RSA Weekly For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia
Saturday 18 January 2025 Hi , You may remember that in December, following an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue, a number of state premiers said they would pursue laws to ban protests outside places of
worship. We think that banning protests, especially peaceful ones, would be a knee-jerk reaction and pose a threat to fundamental freedoms. See the top story about the letter we sent to state governments urging them to drop their plans to ban protests. 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 |
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| RSA RSA calls on states to protect peaceful protests outside places
of worship17 Jan: The Rationalist Society of Australia has called on state governments to drop their plans to ban peaceful protests outside places of worship. In a letter to the premiers and attorneys-general of New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland, RSA Executive Director Si Gladman said that any attempt to prevent peaceful protests outside places of worship would be “an attack on fundamental freedoms”. Read the full article |
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| RSA Non-religious students encouraged to use New South Wales’ new
‘religious intolerance’ helpline15 Jan: Non-religious students who are bullied because they do not participate in the Special Religious Education program in New South Wales’ public schools can report these incidents to the Religious Intolerance Helpline. In a letter to the Rationalist Society of Australia, the state’s education department has confirmed that all members of school communities who experience or witness bullying or intolerance
“due to religion, faith, beliefs and spirituality” can utilise the new helpline. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Muslim, Jewish leaders call for peace as Dutton writes to PM on anti-Jewish hate 17 Jan: Muslim and Jewish leaders have made a united call to
rebuild relations between their communities to counter antisemitic attacks as the Albanese government warns that extremists feel emboldened to perpetrate hate crimes in Melbourne and Sydney. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Former home of prominent Jewish figure vandalised and cars torched in Sydney antisemitic attack 17 Jan: The New South Wales police
commissioner says while there is nothing to suggest a spate of antisemitic attacks in Sydney are linked, the force is keeping “an open mind” after the former home of a Jewish leader was vandalised. Read the full article |
| CATHNEWS Catholic Mission’s interfaith program secures major grant 17 Jan: State government body Multicultural NSW has awarded Catholic Mission’s
Interfaith Encounters Program (COMPACT) a “major grant” to help young people “deepen faith and promote peace and social cohesion”. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Bandt says Labor-Greens power share would bring ‘golden era’ and confirms goal is to stop Dutton16 Jan: Adam Bandt says a Greens-Labor power-sharing parliament could see
a “golden era of progressive reform” that banishes conservatives to the political wilderness, as he confirms that stopping Peter Dutton becoming prime minister is now his party’s main election focus. Read the full article |
| NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY (UK) New move to abolish the bishops’ bench in House of Lords16 Jan: A fresh bid has been made to remove automatic seats for bishops in the House of Lords
through the hereditary peers bill. Douglas Hogg, who sits in the House of Lords as Viscount Hailsham, has this week tabled an amendment to the bill which would remove the 26 seats automatically given to Church of England bishops. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN After costly appeal and dispute over research standards, religious institution becomes Australia’s 44th university15 Jan: A college that describes itself as Australia’s
largest provider of theological education has become the nation’s 44th university, ending years of costly appeals and demonstrating the growing power of small religious providers. The Australian College of Theology – which will be renamed the Australian University of Theology – is the third religious institution to receive full university status since 2020. Read the full article |
| MSN Speaker Mike Johnson points to Genesis in defense of House passing bill to protect women’s sports16 Jan: House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the lower chamber's passage of a bill
protecting women's sports by noting that sex goes back to the time of Genesis when God created Adam and Eve. Read the full article |
| CATHNEWS Archbishop Fisher backs ‘groundbreaking’ parliamentary inquiry16 Jan: A New South Wales parliamentary inquiry is a “groundbreaking” opportunity to address the destructive
effects of pornography on young people, says Sydney Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher. Read the full article |
| CHRISTIAN POST South Dakota may require Louisiana-style Ten Commandments display in public schools14 Jan: South Dakota lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require public
schools to display a copy of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, comparable to a measure passed in Louisiana that is being legally challenged. Read the full article |
| ABC Jewish MP calls for mandatory jail sentences for people convicted of vandalising synagogues13 Jan: A federal Jewish MP has called for mandatory jail sentences for people
convicted of vandalising synagogues, following a string of incidents across Australia. Liberal Member for Berowra Julian Leeser urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanaese to convene an emergency meeting to develop new laws to clamp down on anti-Semitism. Read the full
article |
| SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Dutton calls for ‘education not indoctrination’12 Jan: In his speech, the Liberal leader weaved his personal story and economic agenda with occasional thrusts
into cultural issues, demanding “education not indoctrination” in schools and drawing arguably his biggest round of applause when he repeated his preference for one national flag rather than three with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags. Read the full article |
| NCR Biden awards Pope Francis with Presidential Medal of Freedom11 Jan: President Joe Biden has awarded Pope Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest
civilian honor. The award was presented to the pope during a phone call. Read the full article |
| ABC Vatican approves gay men to be priests in Italy — but they'll be barred from 'flaunting' their homosexuality11 Jan: Homosexual men can train to become Catholic priests in Italy
but not if they "support the so-called gay culture", according to new guidelines approved by the Vatican. While stressing the need for celibacy, the Italian Bishops' Conference guidelines open the door for gay men to attend seminaries, or divinity schools that train priests. Read the full
article |
| RIOT ACT Parents anxious as Berry still to decide on future of Brindabella Christian College10 Jan: ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry is yet to decide what action, if any, will be
taken against Brindabella Christian College over its ongoing governance and financial issues. This is despite Ms Berry saying she expected to make a decision before Christmas. Read the full article |
| CHRISTIAN POST Bid to remove charitable status from religious groups draws ire of Evangelicals in Canada6 Jan: In Canada, a parliamentary committee on finance has recommended that
the government adopt a new definition for charities that would “remove the privileged status of ‘advancement of religion’ as a charitable purpose”. All major political parties took part in the development of the committee report. Read the full article |
| CHRISTIAN POST Hillsong College on probation after Australian regulator raises compliance concerns23 Dec: Hillsong College, one of several ministries run by the nondenominational
Hillsong Church network, has 18 months to adequately meet several compliance standards of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission after an investigation by the national regulatory body. The ACNC accepted a remedial plan from the college known as an enforceable undertaking in an effort to maintain its charity registration. Read the full article |
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| RATIONALE How too much security threatens the era of global
science collaboration Caroline Wagner: Amid heightened tensions between the United States and China, the two countries signed a bilateral science and technology agreement on 13 December 2024. The event was billed as a “renewal” of a 45-year-old pact to encourage cooperation, but that may be misleading. Read the full article |
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| RATIONALE Philosophies of redistribution
(2017) James Fodor: Redistribution is a subject that has long polarised progressive (left-wing) and conservative (right-wing) political groups. Debates concerning income redistribution tend to focus on two main categories of issues: moral considerations related to the justification of redistribution in principle; and practical considerations concerning its efficacy when put into practice. Read the full article |
| THE AGE A decapitated doll and a prayer for my death: The many, many threats of the Exclusive Brethren Michael Bachelard: A letter landed in my
inbox last year that gave me a strong burst of nostalgia. It was a legal threat from the defamation lawyer who also represented Bruce Lehrmann and Ben Roberts-Smith. This time he was working for the leaders of a religion, the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church. I’d sent questions to the church asking about the affairs of its “Man of God”, Bruce Hales, after the raid last March by the Australian Tax Office on companies run by church members. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Acts of hate are on the rise in Australia – but naming them is proving fraught Tory Shepherd: The firebombing of a synagogue,
concerns about protests (and the possible curtailing of those freedoms), and police investigations into antisemitism have sparked political battles and inquiries, and claims and counterclaims about the definition and prevalence of antisemitism and Islamophobia. Read the full
article |
| CNN White Christian nationalists are poised to remake America in their image during Trump’s second term John Blake: There’s an image that
captures the threat posed by the White Christian nationalist movement — and how it could become even more dangerous over the next four years. Taken during the Jan. 6 insurrection, the photo shows a solitary White man, his head pressed in prayer against a massive wooden cross, facing the domed US Capitol building. An American flag stands like a sentinel on a flagpole beside the Capitol under an ominously gray sky. Read the full article |
| RIOT ACT Time for Education Minister to act on Brindabella Christian College Ian Bushnell: Most Canberrans are probably tired of the Brindabella
Christian College saga. As are the school community, the reform group that has been battling for years to restore good governance, and the Lyneham Community Association that has called out time and again the college’s illegal behaviour. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION How religion’s brand became unpopular in Canada Galen Watts: In 1961, less than one per cent of Canadians identified as having
no religion. In 2021, 43 per cent of those between 15 and 35 considered themselves religiously unaffiliated. Organized religion — and especially Christianity — is in decline. Secularization is advancing apace. Most sociologists of religion agree on this. What they disagree about, however, is why. Read the full
article |
| THE OKLAHOMAN (US) Religious freedom is under attack in our schools Mickey Dollens: As an elected official and a parent of two elementary
school students in Oklahoma, I am deeply concerned by a growing national trend of government overreach that undermines parents’ rights through state-sanctioned religious extremism. The actions of Oklahoma lawmakers and state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters should serve as a warning for the rest of the country. Read the full article |
| THE FREETHINKER Storm over a tea-cup? The ‘Mug-Gate’ teacher speaks out Matt Lovell: Back in March 2022, I was teaching physics at a
prestigious and high-achieving English grammar school, a post I had held for fourteen years. During all of that time, I had used a coffee mug which features the characters ‘Jesus and Mo’, from the brilliant satirical cartoon of the same name. Read the full article |
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