Minutes of the 13^th Meeting of the 161^st Session

14^th February 2008 ~ Kirwan Theatre ~ The Religion Debate

AND so it was that the 13^th meeting of the year was held here in the Kirwan with Paddy Cluskey chairing. The minutes of the previous meeting were stolen at the Galway IV, and are presumably somewhere in Scotland, and so weren’t passed at the last meeting. Of course, by the time of the last meeting, the Literary & Debating Society’s increasingly bloody and brutal war against out sworn enemies in the Chocolate Society was reaching epic, king-size proportions, with many warriors on both side meeting a bloody and caramel-filled end and the hands of those diabetes-inducing Chocolatiers.

The motion for main business; ‘That This House Believes the World Would be a Darker Place Without Religion’. But before that we had Private Members’ Time. Ronan Harrington proposed the motion ‘That This House Believes NUI Galway Should make more use of the river Corrib in it’s Campus of the Future plans’, which was passed without any other speeches.

Ronan Harrington then proposed another motion, ‘That This House Believes NUI Galway Should Introduce a Scholarship system similar to Trinity College’. He said how the college should introduce extra optional exams, whereby if students do well in them, they become entitled to free board and accommodation in the Quadrangle as well as a title of ‘Scholar’. He told us how this system would be a great incentive for students to work harder and would bring prestige to a university needing it. Ronan also told us how it makes students feel more connected with the Quad and how it would add value to our worthless NUI Galway degrees.

Niamh McNally opposed the motion, saying how it doesn’t embody the spirit of the university, and how it would put more pressure on already stressed-out students to do better in exams. Niamh pointed out that the Quad is the only decent building this college has and questioned whether we could trust students not to wreck the place. In summation, she asked us not to stoop to Trinity’s level and told us how all students should have equal access to the same facilities, and that the college should not encourage elitism and prestige among it’s students.

Mike Spring supported the idea, saying how the Quad is rarely used and that this plan would breathe new life into the building, as well as giving students something to aspire to.

Dave Finn opposed the motion, saying how meritocracy shouldn’t be given such a big role in the college and how being a student is not just about passing exams. Introducing a Schols system, he said, would only create elitism.

Lisa Maher proposed the motion, pointing out how the system would be optional and would not force people to study more, and that if it can work in Trinity it can work in Galway too.

With that the motion was put to the House, and was defeated.

American Conor (a.k.a Conor O’Brien) proposed a final PMT motion, surely uninfluenced by the night it was; ‘That This House Would Do Away with Valentine’s Day’. The fact that we all came here to debate on Valentine’s night only serves to remind us of our single status. Conor said how Valentine’s Day is a sham; an expensive and potentially-damaging-to-relationships feast of commercialised love, and that we should simply get rid of it.

Anthony Doherty opposed the motion. He told us how although the cost of those roses has meant he can’t eat for the next week, at least the vital flower-producing section of the economy is being kept afloat.

Mike Spring proposed banning Valentine’s Day, saying how the whole thing is a travesty against human emotion and only highlights his singleness. Mike suggested we should make February 15^th Cynical Bastards Day.

Jackie Driscoll opposed the motion, saying how men are, shock-horror, more interested in sex than romance. At this point a yell of ‘stop the presses’ could be heard as the global media digested this until-then unknown fact. Jackie said that even if it takes unforgiving capitalism to make men do something romantic for just one day, then so be it.

Paul MacEoin, Jackie’ boyfriend I might add, started off by saying he’s not fussy about who’s the third person in the threesome, and then questioned the practice of giving roses as presents instead of something more useful, like a potato.

Finally, Niamh McNally said how swinging is hot, while Pearse Hennigan told us how the commercialism may be removed from the day, but not the idea of romanticism itself. Bless.

With that the motion was passed, and from this day forth Valetine’s Day is no more in the Kirwan Theatre from 7pm to 10pm on Thursday nights.

So on to main business and the motion ‘That This House Believes the World Would be a Darker Place Without Religion’.

In 1^st Proposition was Muireann O’Dwyer, and hey, isn’t she running for the SU this year? Muireann told us how fundamentalism exists in all walks of life and not just in religion. She said how plenty of good things have come from religion in the past and that it gives people something to hope for and something to turn to in bad times. She asked the opposition not to make this a scaremongering debate, and said how she believes religion has ultimately had a positive impact on humanity. Muireann also told us how religion has been an undeniably massive part of humanity for thousands of years.

Steve Quigley opened the case for the opposition, saying how although we’ll find things to hate about each other without religion; it does add fuels to the flames of hatred, kind of like a metaphorical can of petrol, representing religion, being thrown on the metaphorical fire, representing humanity. Religion, Steve said, thrives on ignorance and hatred, and survives by stifling knowledge and understanding of the world around us. Steve told us how religion is standing in the way of progress not just in Ireland, but across the world, like how the Catholic Church encourages HIV-infected Africans not to use condoms. Atheism, he said, allows people to live their lives as they wish, without fear of eternal damnation from a man in the sky.

Joseph Quinn concluded the proposition’s case. He told us how the Catholic Church promoted education in Ireland when the State could not afford to do so and how Early Irish Christians kept western civilisation alive during the Dark Ages. Joe said how as the Church lost influence in recent decades, violent crime and suicides have increased as people’s morality wavers without religion. He concluded by saying how being religious let’s you exactly how to live your life, and shows you what to be for and against.

Conor ‘The Lone Wolf’ Kelly concluded the case for the opposition, saying how the Catholic Church has created taboo subjects of abortion in Ireland, and how armies find it much more difficult to call a truce on a war of religion than a war for territorial gain. Secular society, he said, allows for differing opinions and dissent, while organised religion is absolutist in nature, demanding total obedience from cradle to grave, and committing atrocities against non-believers. Conor also pointed out how the religious community in America, and the Vatican itself, are against the teaching of evolution in schools. He concluded by saying how always thinking you’re right, makes you wrong.

With that the motion was opened to the floor.

Mike Spring opposed the motion, saying how Irish culture is that of the crucifix and the bottle, Catholicism and Alcoholism. Mike said how religion plays on people’s innate fear of death and the unknown by giving people false hope of an afterlife. He then gave us some nice poetic metaphors about living on after death, like how we will all live on through the memories of others. He concluded by saying religion takes us away from our true purpose of working with each other instead of reaching for the skies.

Zoe McNair proposed the motion, but said how an unquestioning faith is bad. She said how although she is not religious in the traditional sense, she does follow a sort of Religion of Generally Being Nice to People. Religion, she said, gives us a sense of solace that we can’t yet provide for ourselves.

Alan Lyons opposed the motion, saying how God’s got a weird sense of humour, like how he seemingly promised the Middle East to everyone, and how the Church suppressed many gospels they didn’t like.

Jackie Driscoll supported the motion, saying how even if religion is a lie, it’s a good one, and one that inspires people, while John Brennan opposed, telling us how religion has always divided humanity and continues to do so today. Niamh McNally countered by saying how such divisions are created by society, and not religion itself.

Sean Butler opposed, saying how every religion claims to be the one true faith while religious zealots lose the fear of death which allows them to undertake terrible acts on others with a belief they’ll be rewarded in death. Sean concluded by saying how religion is the darkness, while science is the light.

Mike Molly proposed, saying how sometimes we need the supernatural to help us overcome difficulties in life, and pointed to how the faith of Gandhi and Martin Luther King helped them overcome problems, while Eamon Dillon said how religious people who believe all non-believers will burn in eternal hell fire are in need of mental help. Peter Flynn pointed out how the Koran was the first religious text to condemn suicide while Hitler was never a fan of religion himself.

Conor O’Brien/ Ronald Reagan proposed the motion, saying how Mike Spring’s vision of a world without religion is one of atheistic, evil empire communism, while Maccon-Fionn MacNamara said how it’s impossible to tear humanity and religion apart from each other as we’ve always needed a power figure in our lives. He also pointed out that no religion explicitly demands the killing of non-believers.

With that the motion was put to the House, and was carried. These are the Minutes.