A secular State protects both atheists and religious people. It has practical advantages for society, and there is a pathway to it. Secularism is a force for good in three ways. Firstly, secularism protects everybody’s freedom of conscience and religion and belief by staying neutral...
There are two reasons why State schools should be run on a secular basis. And a secular school is not the same thing as an atheist school. A religious school teaches that a god exists, an atheist school would teach that no gods exist, and...
There has been another case at the European Court in relation to freedom of religion and belief, this time about a note on a birth certificate that implied that a child had not been Christened, in the case Stavropoulos and Other v Greece. The European...
The removal of religious oaths for people making affidavits is a welcome half step in the direction of removing all religious oaths from State activities in Ireland. The Law Society has correctly noted that these oaths are contrary to the right to privacy. But witnesses...
Atheist Freethinkers/Libres Penseurs Athées of Montreal is trying to protect Bill 21, a new law that promotes separation of Church and State in Quebec. David Rand, President of Atheist Freethinkers, says: “As secularists, we have a duty to do everything in our power to ensure...
Atheist Ireland is a member of Humanists International, who today published the Humanists at Risk Action Report 2020. It exposes discrimination against atheists, humanists, and nonreligious people in eight countries: Colombia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. These States limit the...
Many atheists and humanists across the world cannot live freely in accordance with their values. As well as campaigning politically in Ireland, Atheist Ireland campaigns as a member of Humanists International to protect people at risk of persecution around the world. When we led the...
Pakistan is still persecuting atheists and religious minorities with blasphemy charges, often trumped up because of personal disputes, which can result in life imprisonment or the death penalty. Here are two current examples: an illiterate Christian couple facing death by hanging for allegedly sending a...
Atheist Ireland today sent this submission to Dr Fernand de Varennes, the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues. He is preparing a report for the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, about the significance and scope of the four categories of minorities (national or...
Fianna Fail and Fine Gael’s proposed framework for government aims to create a new social contract. This should treat everybody equally regardless of their religious or nonreligious beliefs, and without giving privilege to any religious or atheist organisations. To do this, we must reconsider our...