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
Paul launches blasphemy protest
Paul sets off at 10am from Mizen Head on Thursday 6 May
From BBC News
Blasphemy man begins long protest
An atheist is to walk the length of Ireland to protest against the Republic’s new blasphemy law.
Paul Gill, a former social worker from Donegal will set off on his 625km trek on Wednesday.
He is protesting against a new clause in the Defamation Act 2009 that makes blasphemy a crime punishable by a fine of up to 25,000 euros. He said: “Theological thought crimes are draconian and dangerous, they belong in the past.”
Mr Gill told BBC News he wants to use the walk to create a platform for debate, and promote the idea of a secular constitution in Ireland.
He said: “In a historical context protest walks have been an effective way of demonstrating your beliefs, rights, concerns to the public at large in the hope of generating action.
“I believe a vigorous walk in the countryside beats any religion or superstition.”
More here
From The Derry Journal
A Buncrana man who is enraged that a blasphemy law has been introduced in Ireland says he’ll walk the length and breadth of the country in protest to it.
Paul Gill, originally from Manchester, but who has roots in Buncrana, plans on pounding the pavements from Mizen Head to Malin Head in a bid to generate awareness of the law he says ‘criminalises people’s freedom of speech’.