A chara, – Four correspondents write (June 8th) in response to reports on the World Atheist Convention recently, variously castigating the views expressed by Richard Dawkins, Michael Nugent, Ivana Bacik and Róisín Ingle. I am a humanist who does not have the faith to believe in somebody else’s god but I am not homophobic, believe in equality of opportunity, do not molest children, do not seek to cover up the child-sex-abuse crimes of others, do not think that women should be locked away for decades for the “crime” of getting pregnant (immaculately?), have been known to use artificial contraception, think that faith-formation should be kept separate from education and do not want to kill you simply because your religious beliefs are different to mine. I am clearly a danger to society. – Is mise,
Madam, – Publishing those four letters from religious apologists en bloc was a nice touch (8th June). It exposed just how ironic are the accusations of bitterness and fundamentalism levelled against atheists and secularists.
From Fr McGillicuddy’s slanderous attempt to associate atheists and secularism with murderous dictators, and Mary Stewart’s apparent ignorance of secularism; to Prof Jim Malone’s swipe at Senator Bacik because she dares question the fact that one (often extreme) ideology – Catholicism – controls virtually the entire educational apparatus of our Republic and demands the “right” to exclude teachers for not being Catholic enough: their bitterness at the knowledge that an outdated, unpleasant form of Christianity is slowly but surely losing its grip on Ireland is palpable.
Tom Grealy (also June 6th) effectively summed it up as he fretted over what kind of service one attends on Good Friday. Do most people really care any more? – Is mise,
Madam, – The World Atheist Convention last weekend was a very positive meeting of people of diverse ages and backgrounds. Two themes in particular that came up repeatedly were the need to educate children in critical thinking and the need for a secular state.
The need for the former should be self-evident. The need for the latter is highlighted this week by the call from the United Nations Committee Against Torture for a statutory investigation of the church-run Magdalene Laundries for the inhumane treatment and torture of women. For clarity, as there will be those who insist on confusing the issue, a secular state is not an atheist state, as will be understood by anyone who reads the Dublin Declaration. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Fr Con McGillicudy (June 6th), asserted that Hitler was an atheist. This tiresome argument has been put forward many times and is blatantly untrue. Hitler made countless references to “God” and was a member of the Catholic Church until his death. On March 23rd, 1933, he addressed the Reichstag: “The National Government regards the two Christian confessions (ie Catholicism and Protestantism) as factors essential to the soul of the German people . . . We hold the spiritual forces of Christianity to be indispensable elements in the moral uplift of most of the German people.” Also, the German army, during the Nazi regime, had the words Gott Mit Uns (God With Us) on their belt buckles.
Fr McGillicudy also referred to Stalin and Ceausescu as being atheists (another old chestnut). These men, along with Mao and other communist despots, subscribed to a political ideology which does not allow for religious freedom. This is in stark contrast to the Declaration on Religion in Public Life which was ratified at the recent World Atheist Conference in Dublin. It clearly states: “Freedom of conscience, religion and belief are unlimited. Freedom to practice religion should be limited only by the need to respect the rights of others”.
While I, personally, happily accept all of the positive work in which the Catholic Church has engaged in Ireland, I and others feel we must never forget the institutionalised evil which allowed children to be abused in the most horrific ways and the power exerted in order to actively hide the abusers from criminal justice. – Yours, etc,