RSA Daily

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia

Monday, October 23, 2023

Good morning ,

It was 2.15am on Saturday night and I happened to be awake because my gorgeous new man had got up to go to the loo. We'd driven down to a little cottage near Dean's Marsh, about 30 mins inland from Lorne on Victoria's Great Ocean Road, for an idyllic weekend away. Lying there in the darkness, I felt the whole cottage shake for about 15 seconds. "That's either a very big truck going past ... on a lonely country road ... or ...". I sat up, turned on the light (so he didn't stub a toe on the way back from the loo) and exclaimed, "That was an earthquake!!" And I wondered, what on earth does one do during a big quake???

Lead stories

The Boroondara community in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs has sent a clear message that it wants prayers removed from local government meetings, with more than 80 per cent of public submissions supporting the proposal. Councillor Victor Franco has had to put up with some very bad behaviour from fellow councillors - check out this article for a timeline of events. Let's see if these recalcitrant councillors continue their bully-boy tactics at tonight's council meeting. Watch it live from 6.30pm (AEDT):

Richard Dawkins muses on when the meme "haitch" arose. Read the comments section to see what readers said ... (including some from Australia).

Other stories of interest

Premier and government ministers back establishment of new faith lobby group in New South Wales

A new lobby that has evolved out of a group that exists to entrench evangelical scripture classes in NSW schools! Honestly, what were they thinking!

How counsellors help children understand their worth - Rationale Magazine

"In working with a child, my goal as counsellor is to help them understand what it is that they believe about themselves and then decide if it is helpful or not (rational/irrational). And, if not, I help them to consider what evidence there is to challenge the veracity of what they believe."

Alex Jones must pay $1.7b damages despite bankruptcy

Gotcha!

High court to rule on Catholic church's liability for abuse committed by paedophile priests

Amongst other points, the church has argued it was not responsible because the abuse took place during after-hours "social" visits.

Got a comment on any of these stories? 

Write to me at president@rationalist.com.au

PS: Please let others know about the RSA and RSA Daily. 

Send them this issue and suggest they subscribe ...

View this email as a webpage