RSA Daily

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia

Monday, November 20, 2023

Good morning ,

More on Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Richard Dawkins hits the nail on the head when he says of her supposed conversion to Christianity that she is no more Christian than he is. That is, it's highly improbable she actually believes in the fundamental tenets of the Christian religion (the resurrection, the divinity of Jesus etc) but has declared herself 'a Christian' because she sees Christianity as a (relatively benign) ideological force strong enough to counter the myriad malign ideological forces gripping the world, and to defend the legacy of the Enlightenment and Western civilisation.

The question for me is, would she count Trumpism as one of those malignant ideological forces?

Lead stories

"Seriously, Ayaan? You, a Christian? You are no more a Christian than I am." 

Interesting. In this interview with RSA from the early days of the first Trump presidency, you can see the signs of Hirsi Ali's 'conversion' to Christianity. She praises Trump for recognsing Islamism as a totalitarian regime similar to Nazism, fascism and communism and criticises Obama for focusing only on the violence perpetrated by Islamic extremists because that limits "the tool box of measures" to apply and "you can't really bomb bad ideas out of people's heads." Wonder if she would now support a second Trump presidency (recognising that Trump rhetoric has now been pretty much confirmed as fascist).

"One of the problems with large bodies of religious literature and doctrine is that it is possible to find a rationale for just about anything, including despatching those who subscribe to a different theological epistemology. Selectively invoking convenient passages out of context to justify religious persecution and bigotry is a tradition as old as organised religion itself, and one that is clearly not going out of fashion..."

Yep - as I've said over the years, all organised religion is a matter of human interpretation and that can be shaped to suit the political ends of the interpreter.

The cartoon from the RSA's magazine, Rationale.

Other stories of interest

Expanding the Offence of Hate Speech Will Unjustifiably Impede Free Speech

In which the RSA is mentioned.

Canada: humanists say 7 BC local councils violate duty of religious neutrality

It's not just here but also in Canada - local councils doing prayers while more than half their constituents are non-religious. In 2015, Canada's Supreme Court found a prayer at the beginning of a city council meeting in Quebec infringed on citizens’ freedom of religion rights by professing one religion to the exclusion of all others. "A neutral public space free from coercion, pressure and judgment on the part of public authorities in matters of spirituality is intended to protect every person’s freedom and dignity, and it helps preserve and promote the multicultural nature of Canadian society."

Queensland University of Technology completely ditches merit-based hiring, favoring gender, "looks", and personality

US-style identity politics is coming for Australian universities ...

Finnish company introduces tampons for men to reduce gender dysphoria in trans community

!!

Got a comment on any of these stories? 

Write to me at president@rationalist.com.au

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