RSA Weekly For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia
Saturday 29 March 2025 Hi , According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, religious organisations had a “strong desire” for the ABS to keep the Census religion question – that one that assumes all
respondents have a religion. Never mind that the public overwhelmingly called for the ABS to remove the bias from the question. Never mind that elected representatives in parliaments and local councils across the country, along with policy-makers and researchers, need accurate religious affiliation data. This week, we reported on the response that we received from the head of the ABS,
David Gruen, about his agency’s controversial decision to continue using the biased religion question for the 2026 Census. According to him, providing religious organisations with comparable data (that could be compared with past censuses) was “a significant enough consideration” not to change the question. If you'd like to share your thoughts about articles in the RSA Weekly,
email me on sigladman@rationalist.com.au. Si Gladman Executive Director, Rationalist Society of Australia |
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| RSA NSW Labor government backs Liberal-National MPs in praise of
scripture program27 Mar: The Minns government has joined with Liberal and National MPs in praising the religious indoctrination program that segregates children in New South Wales’ public schools, as some speakers in a parliamentary debate also attacked the Victorian government’s policy on scripture. In the New South Wales Legislative Council last week, Liberal Party member Rachel Merton introduced a motion that recognised the “long and
proud history” of the Special Religious Education (SRE) program. Read the full article |
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| RSA Religious groups had “strong desire” to keep Census religion
question, says ABS25 Mar: The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has defended its decision to continue using a biased question on religious affiliation in the Census, saying that providing religious organisations with comparable data was “a significant enough consideration” to keep the question. In a letter to the Rationalist Society of Australia, the Australian Statistician, Dr David Gruen, said there was a “strong desire” from
religious organisations for the ABS not to change the religious affiliation question. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Muslim groups reject push for new Islamophobia definition at Australian universities 28 Mar: A coalition of Muslim and Palestinian
organisations have rejected a push by universities to adopt a new definition of Islamophobia, arguing it would “shield” the institutions from criticism of their contentious new antisemitism definition, and that a unified standard that rejects all racism is what is needed. Read the full article |
| 7NEWS SA man faces possible life sentence if convicted of sacrilege over church break-in 26 Mar: In its report about the case of a South Australian man
being charged with sacrilege offences for allegedly breaking into a church, 7News has highlighted the advocacy work of the Rationalist Society of Australia in calling on the state to abolish its sacrilege and blasphemy laws. Read the full article |
| PEW RESEARCH Around the World, Many People Are Leaving Their Childhood Religions 26 Mar: In many countries around the world, a fifth or more of all adults
have left the religious group in which they were raised. Christianity and Buddhism have experienced especially large losses from this “religious switching,” while rising numbers of adults have no religious affiliation, according to Pew Research Center surveys of nearly 80,000 people in 36 countries. Read the full article |
| NEWS Cops forcibly remove Canadian from Brisbane 26 Mar: A Canadian anti-gender ideology activist recently invited to the White House was involved in a
stand-off with police during an incident in Brisbane this week. “Billboard Chris” was last month at the White House to witness Donald Trump’s signing of an executive order seeking to ban trans people from playing in women’s sport. On Tuesday he turned up at Brisbane’s Queen St mall wearing a sandwich board reading “Children Cannot Consent to Puberty Blockers”. Read the full article |
| NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY (UK) NSS to UN: end ritual genital cutting of children 26 Mar: The National Secular Society has called for all children to be
protected from forced genital cutting at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). This year's HRC meeting on the rights of the child focussed on "core" child right principles, including "participation" and the "best interests of the child". In a written statement, the NSS said ritual genital cutting of children is "entirely at odds" with these core principles. Read the full article |
| SBS Security funding for Jewish, Muslim worship sites in $178m social cohesion package 25 Mar: The Albanese government is set to spend $178.4 million over
the next five years to improve social cohesion, with funding for Australia’s Jewish and other multicultural communities. Unveiled in Tuesday’s federal budget is new funding for security in places of worship for Jewish and Muslim communities. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN CSIRO sent questions from Trump administration asking if it is taking ‘appropriate measures’ against gender ideology 25 Mar: The Australian
government’s scientific agency has joined more than a dozen universities in being sent a questionnaire from the Trump administration asking to confirm whether it aligns with US government interests. Among the questions, the Trump administration demands to know what impacts projects have on “combatting Christian prosecution”. Read the full article |
| BBC Japan court dissolves controversial 'Moonies' church 25 Mar: A court in Japan has ordered the disbandment of the controversial Unification Church,
which came under scrutiny after the shock killing of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022. The alleged assassin had confessed that he held a grievance against Abe because of the ex-leader's ties with the church. Read the full article |
| RFI French Catholic church sex abuse: nearly 1,600 compensation claims since 2022 25 Mar: Nearly 1,600 victims of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church
have approached the National Independent Instance for Recognition and Reparation (Inirr) since 2022, according to a report unveiled on Tuesday. Read the full article |
| BBC Teenage Afghan girls were banned from school – now these classes are their only option 25 Mar: Madrassas – religious centres focused on Islamic teachings
– have become the only way for many women and teenage girls to access education. However, those whose families can afford private tuition may still have access to subjects including maths, science and languages. Read the full article |
| SBS Peter Dutton pledges millions for Australia's first Hindu school after Labor commitment 23 Mar: Australia is likely to get its first Hindu school
regardless of which major party wins the federal election, with the Coalition vowing to spend millions on the project after Labor said it would support the move. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on Sunday said the Coalition, if elected, would commit $8.5 million toward the faith-based school. Read the full article |
| ABC Gillian White used Voluntary Assisted Dying, but others face barriers 23 Mar: Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) is now available in all Australian states,
for those who meet strict criteria. It remains illegal in the Northern Territory, while the Australian Capital Territory will start in November this year. But recent reviews of Western Australian and Victorian laws found barriers still prevented access to VAD in some cases, and community awareness about the process was generally low. Read the full article |
| WESTERN STANDARD (CANADA) Tories launch petition against charitable tax status slash for churches, religious organizations 19 Mar: Pierre Poilievre’s
Conservatives have launched a petition against the finance committee’s recommendation to revoke tax-exempt status for the “advancement of religion.” The federal government’s Standing Committee on Finance quietly recommended removing charitable tax status for churches and religious and pro-life organizations in Canada. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Five Coalition senators billed taxpayers $10k to attend conservative conference CPAC 16 Mar: Coalition senators who addressed last year’s
Australian Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) billed taxpayers thousands of dollars in flights, accommodation and car expenses on the weekend of the event. Politicians are permitted to charge taxpayers for travel expenses if the dominant purpose is parliamentary business. Read the full article |
According to Liberal and National MPs, the Special Religious Education (SRE) program in New South Wales does not indoctrinate but teaches values and morals, and allows children to think about questions that science and mathematics can’t answer, such as how the world and how mankind were “created”. What do you think? Email your comments to:
sigladman@rationalist.com.au |
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| RATIONALE The electoral opportunity in our housing
affordability crisis David James: As the federal election looms, there is an extraordinary silence about an issue that has profoundly distorted Australian society, dividing older and younger generations. That issue is outrageously high property prices. The major political parties have for the last two decades half heartedly proposed failed policies, such as first-home buyers grants. But there has been no serious
attempt to address the underlying causes. Read the full article |
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| RATIONALE Behavioural science helps explain why we miss
autocratic red flags Ralph Hertwig: What is prompting so many Europeans to turn away from a political system that has successfully rebuilt the continent after the second world war and transformed it into the world’s most prosperous single market? The reasons are manifold, ranging from economic crises and rising inequality to the negative impact of social media on political behaviour and breaches of democratic norms
by elites. But there is another driver that is rarely discussed: the power of personal experience. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION With billions in ‘profit’ exempt from tax, changes to NZ’s charity rules are long overdue Ranjana Gupta: The profit made on
every breakfast bowl of weet-bix is tax exempt, giving Sanitarium Health Food Company, owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an advantage over other breakfast food companies. But this could be about to change. Under current rules, New Zealand’s charities are allowed to run businesses as long as the profits are not for personal gain. This means the government gives up millions in tax revenue from charities across the government. Read the full article |
| PEARLS & IRRITATIONS The Australian: tool of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship? Lucy Hamilton: ARC is one of the conference circuits
that conveys, broadly-speaking, National Conservatism (NatCon) ideology. Like NatCon itself, ARC feigns intellectual credibility for its messaging. NatCon is a form of nationalism where religion acts as a placeholder for “race”. Christian Nationalists fight alongside Israeli-Jewish and Hindutva nationalists for their ethnostates. Religion is intended to pervade government, whether culturally or as an unfalsifiable justification for policy built on prejudice. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Donald Trump’s ‘war on woke’ is fast becoming a war on science. That’s incredibly dangerous Christina Pagel: This total “war on
woke” (more accurately: “fight against fairness”) is happening in the UK as well as the US. These attacks are rooted in wilful distortions of what DEI is all about. There are two big lies that need to be nailed. The first is that diversity and inclusion initiatives compromise the quality of employees by selecting incompetent candidates because of their minority group membership. The second is that DEI is a distraction that holds back success. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN ‘I’ve been getting 100 messages a day’: Church of Scientology accused of intimidating UK critics Shanti Dias: Alex Barnes-Ross, a
marketing director from east London, regularly posts YouTube videos criticising Scientology. In some of them, the former Scientologist, 29, describes his experience of joining aged 15 and becoming its London director of book sales. In others, he talks about his mental health struggles after signing a “billion-year” contract devoting himself to the organisation – only to be kicked out a few years later, labelled a “potential trouble source”. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN The new definition of antisemitism is transforming America – and serving a Christian nationalist plan Itamar Mann and Lihi Yona:
Something unprecedented – and deeply unsettling – is unfolding: under the guise of a legal redefinition of antisemitism, the basic architecture of American public life is being radically transformed. What appears, at first glance, to be a technical change in terminology has become a powerful instrument for political control, solidifying executive power to enforce a narrow, state-sanctioned definition of Judaism. Read the full article |
| FREETHINKER Can Christianity Save Atheism? On Žižek’s Christian Atheism Cringe Ralph Leonar: In recent years, there have been efforts to kindle
a revival of peculiar forms of Christianity. Many factions across the spectrum have their own versions of this. You have the trad right who wish to restore Christianity politically in order to save the West… Then you have the strange ‘New Theist’ phenomenon of disenchanted secular commentators and influencers who have taken an interest in the (supposedly) Christian foundations of Western civilisation and have suddenly started performing a Christian identity as the best response to the ‘crisis of
meaning’ in modern society. Read the full article |
| ABC What happens when Muslims are made to feel like strangers in their own country? Jyhene Kebsi: The aggression promised in each threat has the
intended effect of terrorising and instilling fear among Muslim Australians and immigrants from Muslim backgrounds. The three threats are driven by the misleading goal of fighting the impending Islamic “takeover” of Australia. Their hate speech justifies hate crimes against Muslims. Read the full article |
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