Uncategorized Archives | Teach Dont Preach

February 18, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

New Junior Cycle Religious Education course still breaches constitutional and human rights

The new specification for the Junior Cycle Religious Education curriculum, due to be introduced in schools in September 2019, disrespects the rights of parents who seek secular education for their children based on human rights. The new course reflects the disrespect that the State has for non-religious parents and their children. ...

January 29, 2019 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Atheist Ireland welcomes Education Committee report supporting objective sex education

Atheist Ireland welcomes the Oireachtas Education Committee report on Objective Sex Education. The report has recommended, as Atheist Ireland asked it to do, that the law must be changed to remove the role of ethos as a barrier to the objective and factual delivery of sex education curriculums. It has ...

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 ...

November 20, 2018 1 Comment Teach Dont Preach

The CNS religion course promotes respect for religious codes of conduct that breach human rights

The Goodness Me Goodness You religion course in Community National Schools requires children to respect ‘codes of conduct’ that influence the way people live in a range of belief traditions. But many religious ‘codes of conduct’ are used to undermine the rights of others. This includes the denial of access ...

September 27, 2018 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Our new submission to the NCCA on Religious Education – please make your own submission tomorrow

The NCCA is accepting submissions on a new specification for second level Religious Education. You can read below a joint submission made by Michael Nugent and Jane Donnelly of Atheist Ireland, Imam Ibrahim Noonan of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland, and Pastor Nick Park of the Evangelical Alliance of ...

September 13, 2018 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

The Education Act does not oblige schools to promote moral and spiritual education through religion

For some reason, some ETBs and the Catholic Church believe that the Section 9 of the Education Act obliges them to promote the moral and spiritual of all children through religion. They equate the word ‘spiritual’ in Section 9 with religion, and have simply jumped to conclusions from that. This ...

September 13, 2018 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

ETB schools must respect human rights and stop indoctrinating students into religion

The European Court has said that not respecting parents convictions in the education system is pursuing an aim of indoctrination. One of the main aims of the State Religious Education course is to contribute to the moral and spiritual of all students through religion. Contributing to the moral and spiritual ...

August 29, 2018 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Is your local ETB school offering an alternative subject to religion? Contact Atheist Ireland and let us know

Atheist Ireland, the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Ireland, will be meeting the Department of Education again in September, to discuss the recent directive regarding religion in ETB schools. We would like to be able to bring as much information to that meeting as possible, about what ...

August 19, 2018 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

Catholic Bishops have veto in rigged divestment process for schools

Atheist Ireland has obtained, under the Freedom of Information Act, a letter that the Catholic Bishops sent to Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI), regarding religion in Community National Schools. The letter is dated 15th February 2017. We have published it below. We have previously written about the conflict of ...

August 6, 2018 No Comments Teach Dont Preach

If religion should not determine health and social policy, it should not determine education policy either

In a recent tweet the Minister for Health, Simon Harris has said that “Religion plays an important role for many on an individual basis - but it will not determine health and social policy in our country any more. Please get that.” Please just make it stop! Increasing access to ...