‘I don’t like religion but you can’t do anything about it.’ That’s a real counsel of defeatism. We should roll our sleeves up and get on with it” ( emp. added). Dawkins even compared evolutionary scientists’ position in the 21st century to that of homosexuals in the late 1960s: everyone needs to be “willing to stand up and be counted,” so that “they could change things” .
So the good professor expresses his clear militancy by ramming home just how ‘utterly fed-up‘ he is – shocking stuff! ‘This is the most feared standard-bearer of ‘militant atheism’?
We should confront this whenever we can – it is a (rather successfull) attempt to denegrate our efforts before they get started. As long as any Irish association of atheists limit their discourse to ‘raising the conciousness’ of the religious they will have my support and i believe they deserve the support of free-thinkers, regardless of their association with any other ‘free-thinkers’ group.
Filed under: atheism, religion | Tagged: atheist, humanism, militant | 6 Comments »
Something to make you smile… Feist on the Colbert Special
Posted on November 25th, 2008 by Jason
Vodpod videos no longer available.
more about “Something to make you smile…“, posted with vodpod
Filed under: humour, Video | Tagged: Colbert, Feist | 1 Comment »
I’m Sick of Being Polite About Religion
Posted on November 24th, 2008 by Jason
They were walking to school in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, a group of teenage girls discussing a test they had coming up, when two men on a motorcycle sprayed them with a strange liquid. Within seconds a painful tingling began, and there was an unusual smell as the skin of 16-year-old Atifa Biba began to burn.
Her friend rushed over to help her, struggling to wipe the liquid away, when she too was showered with acid. She covered her face, crying out for help as they sprayed her again, trying to aim the acid into her face. The weapon was a water bottle containing battery acid; the result was at least one girl blinded and two others permanently disfigured. Their only crime was attending school.
The next time someone uses the phrase “militant Atheist” remind them of this picture
Girl burned with acid
This is what “militant Theists” do, today, in the 21st Century!
from The Guardian via Butterflies and Wheels.
Filed under: religion | Tagged: Afghanistan, equal rights, islam, religion | 5 Comments »
“How did this auction of hyperbole and credulity get started?”
Posted on November 13th, 2008 by Sully
Not many claims made by the Irish clergy are widely or uncritically accepted. Even in Ireland. But the Saintliness of an Albanian nun named Agnes Bojaxhiu, is a proposition that’s accepted by many that are not even believers.
-Christopher Hitchens
Over the weekend I was at my aunt’s house, helping her out with some basic computer-networking stuff, when I noticed that she had a framed picture of Mother Theresa at the end of her hall.
When I saw it, Christopher Hitchens’ documentary ‘Hell’s Angel’ instantly sprang to mind, and for a fleeting instance I wanted to regurgitate the points made in this documentary, challenging the rationale behind her decision to adorn her wall with a picture of a wrinkly hag whose reputation was ill-founded.
Since the documentary was on my mind, I figured “why not share it with the good readers of the MWH blog?”. Rather than attempting to distil it down, butchering the message in the process, I’d rather point you towards the seemingly infinite fountain of contrarian enlightenment that is Christopher Hitchens, so that you may drink deep from the teet of critical-analsyis! [Okay, I’m pushing this a bit, I’ll tone it down now]
Since I’ve yet to fully-figure out WordPress’ embedding of video playlists, click here to watch all three parts, (each eight-minutes long) in a new window.
Pretty thought-provoking stuff, no? But does it matter? Is it any harm to stick up a picture of a woman who is widely revered as a selfless beacon of hope for so many suffering? Should I not promulgate propaganda designed to subvert the widely-held concept of Mother Theresa, lest I deprive a young woman of a potential role model?
This documentary was broadcast in 1994, and has evidently done nothing to her reputation among religious folk since, so I doubt dissemination amongst the doubters will do much damage.
I never did mention anything about Mother Theresa whilst politely supping tea with my aunt – judging by the way MT’s saintly visage was mostly covered by the coat-stand, I doubted she would take much interest in the conversation either way.
Lapsed Catholicism FTW.
Filed under: skepticism, Video | Tagged: catholic church, Christopher Hitchens, family, mother theresa, roman catholic, Sully | 1 Comment »
Critical Analysis of Catholic Claims
Posted on November 7th, 2008 by Sully
It seems that this week is a good one for sceptical podcasts overlapping with our interests, as I’d like to point you towards another exceptional podcast worthy of your attention:
Skeptoid is a podcast that runs for around ten minutes on average, critically examining claims from purveyors of pseudoscience in a clear-cut, informative, and thoroughly enjoyable fashion. This week’s episode is called “The Incorruptibles”, and deals with the assertions of the Catholic Church (an organisation we’re all familiar with) that the remains of their saints don’t atrophy after death.
While the results of his findings are unlikely to surprise you, it’s quite enlightening to listen to someone discuss their findings on a matter most people would disregard without requiring further investigation.
The eleven and a half minutes of essential listening is here!
On a personal note, I got interested in the sceptical movement by listenting to Richard Dawkins’ appearance on Skepticality around the time that Expelled was released, and given the massive overlap of interests between these groups, (and the fact that ‘debunking’ religious claims can be such a tirelessly monotonous and futile exercise) I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see more people sympathetic to our cause developing an interest in the broader rationalist community.
Filed under: atheism, skepticism | Tagged: podcast | 3 Comments »
Our Meetings
Posted on November 6th, 2008 by larry1506
Our next meeting is on 23rd November 2008 at 11:00 in the Castletroy Park Hotel.
The last meeting was, I think successful. I would appreciate feedback from attendees about the format for our meetings.
The opening round where people spoke of their own experiences and what motivated them to become freethinkers was particularly interesting and I think we should retain it or some version of it. There may be time constraints but I think we should try to hear from newcomers and anyone with a particular urge/need to speak. It is a key way of offering support to each other and a very valuable outlet for people who have not have had like minded people to express themselves to before now.
Another section I think we should include is discussion of some current topic/controversy. This could be led by someone with strong views on or an interest in the topic concerned. For example we could discuss the church’s role in education. This would have the added benefit of rehearsing our arguments so that if asked to explain our position in the media we would be able to do so with the fluency that practice brings.
The format for our meetings might be:
- Opening Round
- Speaker or Presentation + Discussion
- Current Topic/Controversy
- Open Forum (AKA Any Other Business)
I look forward to your comments.
Filed under: humanism, Meetings | 9 Comments »
Humanist Ceremonies
Posted on November 6th, 2008 by larry1506
Humanists the world over have evolved secular ceremonies to mark the rites of passage through life; most importantly those of birth, marriage and death. The Humanist Association of Ireland can put you in touch with accredited officiants, whilst some people arrange their own celebrations and funerals of a secular nature. A clergyman is not required for a secular ceremony. The officiant can provide certificates for naming and wedding ceremonies if desired. Your solution may be a Humanist non-religious ceremony.
This is from the HAI website and for more information click Ceremonies
I believe that working to have humanist ceremonies available to the people of the mid-west would be a very worthwhile project for us to undertake. There would be many more such ceremonies undertaken if the general public were aware of their existence and could access them readily. I believe that it would also get many people interested in the humanist movement generally.
Brian Whiteside who organises ceremonies nationally has been invited to come and talk to us at our next meeting about what is involved and how we might proceed. I would recommend as many as possible attend as it promises to be very interesting.
Filed under: humanism, Meetings | Tagged: Ceremonies | Leave a comment »
New Irish Atheist Association
Posted on November 6th, 2008 by dj357
Hi all,
Just to let you all know, as some of us don’t tend to frequent forums, based on the feedback from the members of the Atheist.ie forum, a new Secular/Atheist organisation is being formed and a group of people from the Atheist.ie forum (myself included and hopefully Jason if he can spare the time) are coming together for a meeting to help found this new “Irish Atheist Association” (a tentative name at present) at the end of this month. The details:
Sunday 30th November – 4pm to 7pm.
Central Hotel
Exchequer St Dublin
As I’ve volunteered to be an “executive” member (i.e. some form of coordinator, treasurer or secretary etc…) for the organisation, I’m taking it upon myself to try and gather a group of interested people, who may like to add their voice and/or opinion to our formation, mission and goals, to head up to Dublin on the train or the bus or whichever form of transport we decide upon, to attend the meeting, as individuals or to represent MWH.
Also, if anyone is interested in joining the group or applying for an “executive” role in the organisation, sign up to the Atheist.ie forum and then check out the links below.
I’ll be collecting names and confirming travel details with everyone at the meeting on the 23rd, so if anyone is interested, please let me know at the meeting, here on the blog or via email.
You can find all the relevant discussions on this new group at these links:
The initial thread proposing the formation of a new group:
http://www.atheist.ie/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1634
The thread discussing possible aims of the group:
http://www.atheist.ie/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1644
The thread for committee volunteers and suggestions for possible roles:
http://www.atheist.ie/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1656
Peace!
Filed under: atheism, humanism, skepticism | Tagged: dublin, meeting | 1 Comment »
colmobri
cru5ad3r
Jason
larry1506
JohnM
peterohara
robertbennett69
stilldoubting
Sully
Mid-west Humanists - An Irish Atheist Community 