Opinion / Analysis

Si Gladman: In the Australian Defence Force, there’s an oft-repeated line about the role that religious chaplains play. You hear it from chiefs at Senate estimates, in letters from government ministers, and in comments by chaplains themselves. And it goes something like this: “Chaplains support people from all religions and also people of no faith.” The problem is: it’s a myth. Read the full article

Chris Fotinopoulos: I suspect that there would be far greater respect for inter-faith initiatives if religious leaders recognised the capacity for humans to do good without god’s guiding hand. Religious leaders tend to gloss over this facet of faith by focusing on the capacity for religion to change the world through compassion, humility, love and peace. Read the full article

Nigel Sinnott: The trouble with ‘Islamophobia’ is that the term conflates two things: (1) dislike of or disbelief in the tenets of Islam (the religion); and (2) fear of, or dislike of, people just because they are Muslims. I have no problem with 1, as it applies to me; but 2 is clearly unethical.We need separate terms for each meaning. Read the full Letters column

Denitsa Dineva: Without professional factcheckers, the prevalence of false or misleading content will probably rise. Community-driven moderation may be inclusive and decentralised, but it has its limitations. Read the full article

Stephen Evans: Charlie Hebdo's defiance serves as a powerful testament to the enduring spirit of free expression, and as an example to us all. Before the mass murder at its office, Charlie Hebdo stood, as it does today, as a principled defender of freedom of speech, provoking and challenging us all to embrace some of the uncomfortable truths of our world. Read the full article

Kim Willsher: Ten years on from the Islamist terrorist attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, France will ask: “Are we all still Charlie?” The #JeSuisCharlie hashtag spread around the world in January 2015 after brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi stormed the paper’s offices killing 11 people in retaliation for it printing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. Read the full article

Raphael Rashid: In both South Korea and the US, similar tactics have been observed: questioning election integrity, claiming moral authority through religious values, and portraying political opponents as enemies of the state. The unlikely links between the movements can be traced back to the rise in evangelical Protestant churches in South Korea, which form the backbone of Yoon’s most ardent support base. Read the full article

David B. Parker: The best way to understand Griswold’s mythic insertion of “so help me God” into the presidential oath is through the lens of Christian nationalism. While the phrase is relatively new, Christian nationalism itself has been around for a long time. Read the full article

Steven Roberts and Stephanie Wescott: Understanding the appeal of figures like Andrew Tate requires moving beyond surface-level explanations that blame feminist discourse for alienating boys and young men. Instead, it’s crucial to recognise how these figures exploit genuine economic and social anxieties by offering regressive narratives that reinforce unequal gender power structures. Read the full article

John H Howard: At the heart of these concerns is a consistent critique of Australia’s science, research and innovation system—one that, despite substantial investments in science and research, has failed to achieve the necessary breakthroughs or scale to maintain a globally competitive position. Read the full article

Ika Trijsburg and John Richardson: The 21st century is the age of disinformation. Yet again we’ve seen the potential impact of disinformation on the political winds of elections, but another storm of disinformation is brewing – when it comes to disasters. Read the full article

Peter Atkins: I am driven by the thought that science is the only way to acquire true understanding, and I find it regrettable that many people don’t think that and argue against it. And so I think one of the reasons I started writing books for the general public was to propagate my own vision and therefore take part in debates and discussions and promote the beauty of scientific understanding. Read the full article

Denise Shrivell: As we step into the Australian election year of 2025—and with the global political environment becoming increasingly volatile—it’s timely to make the case for why now is the time to engage with our politics, and how you can get started. Read the full article

Charles Barbour: Way back in September 2015, the controversial engineer, entrepreneur and Silicon Valley magnate Anthony Levandowski set out to establish a new religion. He called it the Way of the Future – or WOTF. According to documents filed with the state of California at the time, the aim of WOTF was to “develop and promote the realisation of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence”. Read the full article

Camilla Cavendish: It would be wrong to overdo this, when fewer than a million Britons regularly go to church. But it does feel as though there is a space opening up in which people can start to talk about faith without being mocked. And for individuals to be able to acknowledge that strange sense of the sublime that human beings have felt since time immemorial. Read the full article