Walking for blasphemy

So that's Michael Nugent. What a soft-spoken, pleasant-seeming fellow.

Dare I call him a teddy bear?

I have a friend who moved to Ireland recently, and who was notably enraged about this whole blasphemy law fiasco. I'll have to inform him of this.

WOOT! Oh how I wish I was there so's I could join him for a day.

Yeah, that's Nugent. It's amazing how the rabies virus and fanatical zealotry have such counterintuitive effects on atheists, turning us all into friendly cuddly Teddy bears.

Having met Brownian myself, I can tell everyone he's another data point in the syndrome.

I still don't get how a modern, western country that is allegedly a non-theocratic state has religious laws on the books.

Even if the vote doesn't remove the text, would any prosecutor in the country dare spend time and money prosecuting a blasphemer instead of say a rapist?

I still don't get how a modern, western country that is allegedly a non-theocratic state has religious laws on the books.

*cough*NationalDayOfPrayer*cough**cough*

Sorry. Something stuck in my throat....

I suggest the fella takes a fridge on his travels. History tells me it will enhance his public acceptance!

600 km? Shit, that ain’t nothin’. You could go a third that and not leave the Phoenix metro area. 600 km is like, Tucson to the Grand Canyon. It’s not even a six-hour drive. People’ll bike that in a weekend (though not necessarily the climb to the Canyon).

Europe is small!

Cheers,

b&

--
EAC Memographer
BAAWA Knight of Blasphemy
``All but God can prove this sentence true.''

I have to agree that even I am often amazed that I have been affected by the negative image of and attitude toward Atheists I have been exposed to previously in my life The contrast with the none threatening even friendly demeanor and intelligent appearance of Atheist I see more and more in the media is surprising. I like to think that I am thinking for myself but it often is the case that my first reaction is not my own and it takes effort to think through what I am doing or saying than just continue to repeat the reaction I learned instead looking at the actual reality. My automatic attitudes work in both positive and negative directions so it helps to "KEEP THE LIGHTS ON" and not always trust my first reaction.
more open discussion leads to self rule

uncle frogy

What a pleasant video. Totally made me smile. Definitely wish them the best.

Is it clearly stated anywhere whether this is a Catholic or Protestant inspired law? If it is Catholic, then any Protestant preacher commits blasphemy every Sunday, right?

Posted by: Olowkow Author Profile Page | May 7, 2010 1:32 PM

Is it clearly stated anywhere whether this is a Catholic or Protestant inspired law? If it is Catholic, then any Protestant preacher commits blasphemy every Sunday, right?

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It's a Catholic country, so catholic law. I bet just by being Jewish (by birth) and not accepting Jesus I'm probably "blaspheming".

It's disgusting. I say leave it on the books and let them try to prosecute someone. Religious laws should be mocked.

Ben@#8: The country isn't even 600km wide. Is he maybe walking it longitudinally? Or perhaps stopping in every pub on the way, which could lend a certain weave to his path...

Paul Gill is protesting the Irish blasphemy law by walking across Ireland. It sounds like a wonderfully pleasant way to protest...

Seriously. I want to protest the Irish blasphemy laws by walking across Ireland. Hell, I'll protest the designated hitter rule by walking across Ireland.

Barring that, can I protest the Irish blasphemy laws by sleeping late and staying in bed with my wife, eating chocolate and drinking red wine?

When he gets to Malin Head he needs to stop by and have a pint at the Seaview Tavern.

You can see Scotland on a nice day.

Sláinte!

I'd love to do that. Noe the protesting blasphemy laws thing per se (although that's an added bonus) but hiking long distance like that.

Although I don't think I'd do it in Ireland, too much of a chance of getting run over on twisty back roads.

You can see Scotland on a nice day.

A good day?

A day free of rain and clouds, some think this nice, some good.

I like rain...

Blasphemy, a truly victimless crime.

is it just a coincidence that this blasphemy law passed in the same country which is well-known for its numerous catholic child rapist priests?

So, each time he dries out folks need to fill him up with Guinness and put him back on the road?

Check out my blog post. Don't feel the need to be gentle! "Why are Atheists so angry?" http://bit.ly/a1kher

These horrible atheists and their peaceful yet interesting protests to medieval laws. How dare you stand up for freedom of speech and liberal secular democracy! I'm sure god will sink Ireland into the ocean as just revenge for Ireland's acceptance of such offensive behavior.

Yes, but will he dance?

So this will take, what, a couple hours?

har har

Digs at the length of the walk are amusing from a country that generally drives 100 yards to buy a paper.

mmelliott01,

There is only one Matt Harding.

Posted by: TimKO
So this will take, what, a couple hours?
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No doubt... in Canada, we walk that through 6 ft of snow just to chat with the neighbour.

A little off-topic, but not entirely; don't worry, I'm not going to get on to circumcision, which seems to upset people, including PZ. All atheists AND believers should read David Lewis-Williams' Conceiving God: The Cognitive Origin and Evolution of Religion (Thames & Hudson). It is the most devastating assault on religion I have ever read, and all the more devastating because Lewis-Williams is not in any way interested in scoring points or in indulging in moral outrage and showing how morally correct he is. It is a quiet devastation. Moreover, unlike some other proponents of atheism, he has a genuine feeling for the arts (he has written a brilliant book on the neurological underpinnings of the arts and religion, The Mind in the Cave)and a professional understanding of anthropology and archaeology; he does not merely dismiss religion as some sort of childish aberration that people wilfully hold on to, and suppose that if believers are shown the light they can easily shuffle their beliefs off, but he shows how it is implicated in the structure of societies and in the relations of power within societies - its strongly political dimension, a dimension that is very obvious in the modern United States of America. I have great admiration for writers like Dawkins, Dennett and Hitchens (except when he's on about the Iraq War, when I find him disingenuous and foolish), but Lewis-Williams makes their work look superficial.

I spent a couple of weeks driving around Ireland and one mistake that us North Americans make is to assume the roads there are like they are here. Ireland is only 486km long as the crow flies but he's going to have to walk 600km to get there. We got caught out a couple of times by looking at a map and saying it's only Xkm we'll get there today only to find that we ran out time. It seems like the Republic just paved over the cow paths when cars came along.

Here's to everyone who fights religious stupidity in whatever way the choose. [hoist a pint of Guinness]

I'm still traumatised by the "octupus getting eaten to death" video...seriously, that video has to be the best evidence against existence of a Creator/God - no animal deserves that!

As for the quiet protest against the Blashphemy Law of the Ridiculous, it sounds great. Hope it works.

#20:

is it just a coincidence that this blasphemy law passed in the same country which is well-known for its numerous catholic child rapist priests?

You say that like there's only one such country.

Might I add that Ireland is also one of the only first-world countries that is anti-choice?

I wouldn't set foot in Mick-land if my life depended on it. Not until I'm surgically sterile.

Ireland is still a semi-theocracy with special status and enormous privilege for the RCC bulit in to the Constitution and it was for constitutional reasons that this stupid law was introduced at all. That's why they need a referendum to get rid of the law.

The worst aspect of this law IMO is the use made of it by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference in their repeated attempts to make "defamation of religion" an internationally recognised offence.

@Katherine: Well, it IS heavily Catholic, but is it fair to brand an entire country for the stupidity of the majority of its electorate? I'm sure there are many, many people who are nice and liberal and pro-choice and brew really really good beer.

Okay, the last is more to appeal to me than to you, but for all I know you might like a good stout, too, so...

Yeah.

For me, Murphy trumps Guinness every time.

Posted by: Jordan Author Profile Page | May 7, 2010 12:53 PM

I still don't get how a modern, western country that is allegedly a non-theocratic state has religious laws on the books.

Even if the vote doesn't remove the text, would any prosecutor in the country dare spend time and money prosecuting a blasphemer instead of say a rapist?

Specifically a child rapist?
So far seemingly blasphemy is the more serious crime in Ireland, one of the two country in Europe where large parts the population is as entwined in religion as in the US. Poland is the other.
Nah, gimme us heathen Scandinavians any day!

Please crash this poll:

"Would you watch a comedy series about Jesus Christ?

Yes, it might be interesting

No, it sounds offensive

Maybe, it depends on how it's done"

at http://www.news24.com/

Currently on:

Yes, it might be interesting 17 %

No, it sounds offensive 69 %

Maybe, it depends on how it's done 14 %

thnx

You can donate to Atheist Ireland at http://www.atheist.ie. They will need all the help they can get to win the referendum - the RCC will be organising against them, and for most people, the issue won't be one they feel strongly about. There's been a lot of progress recently in breaking the hold of the RCC on the Irish state and people - primarily due to the child-rape scandals, but also to EU-funded prosperity and economic security (now in peril).

I lived in Ireland for several years, and if I had the opportunity to return, I probably would (even if the food and weather are perhaps better here in S.France). Anyways, condoms are readily available (but I don't know about other forms of birth control), and to obtain an abortion, the ladies usually go over to England. As far as I can now recall, English abortion services were advertised in some publications. The days of no condoms and no abortions are long past.

Off-the-top-of-my-head, I can only think of two ways the Rape Children Cult directly affected me whilst I was living there: Pubs were closed on certain holidays, and the monthly(?) newsletter from the local churchcultist, who automatically assumed I was interested. Indirectly, the cult perhaps affected me in other ways, but I either don't now recall, it didn't really matter, or else I simply ignored it.

I probably should point out I lived in Dublin, which is perhaps more liberal and humane (read: less cult influence) than some other parts of the country.

Went to the site-donated my two cents (adjusted for inflation of course...)

I felt strongly enough about this issue to contact my old Diocese to officially tell them to drop me, as I'm no longer interested. If they answer is another issue, frankly I don't care. At least the message has been delivered.

Good luck, Paul. Hope you buy a pint with my contribution-or at least get a good night's sleep. Keep up the good fight.

Moose

I'm a transplanted Yank from NJ who's been living in Dublin for the last 25 years. Love it here, and I find the people collectively to be far more liberal than in the U.S., especially the younger crowd.

I fear that Knockgoat's assessment of the situation is, unfortunately, accurate. Most people here are unaware of the existence of this blasphemy law (indeed, a straw poll of my colleagues a few months ago, university grads to a one, turned up only 1 or 2 out of about 25 who had heard of it). And even if they are aware of it, they are probably apathetic about it. It will be mostly god botherers out there in the polling booths on the day, voting the RCC party line... insofar as Ireland has polling booths anyway. More like a quiet corner. But sure, that's part of its charm.

Dog help us, but this has spurred me into action. I'll see if I can at least get some discourse going on my two web sites.

Day 1 video is up now too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeDqae0yQzI

Atheist Ireland hope to get a full video blog of the entire walk so subscribe to the You tube channel for daily updates (we hope).

It does look a little lonely watching him set off at the start knowing the entire length of Ireland is ahead of him. He has been reading the comments on the videos though if you have anything to say to him. Feel free to also Subscribe to the you tube channel if you want to see the videos from later days in his walk. We hope to get many up there from the entire walk.

There is also an SMS number announced on www.atheist.ie to drop him a message direct to his mobile phone.

That’s a long way for the guy to walk carrying a back pack full of hypocrites and parasites like the Irish Catholic Atheist Club.

The quote below is from a senior member of AI after PZ had left Ireland after been greeted lovingly by the membership:

In any case, personally I'd view stuff like desecrating the host and publishing Danish cartoons as pure stunts that would do Atheist Ireland more harm than good. After all we're trying to appeal to the broader mass, aren't we?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=9ffbda7ecb8d85bc69a87d1…

When criticised on websites the members of AI have resorted to attempts at censorship. They whine to the moderators many of whom are fast becoming the clergy of the internet. It's like the Irish Catholic Atheists appealing to the parish priests of cyberspace.

FXR