RSA Weekly For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia
Friday 25 October 2024 Hi , While conservative Christian activists and politicians are hoping that this weekend's election will give them an opportunity to
wind back abortion and voluntary assisted dying reforms in Queensland, survey data on such issues show they're completely out of touch with the public. Neil Francis, in a piece for our Rationale magazine, writes on how Queensland no longer deserves its historical reputation as the nation’s conservative capital. Meanwhile, we've been busy advocating for secular reform of scripture
programs in public schools. See our updates about allegations of caste being taught in Hindu classes in New South Wales and calls from a Liberal MP for government funding of a Christian agency in Victoria. 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 |
| THE GUARDIAN Australians must keep up the fight for abortion rights, Jacinta Allan warns25 Oct: Jacinta Allan is warning that the battle for abortion rights must continue as
conservative forces pose “real and genuine threats to the protections women have fought for and won” amid “frightening” debate in South Australia and Queensland. Read the full article |
| CANBERRA TIMES (VIA CATHNEWS) Albanese must not rush social media ban, human rights commissioner says25 Oct: Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner has raised concerns about Labor’s
crackdown on digital platforms, warning that rushed laws to impose minimum age limits on social media could cause more harm than intended. Children aged up to 16 could be banned from accessing social media and gaming platforms next year, under legislation to be introduced before the next election. Read the full article |
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| RSA Minns government fails to respond to claims about teaching of
caste in Hindu scripture classes24 Oct: The Minns government appears to have turned a blind eye to claims that the discriminatory caste system is being taught in New South Wales public schools as part of Hindu religious classes. The state’s education minister, Prue Car, and education department have failed to respond to the Rationalist Society of Australia’s question about whether the government would investigate the allegations. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Senior Coalition women and senator Matt Canavan reject Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s abortion comments23 Oct: Senior Coalition women have rebuked Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s
comments about abortion, saying the Liberal party had “no interest in unwinding women’s reproductive rights” and saying it was an issue advanced by “fringe” politicians. Even staunchly “pro-life” colleagues of the senator would not back her comments on Wednesday. Read the full article |
| WOMEN’S AGENDAAnti-abortion activist Joanna Howe sparks outrage with ‘baby killers’ social media posts23 Oct: Joanna Howe, a key figure behind South Australia’s “forced birth” abortion legislation, has sparked
outrage by labelling prominent women as members of a “baby-killers club” on social media. The women targeted by Howe… include prominent figures like SA’s deputy premier, Susan Close, and public health professor Katina D’Onise. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN ACU to reimburse attenders and offer counselling after Joe de Bruyn’s anti-same-sex marriage speech23 Oct: The Australian Catholic University will reimburse attenders of
a graduation ceremony where Joe de Bruyn sparked a walkout with a speech denouncing abortion and same-sex marriage, as the university also revealed it had urged the former union chief to reconsider his remarks before he delivered them. Read the full
article |
| ABC Muslim students furious at Swinburne University over prayer room closure on main day of worship23 Oct: Swinburne University in Melbourne has decided to close its Hawthorn campus
prayer room on Fridays — the Muslim holy day when congregational prayers are held — forcing dozens of Muslim students to pray elsewhere. The ongoing closure of the Multi Faith Centre has sparked outrage among almost 400 members of the Swinburne Islamic Society who said it was part of a wider crackdown on their religious freedoms. Read the full article |
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| RSA Liberal MP calls for state funding of Christian scripture
group 22 Oct: A Liberal member of the Victorian Parliament has called for state government funding to boost the activities of Christian missionary agency Korus Connect, which delivers scripture classes to a rapidly declining number of school students. In a speech to parliament last week, Ann-Marie Hermans MLC said Korus Connect required “continued financial support” to help it provide Special Religious Instruction
(SRI) in public schools. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN The interview that reveals answer to abortion question David Crisafulli has dodged more than 132 times 22 Oct: Queensland’s opposition leader,
David Crisafulli, told a live audience last year “I don’t believe in late-term abortions” and promised MPs a conscience vote on the issue. The Liberal National party leader has been dogged by the issue for weeks, refusing to declare his hand on a bill which will be introduced by Katter’s Australian party next parliament. Read the full article |
| SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price wants abortion on the national agenda as debate engulfs state politics 22 Oct: Coalition senator
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price wants abortion on the national agenda, declaring pregnancies ended after the first trimester are immoral and arguing late-stage abortions were akin to infanticide. As Opposition Leader Peter Dutton sought to dodge the issue while it engulfs Queensland’s state election campaign, former prime minister Tony Abbott backed the right of Coalition members to retain a conscience vote on the matter. Read the full article |
| NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY (UK) Cross-party group of MPs back move to scrap bishops’ bench 21 Oct: A group of MPs from across the political spectrum has
announced their support for an initiative to abolish the bishops' bench. Last week, Conservative MP Gavin Williamson tabled an amendment to the Government's hereditary peers bill which would remove what he described as the "injustice" of the House of Lords seats automatically granted to 26 Church of England bishops. Read the full article |
| THE AGE Anti-abortion keynote speech sparks walkout during Catholic uni graduation 21 Oct: Former union boss Joe de Bruyn has sparked a mass walkout at a
Melbourne university graduation ceremony in response to his keynote speech opposing gay marriage and comparing abortion to the loss of life in World War II. Hundreds of Australian Catholic University students and staff filed out of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Monday during the speech by de Bruyn. Read the full article |
| SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Parents condemn plans to bring Gaza protests into the classroom 18 Oct: The Parents & Citizens Federation has condemned the plans
of some teachers to engage in a week of pro-Palestinian activism in schools, saying parents want children to learn about current affairs as “part of the curriculum, not as an in-classroom protest”. Materials circulated by Teachers and Support Staff for Palestine call for staff at public and private schools next week to show their support for Palestine and Lebanon during teaching hours. Read the full article |
| AP Oklahoma parents and teachers sue to stop top education official’s classroom Bible mandate 18 Oct: A group of Oklahoma parents of public school students,
teachers and ministers filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to stop the state’s top education official from forcing schools to incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for students in grades 5 through 12. Read the full article |
In a new podcast interview, Jordan Peterson and Richard Dawkins discuss the Virgin Birth and whether the events as depicted in the bible are physical truth claims. What do you think? Email your comments to: editor@rationalist.com.au |
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| RATIONALE Hard-won human rights in grave peril at Queensland
election Neil Francis: May Joh (Bjelke-Petersen) rest in peace. Queensland no longer deserves its historical reputation as the nation’s conservative capital. Take human rights, for example. Analysis of the Australian National University’s 2022 Australian Election Study shows that Queenslanders favour marriage equality (73 per cent) at the same rate as the national average (73 per cent). Read the full article |
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| RATIONALE Our window of opportunity to remove Christian
influence from wellbeing roles in public schools Rosemary Lynch: It is almost 20 years since the then Prime Minister John Howard unveiled funding for the National School Chaplaincy Program (NSCP) to “promote pastoral care and spiritual guidance for students”, with Christian contractors paid to employ Christians in public schools. While the role has been essentially that of a secular pastoral carer/student wellbeing
officer…the program has, for much of that time, required, without any justification, those people who fill the roles to be people “of faith”. Read the full article |
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| RATIONALE What will AI really mean for
science? Ehsan Nabavi: Artificial intelligence (AI) has taken centre stage in basic science… Indeed, many scientists – including the Nobel committees – are celebrating AI as a force for transforming science. As one of the laureates put it, AI’s potential for accelerating scientific discovery makes it “one of the most transformative technologies in human history”. But what will this transformation really mean for
science? Read the full article |
| ABC Particularly when it comes to abortion, the words we use in public debate matter Luara Ferracioli: When we refer to late-term abortion as
“infanticide”, as politicians and advocates have done in recent days, we wrong the women who had to have an abortion because of risk to their lives, or because continuing with a pregnancy was simply not in the best future interest of the foetus. Read the full article |
| THE AGE Abortion is decriminalised Australia-wide. Why the hell are we debating it again? Jacqueline Maley: The change came far too late, but it
did, eventually, come. Abortion is now decriminalised in every Australian state and territory, but if you think that means the matter is settled, you’re wrong. The extraordinary success of the anti-abortion movement in the United States – where abortion bans now exist in 21 states – has clearly emboldened opportunistic local politicians. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN The American evangelicals ‘deconstructing’ their religion to save it Cheyenne McNeill: The term deconstruction has risen in
popularity in recent years, particularly in evangelical Christian circles. It describes a process in which people strip back and challenge the core of their religious beliefs, often because their values are in conflict with those of their church. Read the full article |
| AP (AUSTRALIAN PRESBYTERIAN) Does the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship have a better story? David Robertson: It is clear that ARC sees
itself as the antidote to cultural Marxism. Can I make the humble suggestion that, if it is to be so, then it needs to adopt cultural Christianity as its unifying narrative… The cultural Marxists really do believe in the ideology they are seeking to promote in their ‘long march through the institutions’. Instead of a long march through the institutions, we need a Christianity which is salt and light that pervades all of our institutions. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN The Satanic Temple is taking on the Christian right. It’s fun to watch Arwa Mahdawi: The devil works hard, but the Republican party
works harder. Not a day seems to go by without anti-abortion zealots on the right advancing some cunning new plan to strip women of their bodily autonomy… Amid this hellscape, help may be at hand from a somewhat unlikely source: Satan. Or, to be more accurate – and since the devil is in the details – the Satanic Temple. Read the full article |
| ABC RADIO Why Mormon voters play a vital role in swing states One group that's been the focus of Kamala Harris' campaign are the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints — also known as the Mormons. So why is it notable that the Democrats are targeting this religious group? Listen to the full episode |
| ABC The exponential imagination of Elon Musk Nicholas Agar: The story of Elon Musk, as told by the Economist, is about how the world’s
richest person keeps getting richer. The magazine offers no theory about precisely what sets Musk apart from other tech innovators, but the market valuations of his companies speak for themselves. In a messianic pivot, however, the Economist cautions doubters of Musk’s “nerdy bravura” and his plans for space to “contemplate the sky above their heads. Read the full article |
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