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.

20 Sep: Fundamentalist Christian sect the Exclusive Brethren has amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in its tax-free charities at the same time as private companies run by the family of the church’s supreme leader have made millions from COVID contracts. Recently released financial records... reveal, in particular, a massive boost from the pandemic for its leaders’ private business and the central role of one its charities. Read the full article

18 Sep: The New South Wales government has re-confirmed that it is committed to allowing the controversial Special Religious Education program to continue taking up precious learning time in public schools. At the budget estimates hearing in August, education minister and Deputy Premier Prue Car told the Legislative Council’s Education and Early Learning Committee that the Labor government had no plans to make changes to the program. Read the full article

18 Sep: The Northern Territory’s new Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro says restoring the right to euthanasia in the NT is “not a priority” for her new Country Liberal Party government. An independent report on VAD in the Territory was handed to the previous Labor government in July, finding “overwhelming” community support for the return of assisted dying laws in the NT. Read the full article

18 Sep: In perhaps his most dramatic intervention into US politics, Pope Francis has called the contest between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump a choice between two evils. Criticising the vice president for supporting abortion rights and the former president for attacking undocumented immigrants, Francis told American Catholic voters to search their conscience when deciding how to vote. Listen to the episode

16 Sep: The required observation of Christian prayers as part of the Tasmanian Parliament’s daily proceedings is “reflective of the expectations of the broader community”, the state’s Opposition Leader has told the RSA. In a letter, Dean Winter... said Labor viewed the prayer practice as “an important mark of respect to the Christian faith”. Read the full article

16 Sep: A vote to introduce assisted dying across the UK could be imminent after Downing Street reiterated that it would not obstruct a private member’s bill on the issue and indicated it would support an MP in drafting it. However, while polling shows that a majority of the public support legalising support for terminally ill people who wish to end their lives, the issue could cause serious divisions across parties, with opinion heavily divided. Read the full article

13 Sep: The Western Australian government says it will not introduce promised legislation to ban gay conversion therapy before next year's state election. In 2022, the then Mark McGowan-led Labor government promised to introduce laws to ban the practice bringing it into line with most other states. The Attorney General John Quigley's office has conceded "there will not be enough time" to introduce legislation before the March poll. Read the full article

12 Sep: Michelle Pearse, the CEO of the Australian Christian Lobby, says the lobby group has a mission to see the integration of Christian values into public policy. "Our nation so desperately needs [Christian values] right now." Read the full article

11 Sep: Victorian Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board Chair Julian Gardner has expressed concern about the sustainability of the program because of a shortage of VAD practitioners. “We are concerned about the ongoing sustainability of the program given that the data shows there are only seven medical practitioners trained to provide voluntary assisted dying per 100,000 adults in Victoria." Read the full article

11 Sep: Conversion practices aiming to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity are set to be banned in South Australia. Under proposed laws set to be introduced to the state parliament this week, perpetrators who cause serious harm to their victim face up to five years in jail. Read the full article

Opinion / Analysis

Paul Monk: Most of you will be aware of the acronym ‘SAD’, standing for the Standard American Diet. Yes?  That diet, since the Second World War and at an accelerating rate since the 1990s, has been sugar-loaded and high on processed carbohydrates. Fat was bad, and energy comes from carbohydrates, Americans were exhorted to believe. The consequences of this diet have been catastrophic and are spiralling out of control. Read the full article

Thorsten Botz-Bornstein: Cultural Christians tend to list qualities like respect for the individual, loyalty, or self-control as core Christian values that they still believe in. However, beyond the fact that such values can be found in practically any religion, these cultural principles have reached most of us in already highly secularized forms. Human rights and equality are secular ideas. Read the full article

Nicholas E. Meyer: Much of the philosophical and religious thought that may very loosely be categorised as ‘Eastern’ endeavours to show people how to ‘liberate themselves’ both from the ego and from step-by-logical-step thinking. This is a deliberate abdication of precisely our most valuable attributes. Read the full article

Sacha Payne: Exact numbers are difficult to pinpoint. But figures compiled for the Sydney Home Education Network, using the most recently available data from state and territory regulators, suggests there are more than 43,000 students registered for homeschooling across the country. That's more than double the number registered in 2018. Read the full article

David Furse-Roberts: This month an icon and veteran of New South Wales politics entered his tenth decade, little more than a year after completing a near record parliamentary term. For more than forty-one years, the former Congregational Minister and seasoned “morals crusader”, the Reverend Fred Nile, has been a fixture on the red leather of the NSW Legislative Council. Read the full article

Siobhan Marin and Andrew West: In 1970, 88 per cent of Christian missionaries came from Northern America and Europe. Today, that figure sits at just 53 per cent. The remaining 47 per cent is made up of missionaries from the Global South, with many coming from Brazil, South Korea, the Philippines and China. Read the full article

In 1791 America built a wall. The first amendment to the constitution banned the establishment of a national religion and protected freedom of worship: Thomas Jefferson called it a “wall of separation between church and state”. But there were always cracks. Read the full article