Atheists label Rising rebels ‘undemocratic killers’
Group says commemoration on Easter Sunday reinforces ‘religious connotations’
Mon, Mar 28, 2016, 01:00 Updated: about 14 hours ago
Atheist leaders declined an invitation to take part in yesterday’s Easter Rising commemorations because the rebellion involved “an undemocratic group killing innocent people”.
In a statement, Atheist Ireland, which claims to have about 500 members, said it welcomed the Government’s intention to be inclusive to all religious and non-religious groups, but that the State was reinforcing the rebellion’s “religious connotations” by holding the celebrations on Easter Sunday.
“The 1916 Rising involved an undemocratic group killing innocent people, based on a Proclamation whose authors claimed that Ireland was acting through them in the name of God,” said Atheist Ireland chairman Michael Nugent.
“The Irish Government is reinforcing the religious connotations of the Rising by marking its anniversary on the wrong date . . . The reason for using the wrong date is to make the commemorations coincide with the Christian holiday of Easter.”
http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/atheists-label-rising-rebels-undemocratic-killers-1.2589126
God Save the Queen.
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