Potter's House cult; lab leak magical thinking; fundie Christian schools
Published: Sun, 04/23/23
News and views for atheists, rationalists and secular humanists from Australia and abroad
RSA Daily
For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia
Monday, April 24, 2023
Good morning ,
We lead with yet another story of a home-grown religious cult, steeped
in "low-budget, graphic movies, many produced in the US in the 1970s, which depicted the rapture". I dare
any proponent of 'religious freedom' to defend such practices.
Another disturbing story about a Pentacostal church that has damaged and continues to damage its adherents. You have to feel particularly sorry for the children who are born into such cults: they grow up surrounded by people divorced from reality and usually have little access to
the 'outside world'. A scandal.
"There are bad as well as good reasons to investigate the lab-leak hypothesis. Using the theory as a way to target and punish enemies is a bad reason. So is the
a priori assumption that nefarious intentions lie somewhere behind every major event ..
"
The Australian Law Reform Commission was supposed to deliver its recommendations on amending the Sex Discrimination Act to ensure religious schools can no longer expel gay students or sack gay teachers last Friday, but the feds have given it an extension - to the end of the year! I know some
are relaxed, assuming the Albanese govt will deliver on its pre-election promise. Me, I am not so sanguine.
Uruguay ranks first in the Americas (and 11th in the world) in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2022 Democracy Index. It has free and universal education, public
health care, strong unions, and a solid social security system. There’s a rejection of any politician looking to profit from extreme polarization. "It took cognitive effort."
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