See Stephen Fry call it like it is, that there is no God, and certainly none worth believing in. Life is truer and more authentic when we grow up and stop our superstitious thinking. And there is no difference between superstitious beliefs/thinking and religious beliefs/thinking. Think for yourself! You will never think your way into believing in a benevolent deity or deities, or whatever the fashionable or culturally acceptable gods are of our time and cultures. Live your short life to the full. Life without stupid beliefs is so much better. Don’t let them fool you. Obey yourself. Be reasonable and compassionate to yourself and others. Let us all grow up.
See the link here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/stephen-fry-explains-what-he-would-say-if-he-was-confronted-by-god-10015360.html
Author Archives: Joe Armstrong
Raif Badawi, defending the right to self-expression & brutality of Saudi Arabia
Humanists believe in the human right of self-expression. Hence as I Humanist I deplore the treatment by Saudi Arabia of Raif Badawi.
The National Union of Journalists and Amnesty International are co-hosting a protest in solidarity with Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes for setting up a website championing free speech and facilitating public discussion. His lawyer, Waleed Abu al-Khair, is himself in prison, serving a 15-year sentence for his peaceful activism. Raif’s family, his wife and two children are exiled in Canada and the website has been shut down.
In the aftermath of the brutal slaughter of Charlie Hebdo journalists in Paris we have witnessed a global outcry in defence of free speech. Millions marched in Paris and throughout France including the Saudi Ambassador to France – however the same freedoms are not extended to Raif Badawi. The treatment of Raif Badawi and the hypocrisy of the Saudi regime cannot be left unchallenged. Already international pressure has resulted in Badawi’s case being referred to the Supreme Court. However much more needs to be done.
The protest takes place this Thursday 22 January at 6.00 p.m. outside the Saudi Embassy on Fitzwilliam Square. Support Raif Badawi, lend your voice to global solidarity and defend freedom of speech.
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Video of Humanist Wedding conducted by Joe Armstrong
Here is the direct link to a video of the Humanist wedding that I recently conducted for Ciaran and Lisa in Dundalk, County Louth.
Or copy the following into your browser and click: http://yourshortfilm.com/gallery/wedding-highlights-video-lisa-ciaran-dundalk-gaol/
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Pictures of Humanist Wedding conducted by Joe Armstrong
That’s Humanism: Four animated videos about Humanism narrated by Stephen Fry
The British Humanist Association has broadcast four excellent and very short videos narrated by Stephen Fry which answer commonly asked questions. You can watch all four here
How do we know what is true?
What should we think about death?
What makes something right or wrong?
How can I be happy?
For more details about Humanism and lots of links to find out more, click here.
Tempus fugit
Where does the time go? It falls like sand through our fingers. Cannot be stopped. Races, gallops, charges along. It will not wait for us.
Twenty years ago today my son was born. Fiche bliain ag fás. Twenty years a-growing. Twenty years since I gave up my permanent, pensionable teaching post in London, teaching Religious Education to boys who are now in their early to mid-thirties! How did that happen? Boys whom I remember as teenagers who are now fully-grown men with children, even with teenagers, of their own.
Ah the shock I got years ago driving back to Donnycarney where I grew up and seeing mature tress in Grace Park Meadows which were planted in my childhood. Those saplings had transformed to full-grown trees – now what did that say about me: only that, when I was not looking, I too had been aging, maturing, going further along my personal finite lifeline.
All we have is now. All I have is now. This now which is whipped from me like a leaf sundered from its tree on a gusty day. The cacophony of life resounds around us. And sooner than we think all will be still. We will be as we were before our conception: that is, not at all. We are not traumatized by our non-existence before our life: why should we be after it?
And by not relying on imagined existence after death, we can live this moment as best we can.
Enjoy this day, my son, and every day. Live each moment to the full. Be yourself. Dare to be you. Ignore any detractors or anyone who might seek to pull you down. Surround yourself with people who love you and whom you love. Carve your own path in life. Think for yourself. Never let anyone else do your thinking for you. Choose what you want, not what you think you ought to do. Be reasonable. Be compassionate. Be willing to take a calculated risk. Trust yourself.
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What people like about Humanist weddings
Taking a look at unsolicited feedback that we have received after conducting Humanist wedding ceremonies, here is a list of some of the things people liked about them:
In no particular order, Humanist wedding ceremonies are…
- personal
- about the couple
- inclusive
- beautiful
- intimate
- special
- moving and touching
- enjoyable
- non-religious
- relaxed, easy going and full of happiness
- balanced by laughter and solemnity
- designed by the couple and celebrant
Humanist ceremonies:
- involve family and friends
- often include simple participation by the couple’s parents
- often include any children of the couple
- meet and often exceed a couple’s expectations, hopes and dreams
- include the couple’s choice of rituals, like candles, sand, handfasting, and rose ceremonies
Five tips for planning your Humanist wedding ceremony
I have been so busy over the summer that the only additions I have made to my website were uploading unsolicited feedback that I have received for Humanist ceremonies that I have conducted (see ‘Unsolicited feedback’ tabs for weddings and funerals on right of my Home page).
I continue to enjoy conducting Humanist ceremonies. Each one is different. It is a privilege to be with people at key turning points in their lives – births, weddings and funerals – celebrations of a life well lived.
Such is the demand for our services that we often have to turn down requests to officiate at ceremonies. We frequently get several requests for ceremonies to be conducted on the same day. That is normally impossible so the people who book us first get the booking.
Five tips if you are planning your Humanist wedding ceremony:
- Make sure that your venue is open to the public. Some venues sell their services on the basis that they are ‘exclusive’ or ‘private’. Well, sorry, folks but you cannot legally get married at such a venue. There cannot be signs up saying ‘Private Function’ or ‘No access to the public’ or anything like that. In fact, for your wedding to be legal, the public must have unrestricted access. Surprisingly, some venues appear not to be aware of this. Any member of the public has the right to pry at your wedding – and if they can’t, your wedding isn’t legal!
- When contacting a celebrant, let him or her know:
- the date of your wedding
- names of bride and groom
- your phone number(s) and email address(es)
- the full name and location of your venue
- Do you really want a Humanist wedding? Humanist weddings are for non-religious people. They do not involve readings from ‘holy books’ and they don’t involve hymns or ‘holy’ or religious songs. They are secular ceremonies for people who think for themselves and who do not let other people do their thinking for them. There are magnificent secular readings and poems and prose about love, friendship, commitment and marriage. I encourage my couples to choose about four such readings to include as part of their wedding ceremony. And it’s a lovely way to involve some of your guests, who are usually delighted that you asked them to participate in your ceremony
- In approaching a celebrant, you do not need to have planned your ceremony in advance. The celebrant will already have quite a bit of experience about what works and what does not work in ceremonies. There is no need to reinvent the wheel for every ceremony. When I meet couples, I guide them through my template and then the couple make choices along the way for what they want to include or exclude. But please also remember that the celebrant is not a parrot of the couple. We also think for ourselves and are people of integrity. Generally, I decide what I shall say at ceremonies and usually people like what I say.
- I always encourage couples to have live music at their wedding. Sometimes couples haven’t thought about this. They might have musicians booked for later in the evening but they forgot about live music for their wedding ceremony. Music settles people. Many musicians do not charge much to play or sing five or more songs or pieces of music at your marriage ceremony. Do please think about it. You will remember the music long after you have forgotten the words. And live music is almost always better than recorded. What’s more, often some of your guests will be musical and they could provide some or all of your music as you walk through the threshold to married life.
Outdoor wedding ceremonies legal
From the Irish Government News Service:
Department of Social Protection confirms that civil marriages may be solemnised outdoors in a place open to the public
Tánaiste – “The option of an outdoor wedding will be welcome news for couples who wish to celebrate their wedding day in a way that is most meaningful to them”
The Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton T.D., has today (15th July 2014) confirmed that marriages can be solemnised outdoors in a place that is open to the public.
The notification, solemnisation and registration of marriages are governed by Part 6 of the Civil Registration Act 2004. Section 51(2) (c) of the Act provides that a registered solemniser “…shall not solemnise a marriage unless the solemnisation takes place in a place that is open to the public”. The Tánaiste said: “There has recently been some uncertainty about the definition of ‘a place that is open to the public’, and in order to clarify the matter, my Department sought advice from the Attorney General. This legal advice has clarified that the definition does include outdoor venues. This will be welcome news for couples wishing to celebrate their wedding day in a way that is most meaningful to them.”
In order to protect both parties to the marriage, the outdoor venue should be readily accessible to the public to avoid the possibility of coercion, fraud or lack of capacity on the part of a party to a marriage, to prevent marriages taking place in secret, and to provide an opportunity for objections.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection published the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill 2014 on 10 July, 2014 and she will bring forward a Committee Stage amendment to this Bill in the Autumn to further clarify what constitutes an outdoor marriage to ensure that the public policy objective of the provisions of section 51 of the 2004 Act remain intact.
The Tánaiste concluded: “I have just published the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill 2014 and I will be bringing forward a Committee Stage amendment to this Bill in the Autumn to further clarify what constitutes an outdoor marriage in a place that is open to the public to ensure that the public policy objectives regarding the solemnisation of marriage are upheld. I believe that solemnisers will take a common sense approach to this determination and ensure that the outdoor venues selected are readily accessible to the public.”
Source: MerrionStreet.ie Irish Government News Service
Ireland 2014: Tuam Babies
Ireland 2014
By Joe Armstrong
Tuam Babies. Human remains of babies and children
Found in a septic tank.
Hundreds more buried in a mass grave.
Our shame.
It’s safe to feel outrage at religious bigots in foreign lands
Where girls are raped and hanged from trees
Where small minds issue death sentences and
Shoot a girl in the head and
Kidnap hundreds more for going to school.
Even safe, if uncomfortable, to feel outrage at Ireland’s collusion
With our own religious zealots of yesteryear
Breeding the vile religious doctrine of
Legitimate and ‘illegitimate’ children
Stigmatizing innocent children from birth
As lower than the lowest.
It’s easy to feel outrage at foreign lands and the distant past
But tricky to admit equal cause for shame today.
Then, in Irish mother and child homes,
Medical experiments, forced adoptions, mass graves.
Today, de facto forced baptisms of infants by parents
Just so their children can get a place
In their local primary and secondary school,
Most of which remain Catholic-controlled
In an Ireland where it remains lawful in 2014
To discriminate in these State-funded schools
Against anyone who isn’t a baptized Catholic.
So let’s save some of our outrage for ourselves
And the abject failure of Irish politicians to make good the
Tattered guarantee of the 1916 Proclamation to
Cherish all of the children of the nation equally.