RSA Weekly: Saturday 14 December

Published: Sat, 12/14/24

Updated: Sat, 12/14/24

RSA Weekly

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia
Saturday 14 December 2024

Hi ,

With new figures showing the continued rapid rise of Defence personnel identifying as not religious (see article 3, below), we will step up our advocacy for secular reform of Defence’s frontline religious-based chaplaincy capability.

The failure of the Army and Air Force to provide a non-religious pastoral care option for their workforces is one of the examples of discrimination against non-religious Australians that we have raised with the Australian Human Rights Commission (see article 2).

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

Si Gladman

Executive Director,

Rationalist Society of Australia

News from the RSA

RSA

Sydney council set to debate prayer issue
14 Dec: The City of Sydney will consider a proposal to review its practice of opening formal council meetings with prayers. At Monday’s general council meeting at Sydney Town Hall, Councillor Matthew Thompson will present a motion requesting that council undertake a process of community engagement to understand views on the practice of reciting prayers. Read the full article

RSA

National human rights body won’t investigate discrimination against non-religious Australians
13 Dec: The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has turned down a request for it to look into “unjustifiable discrimination” against non-religious Australians in public institutions and in the public sphere. In a letter to the AHRC last month, the Rationalist Society of Australia highlighted a number of examples of discrimination against non-religious people and asked that the commission investigate or conduct further research. Read the full article

RSA

‘No religion’ continues to surge in Australian Defence Force
10 Dec: Christian affiliation has continued to plummet in the Australian Defence Force as the proportion of service personnel identifying as not religious has surged, according to official Defence data released today. More than six out of 10 personnel in the permanent Defence Force now identify as not religious, yet Defence continues to deny most of them suitable secular frontline wellbeing and pastoral support. Read the full article

News from elsewhere

SMH

Broke and desperate for cash, North Sydney Council asks top private schools to pay voluntary rates

14 Dec: A cash-strapped local council will ask some of Sydney’s wealthiest private schools to pay voluntary rates in a bid to raise $1 million in extra revenue. North Sydney councillors voted on Monday night to request private schools and a university in its area pay optional rates, or an “in-kind contribution”, on their property holdings. Read the full article

THE AUSTRALIAN (VIA CATHNEWS)

Senator wants hate speech bill expanded to protect places of worship
13 Dec: Liberal senator Paul Scarr has called for Labor’s hate speech bill to be expanded to create an offence of “urging or threatening” an attack on a place of worship, amid a surge in anti-Semitism. A Senate committee scrutinising the legislation has recommended the Parliament pass the legislation when it returns in February. Read the full article

THE AUSTRALIAN (VIA CATHNEWS)

Albanese’s emotional plea for national unity to end ‘evil’ of anti-Semitism
12 Dec: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has issued an emotional plea for national unity to end the “evil” of anti-Semitism after a fresh hate crime in Sydney. He also defended his Government against claims its hard-line stance on Israel had encouraged attacks on Australian Jews. Read the full article

CANBERRA TIMES

Threatened closure of Queanbeyan abortion clinic 'concerning': ACT government
11 Dec: An abortion clinic in Queanbeyan is under threat of closure because of the ACT government's policy of offering free abortions to residents of Canberra. Read the full article

THE GUARDIAN

Albanese calls for protest ban outside places of worship as critics warn against ‘kneejerk reactions’
11 Dec: Anthony Albanese says protests should be banned outside places of worship like synagogues and churches, claiming such demonstrations cause “division”. The prime minister gave his strongest denunciation yet of antisemitism on Wednesday following anti-Israel vandalism in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Read the full article

THE GUARDIAN

Queensland parliament passes ‘unprecedented’ gag on abortion debate
10 Dec: The Queensland parliament has been banned from debate on abortion for four years after an ambush motion by the premier, David Crisafulli, in a move labelled “unprecedented”. The motion also requires any “motion or amendment” seeking to have the house “express its views” on abortion be ruled out of order. Read the full article

ABC

Anthony Albanese vows to financially support rebuilding of Adass Israel Synagogue
10 Dec: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has vowed to help rebuild the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne during a sometimes chaotic visit to the scene of Friday's arson attack. He committed his government to "doing what we need to do to restore this synagogue, including providing whatever support is necessary financially". Read the full article

THE AUSTRALIAN (VIA CATHNEWS)

Governments move to protect places of worship from protests
10 Dec: Australia’s three largest states are poised to introduce laws protecting places of worship from intimidatory protests as both levels of government scrambled to react to Friday’s terrorist attack on a Melbourne synagogue. Read the full article

CATHOLIC WEEKLY

Pro-life summit a “resounding” success

5 Dec: The decades’ long campaign to make abortion unthinkable is gaining momentum after the inaugural National Life Summit was held in Sydney. The day-long summit hosted by pro-life advocate Joanna Howe brought together 300 other advocates and activists, political leaders and community representatives. Read the full article

RADIO NZ

Tax changes for charities to be announced in next Budget

3 Dec: Seventh-Day Adventist-owned cereal maker Sanitarium’s tax exemptions could be in the firing line in New Zealand next year after the government announced it would be looking to close tax loopholes for charities. Read the full article

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Opinion / Analysis

RATIONALE

Most parents at religious schools don’t want to discriminate against LGBT staff or students

Neil Francis: Australian religious school leaders commonly claim their schools’ parents expect or support discrimination against LGBT staff or students. New research indicates most parents don’t. Contrary to common claims, most religious-school parents — even “very” religious parents — are naturally allied with discrimination-busting law reform. Read the full article

RATIONALE

Can reason survive in a sea of emotion?

Elizabeth Dangerfield: We are facing the growing challenge of how to respond incisively and effectively to curb the movements away from rational thought and towards beliefs and actions driven by raw emotions. Do we simply keep behaving in a rational way and hope that reason will prevail? Read the full article

THE FREETHINKER (UK)

The problem with ‘Islamophobia’

Mark Lilly: The new Labour government, according to all reliable political sources, was until recently planning to adopt and enshrine in the criminal law a definition of ‘Islamophobia’ which is intended to penalize ‘hate speech’ and extend to an unwonted degree the increasing shackles on free speech so characteristic of intolerant wokery. Read the full article

THE CONVERSATION

The human right to science is 76 years old. It’s a reminder for us all to be more curious

Sujatha Raman and Brian Schmidt: Signed exactly 76 years ago today, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the world’s most translated document. It is widely acknowledged as the foundation of international human rights work, not just in legal settings but in wider civil society. But few know that among the many social and political freedoms defined by the declaration is a human right to science. Read the full article

THE CONVERSATION

When you’re having a tough conversation about medicine, don’t just pile on evidence

John Rovers and David Higgins: Conversations about vaccines can spark intense debates, leading only to frustration and misunderstanding. As a pediatrician and a pharmacist who research vaccines and vaccine hesitancy, we believe these conversations are often nonproductive for one simple reason: human decision-making is not purely rational. Read the full article

THE CONVERSATION

Why the religious beliefs of Trump defense pick Pete Hegseth matter

Julie Ingersoll: In 2023, Hegseth moved from New Jersey to Tennessee to join a church and school community that arises from a 20th-century movement, called Christian Reconstruction. It holds deeply conservative views about the family, roles for women, and how religion and politics are related. The followers of the movement seek to make America a Christian nation, by which they mean a nation built on biblical law, including its prohibitions and punishments. Read the full article

THE FREETHINKER (UK)

Time for the morally deficient Church of England to be stripped of its privileges

Stephen Evans: As the long shadow of clerical abuse and the Church’s appalling mishandling of it continues to traumatise victims, the argument for Anglican bishops to lose their automatic seats in the House of Lords and for the Church of England to be disestablished has never been more pressing. Read the full article

WHY EVOLUTION IS TRUE

Sam Harris is still explaining why religion is bad

Every once in a while Sam Harris, who must be overwhelmed with his writing on Substack, his podcast, and his complex meditation site, gets back to what brought him public notice: criticism of religion. Read the full article

ABC RADIO

A cynics guide to unbelief

When Sita Walker realised the Bahá’í faith she was brought up with no longer fit into her life, she went looking for something else to fill the void. As part of the latest issue of The Griffith Review, her essay ‘A Cynics Guide to Unbelief’ unpacks her surprising find. Listen to the full article

ABC RADIO

How cultural diversity has become the backbone of Australia's Christianity

If you visit a church this Christmas, you’ll soon realise how Australians of non-European background have become the backbone of 21st-century Christianity. Listen to the full article

THE CONVERSATION

It’s not just churches: why closed communities like sport and youth groups can harbour abuse

Ian Mahoney and Kirsty Teague: The resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury has returned the spotlight to the permacrisis of abuse in religious communities. Welby resigned after an independent review found the Church of England had covered up serial abuse by John Smyth QC. Read the full article

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