Gail Walker, chief editor of the Belfast Telegraph, has perversely managed to turn the Pope’s visit into an attack on ‘aggressive secularists’. She goes so far as to suggest it is the beginning of a Christian fightback against ‘discrimination’.
The Ashers Bakery case is back in the news, as the Christian Institute-backed business seeks to overturn the original ruling, that they discriminated against Mr Gareth Lee when he ordered a cake for an event promoting marriage equality. The Christian Institute has for years been pushing a false narrative of Christian persecution. The National Secular … Continued
We haven’t heard much about the fundamentalist lobby group Caleb Foundation in recent times. The late Liam Clarke wrote in the Belfast Telegraph of their web of influence in Stormont in 2012, but by 2015, their press officer David McConaghie left after it emerged he had installed a camera in a constituency toilet, and was … Continued
This week, Atheist NI joined a thirty-strong list of signatories to a letter organised by Atheist Alliance International asking UN High Commissioner for Refugees to recognise people persecuted for being non-religious.
Brussels was less than a week ago, and it’s already the third* deadliest bombing in that brief timeframe. The horror of that statistic overwhelms me. Since then, ISIS have killed at least 41 at a football stadium hosting a boys’ tournament in Baghdad, and a Taliban splinter group have killed at least 72 in a park … Continued
Our First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness revealed their Christian beliefs, and the logical fallacies underpinning them. Martin McGuinness said of the Earth, “I believe that something created this beautiful planet; it’s just so extraordinary in the universe that I can come to no other conclusion.” We’ve heard this one from … Continued
I first wrote a version of this post in April 2015, and having just attended our February 2016 brunch, it’s worth sharing again. Credit for the brunch concept goes to our colleagues Atheist Ireland. We also want to follow their lead in instigating multiple brunches all over the Northern Irish map, so if you would … Continued
This article responds to the reasons given by the UK Government to ignore the petition “Remove Church of England Bishops from the House of Lords” with our key objections to their failure to take it seriously. “Changes to the composition of the House of Lords, including Church of England Bishops, are important but, given the very … Continued
As the appeal against the Asher’s judgement approaches, Peter Tatchell has had a change of heart, and bought the lie drummed up by the Christian apologist groups the Christian Institute and Evangelical Alliance that their freedom of expression was impinged. Tatchell argues that Gareth Lee’s sexuality didn’t play a part in the refusal to provide … Continued
It is absolutely right that every group should enjoy the fruits of the Enlightenment in their freedom of belief (which, of course, covers the freedom not to believe). Take this News Letter article on the Belfast Islamic Centre applying to move to new premises. We welcome Sammy Wilson’s notion that normal planning regulations should not … Continued