Humanist Dart Secular Oath Campaign

lostexpectation

Advertising campaign on the issue of religious oath-taking. Not a bus
but Dart campaign!


Following the strategy day and volunteers’ session on 7th February it
was decided to raise public awareness of the HAI and its work on
equality issues and two issues were selected as being to the
forefront; religious oaths (as required by the Constitution for the
office of President, new members of the Council of State and judges),
and educational discrimination against parents with no religious
belief.

At the HAI Board meeting on 9th March the requirement for the oath,
which was highlighted by a UN commissioner for Human Rights when in
Ireland in 2008, was selected as a clear-cut issue. It’s hoped that
once the initial publicity and media attention is out the follow-up
will concentrate on educational discrimination issues.

The poster campaign is set to be launched on the Dart to coincide with
the follow up visit to Ireland of 3 UN commissioners on 6th April. The
HAI will be represented at that conference in Dublin; the Equality
Document prepared by the HAI will be printed and made available for
general distribution at the same time. Copies will also be sent in
advance to the UN. A media launch is planned for 3rd April at
Buswell’s Hotel at 11:00 am.

The campaign itself takes the form of a run of 2 weeks followed by a
second run of two weeks after a two week gap. This spacing creates the
possibility that the ads will be left in place during the two week gap
thereby giving us additional –cost-free - exposure. There will be one
poster in each Dart carriage. The poster will be headed;
“Unbelievable”, followed by a simple example of the discrimination of
those who ethically cannot make a religious oath against their
conscience, plus contact details for the HAI.

Costing
The cost of the advert itself and placing it on the Dart will be over
€7000. We will be setting up a separate fund in the HAI accounts, and
while existing funds could cover this, we sincerely hope members will
see the potential in awareness raising and increasing membership and
donate to this campaign.

We are very excited to be launching a publicity campaign which takes
its theme from the Dialogue process and the HAI Equality Document
(Submission). The HAI has been in the news again with the issue of the
Hospice Foundation and end of life care; we hope our profile will be
raised greatly with this campaign and hope all members will support
the initiative in ‘spirit’ and practically.

If you wish to contribute to the project, which will hopefully
continue with other issues, please send cheques to;

Muiris O Conchuir
20 Moyne Rd
Ranelagh
Dublin
Alternatively details of PayPal are on the web site.
Queries to; info@humanism.ie or phone 087 9817861

Timing
The need to have this in place at relatively short notice is due the
timing of the UN visit and capitalising on the (hoped for!) media
attention on this.

We are hoping for a positive response both from existing members and
potential new members!

so anybody seen these?

Humanists launch campaign against judicial religious oaths
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0404/1224244010471.html

oh this is important article about the un take on our human rights
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0331/1224243730934.html

ah good its being published along side their detailed submission. not just a slogan
http://irishhumanism.org/resources/HAIDialogueGov_070705.pdf

Dave!

Hey cool, our own campaign

achtungbarry

Great campaign. Nice alternative to all those Jeebus themed ads on the Dart.

Btw, the man on the far right performed our wedding ceremony 2 years ago. A really great guy and and did an amazing job. He even performed anbout a third of the ceremony in French (wife is French).

eoin5

The slogan could be better, it comes across as moany and unimportant in these times. They need a comedian on board.

Dave!

eoin5 wrote: »

The slogan could be better, it comes across as moany and unimportant in these times. They need a comedian on board.

Dara O'Briain would be your man, but he's off galavanting in England!

The chap on the left in the pic looks pretty funny....

Dades

Haven't seen one on the DART yet, but look forward to it. I can see a lot of people thinking "who cares?" though...

That said, like the Atheist Bus campaign, the real publicity doesn't come from the banners themselves but from any media reaction to it. The HAI seem aware of this too.

Lastly, I'm sure the HAI are peeved at being restricted to using "official" non-believer numbers, which due to the mammy-effect are probably completely skewed.

toiletduck

Glad to see it.

robindch

Dades wrote: »

I can see a lot of people thinking "who cares?" though...

Likewise. I mean, how many atheist presidents have we had?

Why not go after the schools' admissions policy instead? That would make a difference.

lostexpectation

Following the strategy day and volunteers' session on 7th February it
was decided to raise public awareness of the HAI and its work on
equality issues and two issues were selected as being to the
forefront; religious oaths (as required by the Constitution for the
office of President, new members of the Council of State and judges),
and educational discrimination against parents with no religious
belief.

Galvasean

Wont be long til we get that atheist blimp Ive been hankerin' for! :pac:

velocirafter

Do people giving evidence in Ireland swear on the bible?

robindch

lostexpectation wrote: »

and educational discrimination against parents with no religious belief.

Great stuff -- looking forward to it

Dave!

velocirafter- They don't have to, they can make an affirmation
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/justice/witnesses/the-procedure-for-being-a-witness

Irish Humanism

Hi All,
Some info of this on our site:
http://www.humanism.ie/

Also, there is a poll running with the following question:
Should the government remove the stipulaton that a religious oath must be taken in order to become a judge or the president in Ireland?

Kind Regards to all.
Irish Humanism.

MrPudding

Dave! wrote: »

velocirafter- They don't have to, they can make an affirmation
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/justice/witnesses/the-procedure-for-being-a-witness

I can't help but think doing this may go against you, particularly where a jury is concerned. Personally I would, and indeed did last year, simply repeat the oath rather than run the risk.

MrP

lightening

I had to give evidence a while ago in the coroners court and I swore on a bible. I just did it, the departed's family were all looking on, didn't want to cause a fuss.

ixoy

Saw it on the DART this morning - a rush hour one too. It caught my eye as well. It's a nice change from "REPENT OR DIE IN THE BURNING FIRES OF HELL" that we get to see around Easter...

Calibos

MrPudding wrote: »

I can't help but think doing this may go against you, particularly where a jury is concerned. Personally I would, and indeed did last year, simply repeat the oath rather than run the risk.

MrP

lightening wrote: »

I had to give evidence a while ago in the coroners court and I swore on a bible. I just did it, the departed's family were all looking on, didn't want to cause a fuss.

Me too about 15 years ago at this stage. When Christians talk about being an oppressed 'majority', I always think of the time I felt the need to swear on a bible just so the Jury wouldn't be biased against the testimony of an Atheist, cause, sure aren't we lacking morals :rolleyes:

MrPudding

Calibos wrote: »

I always think of the time I felt the need to swear on a bible just so the Jury wouldn't be biased against the testimony of an Atheist, cause, sure aren't we lacking morals :rolleyes:

Exactly. And when you read the posts of certain individuals over on that other board, it kind of confirms this attitude.

MrP

Popinjay

MrPudding wrote: »

Sig

Off topic - Donated

MrPudding

Popinjay wrote: »

Off topic - Donated

Also off topic - Received, many thanks!

tricky D

Imo they're using the wrong approach and most will just dismiss it. Judges' oaths - who cares. However if they concentrated on the fact that the pubs have to shut on 2 christian holidays in a supposedly secular country the impact would be much better.

Galvasean

tricky D wrote: »

Imo they're using the wrong approach and most will just dismiss it. Judges' oaths - who cares. However if they concentrated on the fact that the pubs have to shut on 2 christian holidays in a supposedly secular country the impact would be much better.

It's all about demographs really. i'm sure th cider swigging DART users would be more concerned with the Good Friday thing.
*sigh*
I looked at my roster for the week and taught, "Ooh, I have Friday night off and am't in work 'til 3 the next day. I'm gonna go to teh pub, meet all my buddies, head to the club, get some ladies... aw dangit."
Actually, will the nightclubs be allowed open after 12?

vinchick

Hi all,

Don't know if this has been mentioned before but has anybody seen the ads on the DART?

They are about the oath you have to take to God if you want to become a judge or the president and the ad states that as a result of this 250,000 people in Ireland are excluded from these positions.

Must say it was nice to see attention being drawn to this.

Has anyone else seen them?

philologos

I've seen a lot of Christian ads on the bus. One which was offering Bible Study material and quoted Romans chapter 10 about believing in Christ and to be saved.

There was another one about the Resurrection on the bus also:


It's kinda blurry, but you can make it out.

I think it's positive that we can have this sharing of ideas happening.

vinchick

I have seen that one alright. There are a good few Christian ads on public transport, I remember a yellow one advertising a free bible studies class in Dun Laoghaire....

philologos

vinchick wrote: »

I have seen that one alright. There are a good few Christian ads on public transport, I remember a yellow one advertising a free bible studies class in Dun Laoghaire....

That's the one I was referring to

Fanny Cradock

While I don't object to the ads or the mission driving them, I would find it difficult to become passionate about this. Each to their own, I guess.

lostexpectation

we don't have magistrates or anything like that in ireland do we?

vinchick

lostexpectation wrote: »

we don't have magistrates or anything like that in ireland do we?

We have judges which are pretty much the same. We never used the word in reference to Irish law anyway all through my law undergrad. The term is used mostly in common wealth countries. Here is a nice link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stipendiary_magistrate#English_common_law_tradition

lostexpectation

vinchick wrote: »

We have judges which are pretty much the same. We never used the word in reference to Irish law anyway all through my law undergrad. The term is used mostly in common wealth countries. Here is a nice link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stipendiary_magistrate#English_common_law_tradition

ah district judges for short/small cases,

one gets the impression that all judges are former lawyers, but you see the shows on bbc about regular joes without legal training being trained to be magistrates, i thought we didn't have a similar system

http://careeradvice.loadzajobs.ie/industry-insight/legal/legal-jobs-in-ireland-judge-position-3371 how to become a judge in ireland

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rorymccann/3428199749/
proof