RSA Daily

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Good morning ,

Even the progressive ACT govt is misguided on the irrational influence of institutionalised religion when it comes to circumcision - see our first lead story.

Lead stories

"The Chief Minister of the ACT, Andrew Barr, has told the Rationalist Society of Australia that outlawing circumcision on infant boys would require a “fundamentally different” consideration of human rights, bodily autonomy and religious freedoms". Yeah, right - not.

This is what Western commentators (like Michael Shermer) just don't get: 64% of Singaporeans, 67% of Indonesians and 69% of Cambodians said social harmony must trump freedom of speech. In Singapore, the home affairs minister said, "We take action against both hate speech and offensive speech. And we do not allow any race, or religion to be attacked or insulted by anyone else .. for us, free speech stops at the boundary of giving offense to others."

Jerry Coyne reviews a 'hard core socialist's' view of why, given the dominance of movements like #MeToo and #BLM, there has been so little to show from the American 'left':

1. The Left needs to stop doing identity politics with ever-smaller groups and concentrate on larger groups, regardless of ethnicity, that suffer from similar problems. 
2. The Left should be concentrating on class rather than race or ethnicity.
3. The Left should stop using impenetrable and obscurantist jargon, or chiding people for using “harmful” language. 
4. The Left should “stop waiting for the revolution”. 

Yes, yes, yes, yes!

A sign of things to come? (Photo: Valencia Creek CFA)

Other stories of interest

The US needs a good president, and Biden's been good for us

Michael Fullilove, executive director of the Lowy Institute, writes, "The interests of the world’s democracies are served when the US is well-governed, cohesive, appealing and strong. During the Trump presidency, America was poorly governed, divided, ugly and weak." One of the few journalists who recognises Biden's achievements.

Got a comment on any of these stories? 

Write to me at president@rationalist.com.au

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