RSA Weekly For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia
Friday 6 September 2024 Hi , With the Albanese government having ditched its plan to remove religious exemptions from federal anti-discrimination laws, it's
now over to states to address the issue in their own jurisdictions. In South Australia, one upper house member of parliament, Robert Simms, has put forward his own bill and called on Premier Peter Malinauskas to show leadership on the issue. We've been lobbying the South Australian government on this for some time. See the article below. 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. Si Gladman Executive Director, Rationalist Society of Australia |
| ABC Religious group members accused of Elizabeth Struhs's death tell court they believe she will be resurrected 6 Sep: Multiple members
of a religious group charged over the death of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs have told a court she will be resurrected and will rise again, more than two years after her death. The 14 accused members of the religious group are representing themselves in the Supreme Court in Brisbane, and today began giving closing addresses in the trial. Read the full article |
| THE AUSTRALIAN (VIA CATH NEWS) Coalition accuses Albanese of interfering with next census 6 Sep: The Coalition is accusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of
inappropriately interfering with the next census, revealing it will pursue the Government during the next parliamentary sitting over its mishandling of the issue. Senator Dean Smith has also called for clarity on the status of questions regarding religious affiliation, shared care of children, ethnic identity, housing energy use and the impact of natural disasters. Read the full article |
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| RSA Simms calls on Malinauskas to show leadership and remove South
Australia’s religious exemptions to discrimination laws5 Sep: A member of the South Australian upper house has called on Premier Peter Malinauskas to show “real leadership” and end religious-based discrimination against LGBTIQ people in faith-based institutions. Last week, Greens member Robert Simms introduced his Equal Opportunity (Religious Bodies) Amendment Bill into the Legislative Council, proposing to remove exemptions provided to
religious bodies such as schools and service providers. Read the full article |
| THE AUSTRALIAN (VIA CATH NEWS) Queensland religious leaders sound alarm over harassment laws 5 Sep: A coalition of Queensland’s religious leaders says the
Miles Government’s proposed overhaul of workplace sexual harassment laws could force faith-based institutions to teach against their beliefs on sexuality and gender. Planned law changes introduce a ban on creating a work environment that is “hostile on the basis of sex”, which church groups believe could leave them vulnerable to legal action. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Ireland to set up inquiry into sexual abuse at schools run by religious orders 4 Sep: The Irish government is to set up a statutory commission
of inquiry into sexual abuse at schools run by Catholic religious orders after a preliminary investigation found almost 2,400 allegations of historic abuse. The investigation, led by a leading barrister, Mary O’Toole, documented 844 alleged abusers in 308 schools run by 42 religious orders across the Republic of Ireland. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Trump says maybe God saved him from assassination attempt to fix ‘broken country’ 3 Sep: Donald Trump told a Fox News host that he thinks God
believes he will “straighten out” the country after he survived an assassination attempt in July at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. In recent months the former US president and current Republican presidential candidate has increasingly sought to mobilise his religious base and some of its most extreme elements – such as Christian nationalists. Read the full article |
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| RSA Scripture Union video promotes proselytising in New South Wales
public school 2 Sep: The Rationalist Society of Australia is seeking answers from New South Wales education minister Prue Car about a Christian group’s promotion of proselytising in a public school. In June, Scripture Union published a video on its social media in which two senior students talk about how they urge other students, including non-Christians, to take part in lunchtime religious activities. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Muslim groups to campaign on gambling and domestic violence in lead-up to Australian election 2 Sep: A political advocacy group seeking to
mobilise Muslim Australians before the next election says it will elevate the community’s voice on non-faith issues including gambling and domestic violence, alongside Israel’s war in Gaza. On Sunday afternoon Muslim Votes Matter, a new grassroots group, launched its national campaign in the lead-up to next year’s federal election at the Broadmeadows town hall, in the federal seat of Calwell, where it plans to back candidates. Read the full article |
| ABC Draft sexuality and gender identity census questions 'weren't appropriate', prime minister says 1 Sep: The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the
federal government told the Australian Bureau of Statistics to cancel testing on new census questions canvassing sexuality, gender identity and intersex status because they "weren't appropriate". The revelation comes almost a week after the government quietly confirmed it would not include the questions in the next census, despite it forming part of Labor's national platform. Read the full article |
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| RSA RSA questions Albanese government over cost of supporting Pope’s
visit to Papua New Guinea 31 Aug: The Rationalist Society of Australia is seeking answers from the Albanese government over how much it will cost Australian taxpayers to ferry Pope Francis around Papua New Guinea (PNG). According to a PNG media report, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) will fly Pope Francis between Port Moresby and Vanimo in PNG on 8 September so that the Pope can attend religious services.
Read the full article |
| BENDIGO ADVERTISER No charges against religious parents over baby's death 31 Aug: The religious parents of a baby who died of malnutrition because they
believed their faith would save him, rather medical intervention, will not be charged over his death. The two-and-a-half week old baby boy, died on 17 January 2022 after his parents chose not to seek medical assistance despite appearing blue in colour, weak and underweight in the days leading to his death. Read the full article |
| PEW RESEARCH CENTRE Many around the globe say it’s important their leader stands up for people’s religious beliefs 28 Aug: Only 23 per cent of Australians
want the leader of their country to have “strong religious beliefs”, new research shows. The Pew Research Centre survey shows that, in other countries, such as Indonesia and Philippines, large majorities want their leaders to have strong religious beliefs. Read the full article |
| THE INDEPENDENT Taliban rejects UN concerns over laws banning women's voices and bare faces in public 27 Aug: The Taliban on Monday rejected concerns and
criticism of the United Nations over new vice and virtue laws which ban women in Afghanistan from baring their faces and speaking in public places. Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the U.N. mission in the country, UNAMA, said Sunday the laws provided a “distressing vision” for Afghanistan’s future. Read the full article |
Philosopher Alex O'Connor and Professor John Vervaeke discuss finding meaning in a secular age at the Dissident Dialogues event earlier this year in New York. What do you think? Email your comments to: editor@rationalist.com.au |
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| RATIONALE Andrew Leigh’s rose-coloured religious
glasses Si Gladman: Andrew Leigh, who grew up in a religious family, may now be a self-described atheist, but he views religion through rose-coloured glasses. As he toured the country to discuss his ambitions for boosting philanthropy in recent years, the assistant minister for charities often quoted American social scientist Robert Putnam – to whom Dr Leigh was once an understudy – in claiming that being religious
and going to church simply made people “nicer”. Read the full article |
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| RATIONALE Proposed mis- and disinformation laws need to have
clearer definitions Lorraine Finlay: Dealing with misinformation and disinformation, particularly in political debate, is something that has perplexed governments around the world. How do we make sure people are not being misled – deliberately or otherwise – while safeguarding freedom of speech? There can be no doubt about the urgency of the issue. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION For God and country: why the choice of next US president is a religious choice, too Robyn J. Whitaker: Americans face a stark
choice this November between two very different political visions. As I watched the recent Democratic National Convention (DNC), it struck me that it is also a choice between two very different kinds of Christianity. Read the full article |
| CRIKEY Mezze, juice and calls for unity: Muslim Votes Matter campaign kicks off Shakira Hussein: The horrorscape of Gaza loomed large over the
gathering in Broadmeadows, yet the mood was upbeat and optimistic. The CEO of Muslim Women Australia Maha Abdo described the launch as a development which she and other leaders had dreamt of for many years. The community was finally ready to flex its political muscle. Read the full article |
| CRIKEY Census debacle shows Labor has made Dutton a de facto member of cabinet Bernard Keane: When opposition leader, Anthony Albanese liked to
respond to media demands for Labor policy by pointing out that Labor had, in fact, lost the previous election and therefore had to revamp its policies, so he wouldn’t be committing to anything at that point. It was a nice line, but since becoming prime minister, his government has often given the impression it still thinks it lost the last election. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN ‘Togetherness in our diversity’: Pope Francis preaches unity at south-east Asia’s largest mosque Ahmad Pathoni: When Pope Francis
stepped on to the hallowed grounds of the Istiqlal mosque in the Indonesian capital on Thursday, he marked a historic moment in his quest to bridge the divides between the world’s major religions. Read the full article |
| ABC The new “Satanic Panic”? Responding ethically to online anxiety over the devil and all his works Jay Daniel Thompson: Over the last eight
years, the spectre of Satan has haunted many online conspiracy theories. So are we, in fact, witnessing the return of the “Satanic Panic”? How can media consumers and producers respond to allegations of Satanism without maligning proponents or perpetuating the harms inherent within this rhetoric? Read the
full article |
| UNHERD The illusion of a pagan West: Modernity has descended into a spiritual void Paul Kingsnorth: Inside the Colosseum, in central Rome,
stands a giant cross. Erected in 2000 by Pope John Paul II to commemorate the thousands of Christians martyred there, it’s not what you might expect to see on visiting the building once known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, named for the Imperial dynasty which built it. Read the full article |
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