RSA Daily

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Good morning ,

Ian Robinson is the RSA's president emeritus. He was president when I first became involved in the mid 2000s. He was a valued supporter during some early 'troubles' and always an invaluable mentor.

Ian continues to write and this morning has another letter published in The Age:

The smart option
Only an idiot “votes No if they don’t know”. The smart person either finds out what they don’t know, and votes accordingly, or, if they’re not motivated to find out, doesn’t vote at all, and leaves the decision to those who do know. The smart person doesn’t want their lack of knowledge to stand in the way of informed decisions made by those who have bothered to find out. The smart person who doesn’t know leaves it to those that do, and doesn’t use their ignorance as an excuse to mindlessly oppose something that might possibly be good.
Ian Robinson, Cowes

Lead stories

RSA Fellow Paul Monk is often published in The Australian, usually on matters related to his particular interest, foreign affairs. So when that newspaper decided not to publish an article he'd written about Mathias Cormann at the OECD but did publish foreign affairs editor Greg Sheridan's piece on ... not foreign affairs but the 'truth' of bodily resurrection, Monk was incredulous: "I read all this, in a serious newspaper, with stunned incredulity. Aquinas (1225-1274) was born some eight centuries ago. Has it not occurred to Sheridan that knowledge has come a very long way since then? But it gets worse ..."

Some weeks ago, the RSA hosted Chris Bonnor as guest speaker for one of our monthly webinars. For those of us who are not fans of schools that perpetuate religious indoctrinatinon, his ideas are controversial to say the least. But ... "Greenwell and Bonnor’s fourth point is likely to be a catalyst for much debate: they propose full public funding for all non-government schools, within a commonly agreed regulatory framework. Yes, this means non-government schools would be fully funded by the taxpayer. But they would not be able to charge their own fees." 

School captain at Melbourne Grammar writes: "I write this as someone who is gay, a fact about myself which I cannot change. I also write this as someone confused – surely “modelling Christian living” is not well exemplified in the practice of exclusion or discrimination?"

"All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?"

Other stories of interest

Dominion and Fox News reach last-minute settlement

Apparently the US media has been starved of its daily gorging because Murdoch and Dominion have settled! For around A$1 billon. Dominion CEO said Fox "was admitting to telling lies" and they now understand "the consequence of spreading lies".

'Fox News is in big trouble': Trump's warning to Murdoch

But prior to the announcement of the settlement, Trump was writing, "Fox News is in big trouble if they do not expose the truth on cheating in the 2020 election..."

Who is Jacinta Price, and how did she become a central player in the voice referendum?

Before you make up your mind about Jacinta Price, just read her background.

Iran imposes harsher measures including surveillance of women to enforce hijab wearing

What can you say?

When Christians confuse an explanation with an argument

A useful reminder: "There’s a difference between (1) explaining how you see things or how your worldview fits together and (2) making an argument with evidence to convince me to adopt your worldview. Said another way, the two options are explaining how you see it (explanation) vs. how I should see it (argument). Apologists sometimes focus on (1) and forget that the words coming out of their mouths are backed by zero evidence."

Got a comment on any of these stories? Write to me at president@rationalist.com.au

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