Atheist Ireland is hosting a series of occasional lectures by prominent atheists. Here is the first one, with Professor AC Grayling, speaking last month in Dublin.
Category Archives: Video
Setting Prometheus Free: a lecture by AC Grayling for Atheist Ireland
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Is Scientology legitimate? Michael Nugent at TCD Philosophical Society
On October 27 Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland took part in a debate at the TCD Philosophical Society on the motion that Scientology is as legitimate as any other religion. Other speakers included Mike Rinder, former chief spokesperson of the Church of Scientology; Irish anti-Scientology activist Matthew McKenna; and former Scientologist John Duignan. This is Michael’s contribution. You can also view the full debate here.
Members of the philosophical society, ladies and gentlemen, fellow Thetans, I have a lot of sympathy with the Church of Scientology, because I am also a member of a small church that is ridiculed by society.
When Atheist Ireland started campaigning against the blasphemy law a few years ago, one of the things that we did was to set up a new church that worshiped Dermot Ahern, the Minister who brought in the law, and that church is the Church of Dermotology.
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Is Scientology legitimate? Full debate at TCD Philosophical Society
On October 27 Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland took part in a debate at the TCD Philosophical Society on the motion that Scientology is as legitimate as any other religion. Other speakers included Mike Rinder, former chief spokesperson of the Church of Scientology; Irish anti-Scientology activist Matthew McKenna; and former Scientologist John Duignan. Here is the full debate. You can also read Michael’s contribution here.
1. First proposition speaker: Oisín Brogan Sch., JS engineering student and ex-Pro-DC of the society.
2. First opposition speaker: Matthew McKenna, a prominent Irish anti-scientology activist.
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This house rejects atheism – a response
The following video is on our YouTube channel. It’s Professor Brian Bocking at a UCC debate last year, proposing the motion ‘that this house rejects atheism’.
For context, Professor Bocking founded UCC’s Study of Religions Department, which studies theories of religion and atheism in a methodologically agnostic way. For clarification, he has said on our YouTube channel that the arguments that he made in this debate apply as much to theism as they do to atheism, and that his argument was against the elevation of any ‘-ism’ over the service ethic in matters of government.
Paul Hannah of Brisbane has written the following response to the specific arguments made by Professor Bocking in the debate.
As atheism is not a religion we have no supreme leader to speak for us, nor could that be possible. Atheists can be conservative, liberal, racist, homophobic, democratic, communist, socialist, sports mad and sports indifferent. We are so diverse that no one *could* represent us. However, as an atheist I feel qualified, at least in some respect, to correct a few misapprehensions you appear to have in relation to people like me. So when I say ‘we’ below, I speak only from my experience and not as any sort of spokesperson.
Also posted in Atheism 7 Comments
The God Delusion or Solution? Michael Nugent debates Hamza Tzortzis
As part of Islamic Awareness Month in Ireland, Michael Nugent debated Hamza Tzortzis on the topic God Delusion or Solution in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Here’s an extract followed by the full debate:
Extract: Atheism, Islam, Morality and the Quran
Part 1: Opening Address by Hamza Tzortzis
Part 2: Opening Address by Michael Nugent
Part 3: Moderator’s Questions & Answers
Part 4: Audience Questions and Answers
Also posted in Atheism, Islam 3 Comments
Creationist book and Science Minister versus facts
With Science Minister Conor Lenihan winning our September Really Truly True Believer of the Month Award for planning to launch an anti-evolution book by creationist John J. May, here are two excellent videos by Shane Owen that will confuse both the Minister and the author with, what do you call those things, oh yes, I remember now… facts.
Also posted in Science 3 Comments
Update from the Long and Winding Road
More pictures and contact details are on the walk’s Facebook page
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=QeDqae0yQzI
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=9bzHccKIIJw
Moral without God? Video of debate
Michael Nugent, chairperson of Atheist Ireland, recently debated with John Murray, director of the Iona Institute for Religion and Society, on the motion that one cannot be truly moral without God. The debate took place on 30 March 2010 in Maynooth University, and was organized by the Maynooth Christian Union and the Maynooth Literary and Debating Society. This is Michael’s opening contribution:
And this is a playlist of the full debate, which takes about an hour and forty minutes:
If you want to skip to any particular section, you can use the arrows on the right and left of the above playlist to view any of the following parts of the debate:
Opening speeches
1/12 – John Murray opening speech
2/12 – Michael Nugent opening speech
3/12 – Student speeches for motion
4/12 – Student speeches against motion
Questions and answers
5/12 – Relative morality in the Bible
6/12 – Can we live without God?
7/12 – Interpreting morality in the Bible
8/12 – Human rights and true morality
9/12 – Can we be moral with God?
10/12 – Science, morality and animals
Closing speeches
11/12 – John Murray summary
12/12 – Michael Nugent summary
Also posted in Atheism, Philosophy, Religion 6 Comments
New blasphemous art exhibition opens in Dublin
A new art exhibition titled Blasphemous opened (appropriately) on Good Friday in the Irish Museum of Contemporary Art (IMOCA) in Lad Lane, off Baggott Street, Dublin 2. It’s the second art exhibition to highlight and challenge the new Irish blasphemy law, which became active on 1st January 2010.
Since then, the Irish Justice Minister has responded to the campaign against the law by saying that he will propose a referendum, later this year, to remove the reference to blasphemy from the Irish Constitution, thus enabling the blasphemy law to be repealed.
This makes the new exhibition in IMOCA not just a challenge to the blasphemy law, but also a celebration of artistic freedom, and freedom of expression generally. The exhibition runs until 25 April and is open from 12 noon to 5 pm every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, or by appointment through contacting IMOCA.
Also posted in Blasphemy 6 Comments
Repeal blasphemy laws: David Nash and Austin Dacey talk to Atheist Ireland
This is the second in a series of occasional lectures hosted by Atheist Ireland and livestreamed on the Internet. Professor David Nash and Austin Dacey talk about blasphemy laws, at a discussion chaired by Michael Nugent.