Secularism Australia conference; Steve Pinker; gender incongruence

Published: Sun, 12/03/23

RSA Daily

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia

Rationale, the magazine of the Rationalist Society of Australia

Monday, December 4, 2023

Good morning ,

Attended the Secularism Australia conference in Sydney on Saturday. It was great to see so many people (around 300) enthusiastic about pushing back against the growing tide of evangelical power-grabbing.

My one small appearance was as facilitator of the final panel of the day and I took the opportunity to remind the audience that religionists per se are NOT our enemy. Most ordinary religionists are reasonable people just going about their daily lives. No, it's the small number of devouts who are the problem. Why? Because they take seriously their perceived duty to impose their antideluvian beliefs on the rest of us.

Off to catch my flight to Dubai and then on to Boston now. Cheers!

Lead stories

Qualifications, Not Religion, Should Decide Who Provides Pastoral Care in Public Schools - The Australia Institute

New research from the Australia Institute and the Rationalist Society of Australia has found that…

Most people don't even know that successive federal govt's - both Labor and Liberal - have been funding religionists to go into govt schools and treat them as "mission fields". Since 2006, nearly $1.5 billion dollars! With no requirement for accountability, no systemic reviews of outcomes, no transparency\. This is what institutionalised religion gets in this country - privilege, money and compliant politicians.

Europe And U.S. Diverge Sharply On Treatment Of Gender Incongruence In Minors

In line with precautionary principle, introduction of treatments whose effects are either disputed or…

"In Europe political divisions on this topic aren’t nearly as conspicuous as they are in the US .. ather, the debate is much more fact-based." What a surprise! "While European health authorities aren’t instituting bans on treatment, currently minors in six European countries—Norway, U.K. Sweden, Denmark, France and Finland—can access puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones only if they meet strict eligibility requirements, usually in the context of a tightly controlled research setting."

"There's Nothing Mystical About the Idea that Ideas Change History"

An interview with Steven Pinker.

Always worth hearing Steve Pinker's ideas. In this wide-ranging interview he speaks of Gaza, AI, Michael Standel (of Harvard Ethics fame) and makes passing reference to the "porcupine of Europe" (Switzerland) - which reminded me of the recent book recommending Australia's "echidna" defence strategy.

Other stories of interest

A Stanford professor says science shows free will doesn't exist. Here's why he's mistaken

Why is this important? Because if you don't have free will, then how can you be held responsible for your actions?

Social media addiction: How can we avoid it?

How to avoid addiction to those goddam phones? A: put them away; go for a walk; get a hobby. It's not rocket science, people.

Got a comment on any of these stories?

Write to me at president@rationalist.com.au