RSA Daily

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Good morning ,

So the Voice referendum is off and running. All its opponents have to do now is continue their campaign to sow FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt). That would be cynical, of course, but that's politics. Let's see if the political innovation called 'citizen's assemblies' can overcome the public's manufactured distrust of 'the elites'. Worth a go.

Lead stories

Constitutional law expert Helen Irving says one of the things that undermined the 1999 referendum to become a republic was low trust in 'elites'. Just who is considered to be 'elite'? Answer: "There were the alleged ‘chardonnay drinkers’ at the heart of the republican movement, those classed as elites merely by being residents of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, and another version of elites meaning simply federal politicians." Well, in our highly urbanised nation, that includes 80% of the population! 

"I wonder how my grandparents would feel to know that their granddaughter is expected to stand, every morning, in this notionally secular public institution while those around her recite the Lord’s Prayer in unison."

And for something truly sick-making, watch the trailer of this new movie that is meant to tell the story of the beginnings of the evangelical movement in the US. As the reviewer says, "In the end, if you are not a faith-oriented viewer looking to drink the film’s Kool-Aid, you might wish a different, secular film-maker was telling this story, able to examine how the Jesus movement intersected with the communal living of the time, and the rise of Christian cults that would lead to the Jonestown massacre and, in a different direction, the megachurches that now dominate Christianity around Los Angeles." 

Other stories of interest

Well-funded Christian group behind US effort to roll back LGBTQ+ rights

The Alliance Defending Freedom is a "a shadowy, well-funded rightwing legal organization". Never trust a group that claims monopoly on the notion of 'freedom', I say.

Calls grow for Nepal to ditch secularism as India's BJP pushes Hindu agenda

"Many within Nepal were flummoxed by the sight of a lifelong communist and avowed secularist donning religious robes in Nepal’s parliament."

UK: Royal College of Surgeons adopt neutral stance on VAD

72% of members support the policy change. The Royal College of GPs maintains its opposition, despite a majority of its members supporting a change. Getting there...

Got a comment on any of these stories? 

Write to me at president@rationalist.com.au

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