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Editorial
Freedom of expression about religion or belief
 Atheist Ireland is asking TDs to amend the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022. We want the protected category of ‘religion’ to be changed to ‘religion or belief’ so that nonreligious philosophical convictions like atheism are treated equally.
We also want the section on protecting freedom of expression to take account of the right to change and make choices in the field of religion or belief. There should be a wider scope of legitimate intellectual provocation when discussing the field of religion or belief.
For example, Atheist Ireland strongly disagrees with the harmful Catholic beliefs expressed by Fr Sean Sheehy in his homily last week in Listowel. But we also support his right to preach such harmful Catholic beliefs to people who attend Catholic Mass.
Father Sheehy’s homily reflects Catholic teaching, but his honesty about it has upset his Bishop and some of his congregation. His Bishop has silenced him from repeating such a homily by removing him from the parish roster. He should be allowed to express such beliefs, and we should be allowed to criticise them as harmful and nonsensical.
You can help us to campaign on these and other secular issues by joining Atheist Ireland as a member, or by asking anybody who you think may be interested in joining us to do so. We are an entirely voluntary body with no paid staff, and we depend on our members to continue our work. You can join Atheist Ireland here.
- Secular Sunday Editorial Team
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Éire Aindiach
Éire Aindiach
Chun ár gcuid feachtais a leathnú agus a neartú, tá sé beartaithe ag Éire Aindiach níos mó úsáid a bhaint as an Ghaeilge.
Ba mhaith linn meitheal a eagrú, chun cuidiú le:
- Polasaithe agus feachtais Éire Aindiach a phlé ar an raidió nó ar an teilifís
- Cuidiú le doiciméid ghaeilge a scríobh
- Bualadh le polaiteoirí chun stocaireacht a dhéanamh
Táimid i mbun aistriúcháin a dhéanamh ar dhoiciméid polasaí faoi láthair, agus teastaíonn cabhair uainn le aistriúchán agus profáil. Más maith leat bheith páirteach san iarracht seo, cur ríomhphost chugainn ag gaeilge@atheist.ie.
English translation:
To broaden and strengthen our campaigns, Atheist Ireland have undertaken to make more use of the Irish language.
We are looking to assemble a group of volunteers, to help with:
- Discussing our policies and campaigns on radio or tv
- Helping to write documents in Irish
- Meeting with politicians to lobby them
We are in the process of translating policy documents at the moment, and we need some help with translating and proofreading. If you would like to assist with this effort, please email us at gaeilge@atheist.ie.
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Atheist Ireland News
Atheist Ireland asks TDs to amend Incitement to Hatred Bill
Atheist Ireland is asking TDs to amend the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022 as follows:
Please amend the above Bill to: (a) give equal protection to people with religious beliefs, and people with positive nonreligious philosophical convictions including atheism and secularism, and (b) take account of the rights to change and make choices in the field of religion or belief.
We ask you to amend the following:
3(1)(d) “religion”
Amend to: “religion or belief”
3(2)(a) “references to “religion” include references to the absence of a religious conviction or belief.”
Amend to: “references to “religion or belief” include references to religious or philosophical convictions or beliefs or their absence.”
6(1), 7(3)(a), 10(2)(a)
“literary, artistic, political, scientific, religious or academic discourse”
Amend to: “literary, artistic, political, scientific, religious, philosophical, or academic discourse”
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“Protection of freedom of expression: For the purposes of this Part, any material or behaviour is not taken to incite violence or hatred against a person or a group of persons on account of their protected characteristics or any of those characteristics solely on the basis that that material or behaviour includes or involves discussion or criticism of matters relating to a protected characteristic.”
Add after the above: “There is a wider scope of legitimate intellectual provocation in the field of religion or belief, because of the rights to change and make choices in the field of religion or belief.” *
* Note: this distinction originates with Heiner Bielefeld, the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief. See more detail on page 3 of this document.
Replacing the Term ‘Religion’ with ‘Religion or Belief’
Atheist Ireland recommends amending the category of ‘religion’ under the Equal Status Act and the Employment Equality Act (and any other relevant Acts) to ‘religion or belief,’ and clarifying that beliefs include positive philosophical convictions that are not based on religion.
Currently the Bill refers only to ‘religion’ and not to ‘religion or belief.’ Those of us with beliefs or philosophical convictions are defined in relation to ‘religion,’ and are deprived of an equal position and equal protection, as people with positive philosophical convictions of our own.
In the Venice Commission Guidelines for Legislative Reviews of Laws Affecting Religion or Belief includes it states:
“3. International standards do not speak of religion in an isolated sense, but of “religion or belief.” The “belief” aspect typically pertains to deeply held conscientious beliefs that are fundamental about the human condition and the world. Thus atheism and agnosticism, for example, are generally held to be equally entitled to protection to religious beliefs.”
Constitutional Obligations
The Bill does not reflect the Irish Constitution because the Constitution also protects those with beliefs based on their conscience and is not confined to religious beliefs. Article 44.2.1 of the Irish Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience to everybody.
In the High Court in 2011 (AB v Children’s Hospital Temple Street), Justice Hogan stated that:
“35. There is thus no doubt at all but that parents have the constitutional right to raise their children by reference to their own religious and philosophical views.”
“27. Along with the guarantee of free speech in Article 40.6.i, Article 44.2.1 guarantees freedom of conscience and the free practice of religion. Taken together, these constitutional provisions ensure that, subject to limited exceptions, all citizens have complete freedom of philosophical and religious thought, along with the freedom to speak their mind and to say what they please in all such matters….”
International Obligations
The Bill does not reflect international instruments such the legally binding Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union which states:
“10. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes freedom to change religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or in private, to manifest religion or belief…”
Our submission to the Department of Justice’s consultation on the review of the Equality Acts elaborates on this, as well as on the following instruments:
- The EU Employment Equality Directive (Council Directive 2000/78/EC)
- The EU Race Directive (Council Directive 2000/43/EC)
- The European Convention on Human Rights
- The International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights
- The Belfast Agreement (Comparable Steps by the Irish Government)
The Law Must Not Become a Blasphemy Law by Another Name
Because religion is one of the characteristics that is protected under the Bill, there is a danger that the Bill might evolve into becoming a blasphemy law by another name. The Bill should take into account the same principles that led to the law against blasphemy being removed from the Constitution and from our statute law.
Those principles include that the law should protect people from harm, but that the law should not protect ideas or beliefs from criticism, including harsh or unreasonable criticism, or even ridicule. These principles also apply to ideas or beliefs related to other characteristics protected by the law. This balance can best be reached by basing the law on human rights standards.
Heiner Bielefeld, the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief, wrote in the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion that:
“Given the right to also change one’s religion or to have and adopt a religion or belief of one’s own choice, the notion of identity in the area of religion or belief conceptually differs from, say, identity in the area of ethnicity. When using the somewhat fashionable identity language, at least one has to insist that religious or belief-based identity is always an identity ‘in the making’, ie in the sense that it can change in most different ways and can also legitimately be exposed to missionary activities, including non-violent forms of provocation.
Saying this does not imply denying the possibility of serious changes also in other areas, like ethnicity. But still there remains a conceptual difference that in my opinion receives too little attention. To give just one example to illustrate the significance of that difference: While negative comments on some particular ethnic characteristics—an extreme case would be skin colour—for good reasons are generally condemned as unacceptable, negative remarks on religious ideas like, for instance, monotheism, divine revelation or re-incarnation, although possibly deemed offensive by the recipient groups, in my view clearly deserves a different assessment.
I would insist, at any rate, that there is a wider scope of legitimate intellectual provocation in the field of religion or belief than in the field of ethnicity—which has to do with the explicit recognition of the rights to change and to make choices in the field of religion or belief. Hence, if we simply lump together religion, belief, ethnicity, ‘race’ and other elements of a person’s or a group’s identity, with the purpose of protecting such identities, we run a serious risk of losing out of sight some crucial elements of freedom of religion or belief, including the freedom to search, choose, change, reach out, communicate, convert and peacefully provoke in the field of religious or belief.”
We have elaborated on these matters in our submission to the Department of Justice’s consultation on hate crime and hate speech laws. Read online...
Listowel priest has the right to preach the harmful beliefs of the Catholic Church
 Atheist Ireland strongly disagrees with the harmful Catholic beliefs expressed by Fr Sean Sheehy in his homily last week in Listowel. We also support his right to preach such harmful Catholic beliefs to people who attend Catholic Mass.
Bishop Ray Browne of Kerry has apologised for the homily, saying it does not reflect Christian teaching. Bishop Browne has also silenced Fr Sheehy from repeating such a homily by removing him from the parish roster.
But Bishop Browne is wrong to say the homily does not reflect Catholic teaching on abortion, gender theory, and homosexuality. The homily reflects the positions taken on these issues by Pope Francis and the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Pope Francis has compared abortion to hiring a hitman to murder someone:
“Abortion is more than an issue. Abortion is murder.” and “Is it right to hire a hitman in order to solve a problem? One cannot. It is not right to ‘do away with’ a human being, however small, in order to solve a problem. It is like hiring a hitman.”
Pope Francis has compared gender theory to using nuclear arms to sin against God the creator:
“Let’s think of the nuclear arms, of the possibility to annihilate in a few instants a very high number of human beings… Let’s think also of genetic manipulation, of the manipulation of life, or of the gender theory, that does not recognise the order of creation… With this attitude, man commits a new sin, that against God the Creator.”
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith recently declared:
“It is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage, as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex… There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family”
Father Sheehy’s problem is not that he is mistaken about Catholic Church teaching. It is that he is too honest about it, and his honesty has upset his Bishop and some of his congregation. Read online...
The state must protect the constitutional right to not attend religious instruction in schools
The Department of Education interferes in the Constitutional rights of parents through the NCCA second level Religious Education course. This course seeks to develop values in students to enable them to see the relevance of religion to their lives and relationships.
When parents seek to exercise their Constitutional right for their children not attend NCCA Religious Education, they are informed that the course is intended for students from all religions and those with no religion. Parents are also informed that the NCCA Religious Education course is not religious instruction but religious education, as it does not provide instruction in any particular religious or faith tradition and therefore the need to withdraw does not arise (Circular letter 0062/2018 – Dept of Education 2018).
Most Admissions policies of schools reflect this Circular Letter with various made up views on Constitutional rights. You can read about different Admission Policies in our recently updated Report which you can find here
It is the duty of the State not schools, to protect the right to not attend religious instruction
Minister Norma Foley said in the Dail in June 2022:
“The manner in which any school ensures that the right to opt out of religion classes is upheld is a matter for the school concerned.”
Article 44.2.4 (the right to not attend) puts a duty on the State, not on schools. Section 30-2(e) of the Education Act 1998 also clearly states that this is the responsibility of the Minister not schools. The right to not attend religious instruction is not the affair of schools, because the Constitution and the Education Act state that it is the responsibility of the state.
In the Department of Education Circular Letters 0013/0062/2018 to ETB schools, the Department gives guidelines on the right to not attend religious instruction under Article 44.2.4 and Section 30-2(e) of the Education Act 1998 (Circular letter 0013/2018). Circular Letters are the Department of Education ‘administering’, Constitutional and legal rights.
The Minister knows she is responsible for the Constitutional rights of parents and students in all schools in relation to not attending religious instruction. The Minister ignores her Constitutional and legal duty to ‘administer’ the right in accordance with the text of the Constitution and the findings of the Supreme Court.
The Constitutional rights of parents and their children
The rights of parents are derived from the text and structure of the Constitution, and upheld by the Supreme Court. The Oireachtas has legislated for them, but the Department of Education has failed to administer these inalienable rights and instead is undermining them.
The right to not attend religious instruction is protected by Article 44.2.4 of the Constitution. The right of parents in relation to the religious and moral education of their children is protected by Article 42.1 of the Constitution. The Supreme court has found that under Article 42.1 the state has a duty not to interfere in the right of parents in relation to the religious and moral education of their children. Parents can provide ‘this education’, religious and moral, at home or in schools recognised or funded by the State (Article 42.2).
Claiming that NCCA Religious Education is not religious instruction, and therefore there is no need to withdraw, is just made up by the Department of Education and the NCCA. Most schools just follow that. There is simply no legal or Constitutional basis to that claim, notwithstanding the fact that the Dept of Education claims that this understanding flows from Article 44.2.4 of the Constitution and Section 30-2(e) of the Education Act 1998.
According to the Supreme Court, it is not up to the Department of Education and the NCCA to decide what is suitable religious or moral education for children. It is the Constitutional right of parents to decide that. Under Article 42.1, it is the duty of the state to respect this right and not to interfere in it. Informing parents that the NCCA Religious Education course is intended for all religions and those with no religion cannot take away the Constitutional right of parents under Article 42.1, or the duty of the state not to interfere in that right.
The State has absolutely no right to decide what is or is not suitable religious and moral education for children (Art 42.1) and then claim that the right to withdraw does not arise (Art 44.2.4) as it is not instruction in line with the requirements of a particular religion. Read more...
Know your rights
The Burke v Minister for Education case in 2022 at the Supreme Court has defined and upheld the rights of all parents in the education system. It supercedes our Legal Opinion as it defines Article 42.1 and Article 42.4.
Because of the Burke case at the Supreme Court we have updated this page to reflect the judgement in relation to the rights of parents and their children particularly under Article 41, Article 42.1 and Article 42.4 of the Constitution.
There are sample letters here for parents to use to exercise the right for their children to not attend religious instruction. They cover Primary schools (Denominational and ETB) and Second Level (Denominational and ETB). Read sample letters here.
Calling concerned teachers
If you are a teacher and concerned about unwanted religious influence contact Chris at teachers@atheist.ie
List of Atheist Ireland Submissions
Buy this book "Is My Family Odd About Gods?"
**Schools Special Offer**
Atheist Ireland are offering the book ‘Is my family odd about gods‘ free (excluding postage and packaging). This means that you can get this book for the total price of 10 euro. This offer is aimed at families with school going children, who would like to read this book. This offer is limited to one book per family unit and for postage within Ireland only. Read more...
Have you noticed that your school and your teachers may tell you one thing about religion, while some of your friends and family may have different ideas about god?
If you think that this is a little odd, then this book is for you. Buy this book here.
Lessons about Atheism
Atheist Ireland has published a set of free lesson plans about atheism for children aged 8 and up. We welcome feedback, which we will use to develop the lessons. You can download the lesson plans
 Be Good without Gods
Atheist Ireland 'Good Without Gods' Kiva team members have made loans of $38,005 to 1330 entrepreneurs in the developing world. You can join the team here. Before you chose a loan, make sure you do not support religious groups. You can check the loan partner's social and secular rating here.
Notme.ie
Atheist Ireland's 'notme.ie' is a place where people can publicly renounce the religion of their childhood. Currently there are 1962 symbolic defections. Many share their reasons for making a public symbolic defection which you can read here.
Petition on Schools Equality PACT
Atheist Ireland currently runs one petition - The Schools Equality PACT. This seeks to reform religious discrimination in state-funded schools. Currently this stands at 4,113 Help us reach it's target of 5000. Please sign and share this petition if you haven't already done so. Thank you.
Tell us what you think
Have you any feedback that you would like to give us on the Secular Sunday newsletter. What are we getting right? What could we improve on? Is there something you would like to see included? Drop us an email at secularsunday@atheist.ie.
Please consider joining or re-joining Atheist Ireland
Atheist Ireland is an entirely volunteer run organisation. We receive no grants or government funding to continue our campaign work. We rely entirely on membership fess and donations.
Annual membership is nominal; €25 waged, €10 unwaged/student and €40 for family membership. Please consider becoming a member. Membership means:
- You can help to build an ethical and secular Ireland.
- You have a say in determining policy and electing officers.
- You can attend members meetings and our AGM.
- You will have access to our members only Facebook group
- Your membership fee will go towards supporting our many campaigns.
You can join Atheist Ireland here.
Thank you for your continued support
Atheist Ireland Committee
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Opinion and Media
Material on atheism, secularism, human rights,politics,science etc. collected from media and the blogosphere from Ireland and beyond; used without permission, compensation, liability, guarantee or implied endorsement. We aim to include a variety of diverse opinions and viewpoints.
Blogs & Opinions
National
Redacted Lives: New podcast will explore how families were torn apart by Mother and Baby Homes
Presented by Órla Ryan
THE JOURNAL IS launching a new six-part documentary series about mother and baby homes, telling the stories of women and children who passed through the system.
Redacted Lives will follow the experiences of mothers who ended up in institutions because they became pregnant outside marriage, as well as people born into the system. Read more...
Priest at centre of controversial Listowel homily stands over his remarks
By Anne Lucey
The priest at the centre of a controversial homily delivered to parishioners in Listowel has stood over his remarks regarding sexual sin, despite the Bishop of Kerry insisting they “do not represent the Christian position”. Read more...
More deceit and silence from AAI
By Michael Nugent
As atheist activists, we rightly challenge religions when they behave unethically. We should also challenge unethical behaviour by people purporting to represent us as atheists.
John Hamill has published a report in which the illegitimate ‘board’ of Atheist Alliance International knowingly misled the United Nations about AAI’s bylaws.
This follows the Council of Europe removing AAI’s consultative status, and the Attorney General of California revoking AAI’s status as a nonprofit organisation. Read more...
International
Polish top court issues ruling on same-sex marriage
By Alicja Ptak
Poland’s highest administrative court has issued a ruling on same-sex marriage which the gay couple who brought the case say shows that such unions are not barred under the constitution. However, a conservative legal group has dismissed that claim as “fake news”. Read more...
'The protests in Iran could spell the end of four decades of injustice and deprivation'
By Shamal Mirza
ON 16 SEPTEMBER 2022, the Iranian ‘morality’ police arrested a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Jina Amina, in the city of Tehran for unsatisfactorily covering her hair under the rules of Islamic Sharia law. Read more...
FFRF applauds survey showing strong support for keeping religion out of government
By The Freedom From Religion Foundation
Most Americans support the constitutional separation between state and church, a new Pew Research study demonstrates. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is relieved to see robust backing for this uniquely American founding value, but also has concern about some troubling findings in the report. Read more...
Get-rich-quick schemes drained my town’s wealth. At a Christian conference, their legacy lives on
By Josiah Hesse
“As believers, we train ourselves to be valuable to the marketplace,” said the minor-league baseball player-turned-real-estate investor Jason Benham. “How do we use the talents, opportunities, abilities and resources that God has given us so that the Kingdom of Heaven may come to Earth through us?” Read more...
A shift towards secularism in Iran
By Hossein Dabbagh
My friend was in Tehran during protests after the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the morality police (Gasht-e Ershad). My friend went into a grocery shop intending to buy milk. The seller refused to sell anything to her. “Why are you refusing?” she asked. “I can see that you have milk.” “Because you are wearing a hijab,” the seller responded.. Read more...
If you are a blogger or vlogger writing or talking about atheism, secularism, ethics, skepticism, human rights etc. and would like us to include your work here please email the link to secularsunday@atheist.ie
Podcasts, Videos and Interviews
Ireland
Do you host an Irish-based podcast on atheism, secularism, science, skepticism, human rights etc.? Let us know and we will link to it here.
International
Media Watch
News and views from Ireland and around the world. Sharing is not an endorsement.
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