With this week being National Science Week, we've had a couple of great contributions on our Rationale magazine website (see in the 'Opinion/Analysis' section below). James Fodor has written about the need for 'science communication' to focus on the core purposes of science. And Elizabeth Dangerfield shares how her experience with breast cancer has deepened her appreciation for science and the need to defend it.

If you'd like to share something you've seen online or comment on articles in the RSA Weekly, feel free to email me on editor@rationalist.com.au.

16 Aug: The Rationalist Society of Australia has urged the Albanese government to heed the findings of a new report about multiculturalism and help foster inclusion by addressing parliament’s discriminatory practices, and recognising the growing non-religious and ex-religious communities. The Towards Fairness – a multicultural Australia for all report, released in July, argued that governments should foster inclusivity and combat discrimination. Read the full article

15 Aug: The names of known child abusers should be published prominently on church websites and the WA government should create a centrally accessible list of all known perpetrators, an inquiry into institutional child sexual abuse has urged. The Community Development and Justice Standing Committee handed down its final report after examining the support available to survivors of institutional child abuse. It found the Catholic Church and other religious entities had prioritised their own institutional and financial wellbeing over the needs of those that had been abused by their members. Read the full article

15 Aug: An equality campaigner has called Prime Minister Anthony Albanese "gutless" for abandoning plans to scrap the exemption that allows faith-based schools to discriminate against staff and students on the basis of their gender or sexuality. James Elliot-Watson said he is incensed by Mr Albanese's decision not to proceed with the contentious reform, warning that it will lead to more young LGBTQ+ people being harmed. Read the full article

15 Aug: A member of a secretive and ultra-conservative Pentecostal church has pleaded guilty to raping and persistently sexually abusing multiple children in the Geelong area. Todd Hubers, 38, also known as Todd Hubers Van Assenraad, was charged in January 2023 with a string of child abuse charges relating to nine boys. Read the full article

15 Aug: A conservative Christian minister claims he is being persecuted for refusing to include a 'Welcome to Country' ceremony at the start of his religious conferences – and that he is prepared to go to jail to defend his rights. Dave Pellowe said he had been hauled before the Queensland Human Rights Commission after a complaint was made that he failed to include the Indigenous ritual in his national 'Church and State' conferences. Read the full article

14 Aug: The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) has cancelled an acclaimed pianist’s upcoming performance after he premiered a piece of music and dedicated it to journalists slain in Gaza. The Australian-British pianist Jayson Gillham was scheduled to perform Mozart and Brahms at the Melbourne Town Hall on Thursday with the MSO, but Gillham’s name was removed from the MSO website on Tuesday. Read the full article

13 Aug: The trio responsible for the Wieambilla massacre believed they were “fighting alongside Jesus” in a battle of good and evil by gunning down police and a neighbour in 2022, a coronial inquest has heard. Deakin University associate professor Josh Roose testified on Tuesday that Stacey, Nathaniel and Gareth Train called their front gate “the Rubicon”, a reference to the river crossed by Julius Caesar and his army that precipitated a Roman civil war. Read the full article

13 Aug: The Philippines is the only country in the world, other than the tiny Vatican, where divorce is illegal. But this may soon change, as the nation of nearly 116 million people awaits a new piece of legislation that is expected to finally put an end to the old law. The Absolute Divorce Bill, which lays out a number of circumstances to allow divorce in a country with an 80 per cent Catholic population, was passed by the House of Representatives on 22 May and sent for further deliberation to the Senate. Read the full article

Alex O'Connor provides a pithy take on the "unthinking theological sloppiness" of Americans who believe that God guided the would-be assassin's bullets away from Donald Trump – and into a member of the crowd. What do you think? Email your comments to: editor@rationalist.com.au

James Fodor: Science communication aims to describe scientific research and findings to the general public in a persuasive and comprehensive manner. But why does the public need to know about science? Many reasons have been advanced, including the importance of science knowledge for making informed decisions regarding voting, medical treatments, diet and exercise, avoiding pseudoscience-based scams or hoaxes. However, in this essay I will argue that all such reasons should be subsidiary to the primary goal of increasing scientific knowledge and curiosity about the world for its own sake. Read the full article

Elizabeth Dangerfield: Many people are not aware of how profoundly science influences our lives, but I was made very cognisant of its value recently when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Having discovered a lump, I was able to have a Contrast-Enhanced Mammography, involving an intravenous injection of an iodine-based X-ray contrast ‘dye’. Then I had a new improved ultrasound, unaffected by breast density and which can find some cancers not seen on a mammogram. Read the full article

Konstantine Panegyres: Today, citizen science is a popular practice, with dozens of programs designed by academics to engage the public and leverage power by numbers. Its origins, however, go much farther back than you might think – all the way to ancient times. Most of us know of Aristotle (384–322 BCE) for his philosophical works, but he was also a great scientist. Read the full article

Since Voluntary Assisted Dying was legalised in Australia, over 2,460 terminally ill people have chosen this option. A report by Go Gentle Australia highlights the system's successes but calls for more trained healthcare professionals, streamlined processes, and better support for remote and First Nations communities. Listen to the episode

Matthew Sharpe: I am sympathetic with the best part of Mariana Alessandri’s Why I am not a Stoic. She offers a compelling account of her evolving stance toward this ancient philosophy which since 2010 has become extraordinarily popular. That said, as someone who has also been participated in the renewed interest in Stoicism, I thought it might be worthwhile to provide a somewhat more sympathetic reflection on the ideas of the school of Zeno of Kition, Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. Read the full article