Statement made by Michael Nugent

Chairperson Atheist Ireland

To OSCE Human Rights Meeting

Warsaw, Poland, 1 October 2012

The OSCE has hosted events to specifically combat discrimination against Christians, Muslims and Jews. We request a similar event to specifically combat discrimination against atheists and agnostics.

For example, in Ireland, atheist parents are denied secular education for our children. We cannot become president or a judge in Ireland, because we have to swear a religious oath.

Eamon Gilmore, the current chair of the OSCE, is a member of the Irish Council of State. To take up this office he is obliged to swear an oath before a god that he personally does not believe in.

Our second recommendation is that the OSCE should strongly oppose all blasphemy laws.

The European Union and the Islamic States have recently insisted, in a joint statement, that we respect all religions and all prophets.

Respecting all prophets would mean respecting not only the prophets of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, but also respecting David Koresh at Waco, and David Icke who believes that George Bush is a space lizard.

This is clearly absurd. We can respect your right to believe, while not respecting the content of your beliefs. You have rights. Your beliefs do not. That is the essence of freedom of conscience.

I do not respect any belief about reality that is not based on sufficient evidence, and I do not respect any belief about morality that oppresses women, or gay people or other minorities.

Unsurprisingly, this recent EU statement has resulted in the Islamic States at the UN reintroducing their attempts to make blasphemy a crime internationally. The OSCE and all civilised states should oppose this attempt to move us backwards in terms of freedom of conscience.

If you would like to discuss how to combat this danger, please attend our side event at lunchtime in meeting room 3.