The future of newspapers comes up from time-to-time here on Slugger. Here’s my take on a tangential issue: relgious papers.
Humanity’s press
Atheist and correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, JASON WALSH considers religious newspapers a real blessing
We all know churches have deep pockets but why have humanists failed to produce a paper of the quality of the CS Monitor? If every humanist in Ireland paid €5 or €10 a month to a fund… Dream on.
As part of NICVA’s series of masterclasses from its Centre for Economic Empowerment project, there was a morning seminar on the topic of the “creative class” (as popularised by Richard Florida) and its applicability to Northern Ireland. The agenda was to: Explain Richard Florida’s idea of the “creative class” and the link between economic outcomes [...] read our review »
The oft-quoted verse from the book of Proverbs, ‘where there is no vision, the people perish,’ (chapter 29, verse 18) opens a new book by Gerry O’Hanlon, A New Vision for the Catholic Church: A View from Ireland (Columba Press, 2011). That verse could be considered an apt summary of the current state of the [...] read our review »
I don’t know about a paper. Why get a paper when the greatest information is here on the net – for atheism anyway. The atheists of youtube are one of the greatest centres for information and knowledge on the web today. But I think atheist social groups should be set up in NI, particularly in North Antrim, East Londonderry and Upper Bann, where atheists are pretty much outcast.
Although I think printed newspapers still have value that’s not really what I mean here. What I’m saying is, religious organisations have long funded news-gathering and distributing agencies of varying quality.
There is a value to professional journalism, there is a value in people covering particular beats and being paid to do so. Not only do they build up a body of knowledge, paying people to do a job stops it being the preserve of the rich. If advertising isn’t going to pay for it anymore then we’re going to have to pay for it ourselves. Years ago I used to donate to the CSM and to the short-lived NewStandard.
The remark about humanists was just an aside.
Jason,
I suppose we atheists have no social groups because most of us dislike groups. We’re by and large free-thinking people who have become jaded by attempts by the supernaturalists to indoctrinate, whether by sermons of a Sunday or through the columns of propaganda sheets like the CS Monitor.
That’s the Christian Scientists, right? The folk who profess the ludicrous belief that illness can be cured by prayer? I wonder how many column inches they devoted to Friday’s tragedy in Morocco, when a minaret collapsed during prayers, burying the 300-strong congregation and killing 41.
I suppose if one were bloody-minded one could argue that the victims were praying to the “wrong” god. But still….