If all goes well, this newsletter should appear as normal on Sunday afternoon. It has, however, been written in advance and scheduled to automatically appear, so if it doesn’t you won’t know why. It’s also shorter than usual due to time constraints. Normal service will be resumed next week.
– Derek Walsh, Editor
News Digest
compiled by Barbara Monea
IRELAND
- Tánaiste: All government TDs expected to vote for abortion legislation
- Martin: ‘Wrong to say someone who supports abortion bill is pro-abortion’
- Taoiseach rejects plea to allow for assisted suicide
- Godless funerals thrive in ‘post-Catholic’ Ireland
WORLD
- More than 150,000 protest against same-sex marriage in Paris
- France’s first gay marriage passes off peacefully
- Lesbian romance wins the Cannes film festival top honour
- Pakistani women Rehana Kausar and Sobia Kamar marry in Britain’s first Muslim lesbian partnership
- Secretary of State John Kerry: Freedom to ‘Not Believe’ is a ‘Birthright of Every Human Being’
- The Arabic school textbooks which show children how to chop off hands and feet under Sharia law
- Paedo probe at Catholic schools: 20 priests and teachers to be quizzed by detectives
- Far-right protesters turn up at mosque, worshippers give them tea
- Most Americans Say Religion Is Losing Influence in U.S.
- Islamic Faith on the Decline in Sudan
- Working women should be sexually harassed
- Ghent Scraps Headscarf Ban Imposed By Center-Right In 2007
- El Salvador court rules against seriously ill woman in landmark abortion case
- Jewish Aberystwyth University holiday blocked over lit candles
- Nigeria lawmakers pass anti-gay marriage bill
- Billboard and Newspapers in Nairobi Proclaim that “Good Catholics Use Condoms”
SCIENCE
ANALYSIS
- Passing flawed legislation on abortion would confirm groupthink of Irish elite
- Bishops have a duty to admonish pro-abortion politicians
- Delay communions until adulthood, says priest
Calendar
- Today, Sunday 2 June, 4:00 pm, Buswell’s Hotel, Molesworth St., Dublin 2 (map)
Monthly meeting of the Humanist Association of Ireland. All are welcome. Facebook event page - Monday 3 June, 8:30 pm, McSwiggans Bar and Restaurant, Woodquay, Galway (map)
Galway Skeptics in the Pub #58 – “How To Get To Skeptical Street”. Facebook event page - Sunday 9 June, multiple locations
Second Sunday brunch/lunch events. Keep an eye on ourFacebook page for details - Thursday 13 June, Porterhouse, Sheares St., Cork (map)
“Think & Drink”. This month, Cork Humanists will be talking about sex. Facebook event page - Tuesday 18 June, 7:30 pm, Costigan’s, Washington St. West, Cork (map)
Cork Humanists’ Film Night. This month’s film is Persepolis, a 2007 animated film set against the background of the Iranian Revolution. More - Wednesday 19 June, 8:00 pm, Absolute Hotel, Sir Harry’s Mall, Limerick (map)
The Mid West Humanists are meeting. All are welcome. - Saturday 29 & Sunday 30 June, O’Callaghan Alexander Hotel, Dublin 2 (map)
“Empowering Women Through Secularism” An international two-day conference featuring some of the biggest names in atheism, skepticism, secularism and feminism. Buy tickets now
Bloggery
You would think that a person who claims to value skepticism and questioning of one’s own biases, and who faces a daily barrage of ignorant dismissal of his own field, would know better than to engage in knee-jerk insults and poo-poohing of fields he knows nothing about. – Aoife O’Riordan takes Richard Dawkins to task for his tweets about sociology and racism
I have addressed the question of whether Buddhism is a philosophy or a religion elsewhere. I argue that it is both philosophy and religion, and the whole “philosophy versus religion” argument amounts to shoving Buddhism into ill-fitting conceptual packaging. But what about the “naïve, petitionary, and superstitious” trappings? Are these corruptions of the Buddha’s teachings? Sometimes, perhaps, they are, but sometimes they aren’t. Understanding the difference requires looking deeply beneath the surface of Buddhist teaching and practice. – HJ Foley on Buddhism as an atheistic religion
I’ve been working on the holy water conundrum for several years now, ever since a priest visiting our school explained to me about the holy water tank outside a local church. I suppose if there’s one man who could claim credit for making an atheist of me, the gentle Dominican friar would have to claim the ceremonial biscuit, by mixing — quite literally — religion and physics. – Bock the Robber on holy water