Mid-west Humanists – An Irish Atheist Community

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 »

As much as I hate to be the guy talking almost exclusively about US political-type-stuff on a blog about Humanism in the mid-west, (I can defend my rationale for doing so if you’re interested in challenging it) what I’m about to share is too relevant to developments in the Irish atheist community not to highlight.

The latest episode of the sceptical podcast, Skepticality features a talk from Lori Lipman Brown, lobbyist for the Secular Coalition of America, who fellow yankophiles might recognise from this appearance on The Colbert Report.

The talk, “Pastafarian, Zoroastrian, NonTheist – Can’t We All Just Get Along?” is worth a listen, as it outlines some essential points that those aspiring to set up a serious atheist organisation should consider, including avoiding wasting time on semantic bullshittery, and making earnest attempts to forge alliances with any groups that share any similar goals.

Enjoy!

Filed under: atheism, skepticism | Tagged: podcast | 2 Comments »