The word 'chaplain'; Slavoj Zizek; J of Controversial Ideas; women in the CIA

Published: Tue, 10/31/23

RSA Daily

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Rationale, the magazine of the Rationalist Society of Australia

Good morning ,

Just so that you know, the RSA's Campaigns and Communications Coordinator, Si Gladman, used to work as a Hansard reporter in federal parliament. So he knows his way around systems like Senate Estimates and question time.

That's why we can bring you up-to-date news about what's going on there - like the report in our first lead article.

Yesterday was Halloween, that sugary celebration that's been so shamelessly monetised. And yes, the little community where I live had an event too - and despite my abhorrence of the commercialisation of it all, I must say it was a delight to watch the kids (they seem to have multipled since last year!) running around in groups, harrassing the oldies for more.. and more.. and more.

And on Saturday, my gorgeous man and I made a trip into the city ... just because. Is it just me or is the Christmas season getting earlier and earlier?

Lead stories

Religious chaplains can create 'safe place' for LGBTIQ students, says education department | Rationalist Society of Australia

Government schools should be secular - that is, places where students of varying worldviews feel welcomed and safe. Instead, successive federal and state governments have allowed mainly Christian agencies almost unsupervised access to govt schools through the National Schools Chaplaincy Program.

Part of the problem is the name. 'Chaplain' has traditionally had a religious connotation. Despite changuing the nane of the program to the National Student Wellbing Program, the federal Labor govt persists with the term 'chaplain'. Read how this issue came up in Senate Estimates.

Žižek: his key ideas explained

The Slovenian philosopher is one of the world's most famous thinkers. But what does he actually stand…

I am not a fan of Slavoj Zizek - I find him almost incomprehensible. But for those who are, here is a primer on his philosophy. Includes a video of his famous (infamous?) debate with Jordan Peterson.

Sex and Sexual Orientation, Gender and Sexual Preference

Some of you may be aware of an academic journal founded by, among others, Australian philosopher Peter Singer. The Journal of Controversial Ideas was established as a 'safe place' for academics to publish ideas that have been cancelled by other journals because they do not align with the prevailing social and intellectual norms. Here is just one of those papers but there are others, including "White Empiricism and The Racialisation of Epistemology in Physics". "Feminist Separatism Revisited" and "The Word that Dare Not Speak its Name".

This is a long one (over an hour) and I haven't watched it all but a fascinating topic. Among other things, they discuss CIA research methods; a brief history of the CIA; the purpose of intelligence agencies; misogyny and sexism in the early decades; the skills needed to be a spy; what women notice that men don’t in the spy business.