Religious Education Archives | Page 2 of 12

May 9, 2019 1 Comment Teach Dont Preach

Supreme Court judgement from 1998 supports the right to opt out of the NCCA religion course

The Minister for Education, Joe McHugh, and the Department of Education, have recently been undermining the right to opt out of the NCCA religion course in ETB schools. They are basing their argument on a distinction between what they call ‘religious instruction’ and ‘religious education.’ But Atheist Ireland has obtained ...

April 27, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

The tangled web of events undermining the right to opt out of religion in ETB schools

In 2000 when the NCCA Religion Education course was introduced in schools, the Department of Education described it as optional. In practice, most schools made it compulsory. This was despite the fact that, of all of the subjects, religion is the only one that you have a constitutional right to ...

March 29, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

NCCA Religious Education course; Opting out is a Constitutional Right

If you are a non religious parent you have a Constitutional Right to opt your child out of the NCCA Religious Education course in second level schools. If any teacher forces your child into the NCCA Religious Education course complain about their behaviour to the Teaching Council. Don't let schools ...

March 19, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

The Minister for Education should enforce the right to opt out of the NCCA Religious Education course

Ruth Coppinger TD has twice recently asked the Minister for Education Joe McHugh about the right of students to opt out of the NCCA Religious Education course at second level. The Minister has not directly addressed the right to opt out, saying merely that opting out "should not arise" because ...

January 30, 2019 1 Comment Teach Dont Preach

Catholic ethos schools integrate the myth of Adam and Eve with the science of evolutionary biology

While the Roman Catholic Church is broadly supportive of the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection, their formal doctrine continues to insist on “human exceptionalism”. That is, the Church requires that some dogmatic qualifications are applied to the science, when it comes to human evolution. The Catholic Church teaches that ...

January 18, 2019 1 Comment Teach Dont Preach

Catholic Church objected to 2016 CNS religion course, and ETBs failed to protect human rights of minorities

Documents that Atheist Ireland obtained under FOI show that private dialogue between the Catholic Church and the ETBI failed to protect the human rights of parents who seek secular education based on human rights law in the new Community National Schools. The ETBs ignored their public service duty to protect ...

January 3, 2019 1 Comment Teach Dont Preach

Community National Schools learning outcomes were changed from understanding religion to respecting it

The Catholic Bishops wrote to Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) in February 2017 stating that the Goodness Me Goodness You course (GMGY) in Community National Schools did not constitute a viable programme for faith nurturing and sacramental education. This was after the Senior part of the GMGY course was ...

December 18, 2018 1 Comment Teach Dont Preach

Children must respect the codes of conduct of Scientology in Irish Community National Schools

Last night RTE's Prime Time reported on Scientology in Ireland. Scientology has set up its European hub in Firhouse in Dublin. Scientology says it is a modern religion, which addresses spirituality in a practical way. It says that it brings new solutions which do not involve drugs, conflict or violence, but include ...

December 3, 2018 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Irish schools require children to respect Vatican codes of conduct that discriminate against gay people

The Irish Times reports that Pope Francis is concerned about what he describes as the “serious issue” of homosexuality and that being gay is a “fashion” to which the clergy is susceptible. He has said that “gay people should not be accepted into ministry”. It is nothing new that the Catholic ...

November 30, 2018 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Community National Schools oblige children to respect Catholic codes of sexual conduct

The Irish state, through the Community National Schools (GMGY course), requires children to demonstrate respect for codes of sexual conduct based on Catholic religious beliefs reflected in our 1937 Constitution and laws. Many people have for years been engaged in challenging those laws and Articles in our Constitution, because we ...