RSA Daily

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Good morning ,

Growing up during the 1960s and 1970s, I was part of a generation that saw Anzac Day as a reason to protest against the futility of war. Despite now being older and wiser - and patriotic enough to realise that sometimes, a nation has to defend itself against violent aggressors - I still cannot bring myself to indulge in Anzac Day cant and commemoration. But our lead article got me.

Lead stories

Amidst all the tributes and testimonials, this one hit home and brought a lump to the throat. Written by Richard Llewellyn, who was registrar at the Australian War Memorial from 1986 to 1995. 

Defence chaplains have made disparaging remarks about non-religious people .. In 2018, one chaplain wrote in an Army journal that non-religious people suffered from being “self-deceiving” for choosing “not to believe in God and His plan to restore the Divine-human relationship”. Such pontificating, sanctimonious pomposity.

From the Washington Post: "It seems that Fox News was fine with Carlson’s vicious, often baseless, attacks, as long as they were directed elsewhere. Once they started landing closer to home, network leaders took another look at the terrible individual on their payroll." Be interesting to see where he goes now ..

Nick Iriks is frustrated that an organisation that has left him with significant trauma is a registered charity.

Other stories of interest

Australian researchers welcome plan to curb politicians' power to veto grants

Under new rules, a minister would be able to intervene only in rare cases that involve national-security concerns, and would need to justify the decision to Parliament.

Our duty to laugh in the face of tyrants - Rationale Magazine

History: how a German magazine fell for fake Hitler diaries

America is exporting its worst ideas across the Atlantic

Macron has complained that imported "woke culture" from the United States is "racializing" France and creating more division among minorities .. France’s national education minister has said: “People who claim to be progressive and who…distinguish people by the color of their skin are leading us to things that resemble fascism."

Got a comment on any of these stories? 

Write to me at president@rationalist.com.au

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