RSA Weekly For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia
Saturday 1 February 2025 Hi , When it was reported late last year that the new Liberal-National government in Queensland would "expand school chaplaincy", the alarm bells went off. The new education
minister has since responded to us, clarifying that any new funding would provide schools with a choice of chaplains or secular wellbeing support. Also below is an important piece by Michael Dove on the need for major parties to re-think how they engage non-religious voters. 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 Queensland education minister confirms new funding will allow
choice over chaplaincy31 Jan: Any new funding to boost student wellbeing in Queensland’s public schools will not be used exclusively for religious-based chaplaincy, the state’s newly appointed education minister has confirmed. In a letter to the Rationalist Society of Australia earlier this month, education minister John-Paul Langbroek said that additional state government funding towards the National Student Wellbeing Program would allow
schools a choice of either a chaplain or a wellbeing officer. Read the full article |
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| RSA South Australian government gives no guarantee on abolishing
blasphemy, sacrilege27 Jan: The South Australian government will “consider” the Rationalist Society of Australia’s call for it to abolish blasphemy and sacrilege laws. In a letter last week, the state’s Attorney-General, Kyam Maher, told RSA Executive Director Si Gladman that he appreciated hearing the RSA’s views on the issue. However, Mr Maher gave no guarantee that his government would remove blasphemy and sacrilege from the state’s
laws – even though charges continue to be laid for sacrilege. Read the full article |
| ABC Cardinal George Pell abused two boys in Ballarat, compensation scheme decides 31 Jan: Two men have been granted compensation by the federal
government's National Redress Scheme for abuse by the late Cardinal George Pell, including one whom the scheme accepted was raped by Pell when the Cardinal was a young priest in Ballarat in the 1970s. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Peter Dutton’s push to axe DEI public service positions ‘straight from the Donald Trump playbook’ 31 Jan: The opposition leader, Peter Dutton,
has foreshadowed the axing of diversity and inclusion positions in the public service as part of wider cuts to the commonwealth bureaucracy if he wins the federal election. The main public sector union said the idea was straight out of the playbook of the US president, Donald Trump. Read the full article |
| ABC Jacinta Nampijinpa Price plans to review Welcome to Country ceremony funding if elected 31 Jan: Coalition frontbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says
she'll review federal funding for Indigenous Welcome to Country ceremonies if her party wins government at this year's federal election. Earlier this week, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton handed the Northern Territory senator the shadow ministry for government efficiency in a cabinet reshuffle. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Coronial inquest will be held into death of Elizabeth Struhs 31 Jan: An inquest will be held after an eight-year-old girl died when religious
group members, including her parents, withheld her medication. Premier David Crisafulli on Friday confirmed an inquest would be held, having vowed to take any necessary action to improve state government systems after Elizabeth’s death. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Misinformation threat is local, Australian Electoral Commission warns 31 Jan: “Sovereign citizens, conspiracy theorists and keyboard warriors”
are among the domestic threats being monitored ahead of the upcoming federal election, the electoral authority has warned. The Australian Electoral Commission said the mis- and disinformation threats to the 2025 federal election were coming from within the country, rather than from overseas actors. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Moderate Liberals losing ground as hard-right faction looms large in Senate battle31 Jan: The Liberal party’s moderate wing is set to lose more influence in federal
parliament with an Alex Antic-backed candidate tipped to take the Senate seat once held by Simon Birmingham. A reported push to get religious conservatives signed up to the party has been attributed to Antic’s rise as a factional heavyweight in South Australia. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN New Orleans archbishop fires food bank leaders for refusing to fund abuse settlement31 Jan: The archbishop of New Orleans’ bankrupt Roman Catholic archdiocese on
Thursday abruptly fired and replaced top leaders at a church-affiliated food bank, with those dismissed saying it was because the non-profit refused to contribute to paying survivors of child sexual abuse by clergymen. Read the full
article |
| ABC Man who burned Koran shot dead in Sweden, PM suggests link to 'foreign power'30 Jan: An anti-Islam campaigner who sparked violent protests when he burned the Koran outside a
mosque has been shot dead in Sweden. Salwan Momika, 38, an Iraqi refugee, was shot in a house in Sodertalje town near Stockholm on Wednesday, local time. Read the full article |
| ABC Jewish school, house in Maroubra vandalised with graffiti in latest antisemitic attack30 Jan: NSW Police are investigating after a Jewish school in Sydney's eastern suburbs was
spray painted with antisemitic graffiti overnight. It comes hours after explosives were found in a caravan in Sydney's north west, with police saying there were threats linked to the Jewish community. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Queensland’s puberty blockers ban has potential to cause harm, sex discrimination commissioner says30 Jan: The Queensland government’s ban on puberty blockers for new
patients seeking treatment for gender issues is “discriminatory”, according to the state’s only dedicated LGBTQI youth service, as the national sex discrimination commissioner warns the decision may harm young people. Read the full article |
| ABC Former Bishop of Broome facing new charges30 Jan: A former high-ranking catholic Bishop in Western Australia's north is facing six new criminal charges, including the alleged
rape of a boy under the age of 13. Christopher Alan Saunders, 75, was arrested by detectives from the child abuse squad on Sunday. The latest arrest takes Mr Saunders's charges to a total of 39. Read the full article |
| BRISBANE TIMES Religious group guilty of killing girl by putting faith before medicine29 Jan: Fourteen members of a fringe religious group accused of killing an eight-year-old girl
have been found guilty of manslaughter after one of Queensland’s biggest trials. Elizabeth Rose Struhs, who had diabetes, died on January 7, 2022, while lying on a mattress on the floor of her family’s house in Toowoomba. Read the full article |
| CHRISTIAN POST Grant Thomson, Bible Society Australia’s CEO, resigns after organization posts massive deficit29 Jan: Five years after former Hillsong Global Chief Marketing Officer
Global Grant Thomson was named Bible Society Australia's new CEO, he abruptly resigned after the organization posted a nearly $7.2 million deficit. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Queensland halts prescription of puberty blockers and hormones for children with gender dysphoria28 Jan: Children with gender dysphoria will be denied puberty blockers
as a state government reviews hormone therapies for minors. The Queensland government launched the investigation after reports gender-affirming hormones had been given to children as young as 12 without authorised care. Read the full article |
| SBS Holocaust education efforts in Australia to get $6.4 million funding boost27 Jan: Anthony Albanese has pledged $6.4 million to build a national Holocaust education centre in
Canberra and upgrade a facility in Western Australia that does school workshops. The announcement came as the world marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Read the full article |
| CHRISTIAN POST Montana Dems introduce bill to compel priests to report confessions involving abuse24 Jan: A group of Democratic lawmakers in Montana have introduced a bill that would
require Catholic priests to disclose confessions related to serious crimes, challenging the church’s long-standing tradition of maintaining the confidentiality of the confessional. Read the full article |
| CBS NEWS Trump Justice Dept. limits enforcement of FACE Act, which protects reproductive health facilities24 Jan: The Trump administration has directed federal prosecutors to limit
enforcement of a federal law safeguarding abortion centers, reproductive health centers and pregnancy resource centers. Read the full article |
| CHRISTIAN POST Former Australian prime minister details God's faithfulness amid trials: 'He's always been there'1 Jan: Former PM Scott Morrison has told a Christian media outlet that
his anxiety was caused by "physical exhaustion combined with the tenacious, relentless, personal, vindictive attacks — principally through secular voices in the media and opponents". Read the full article |
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| RATIONALE Separating facts from fake news in the realm of
health and nutrition Aimee Pugh Bernard: Misinformation is rampant in the realm of health and nutrition. Findings from nutrition research is rarely clear-cut because diet is just one of many behaviors and lifestyle factors affecting health, but the simplicity of using food and supplements as a cure-all is especially seductive. Read the full article |
| PEARLS & IRRITATIONS Political opportunity and the non-religious Michael Dove: People used to talk about the “Catholic vote”, the
“Protestant vote”, and the “Jewish vote”. But the “Non-religious vote” can no longer be ignored. Political parties need to re-think how they engage non-religious voters. If politicians want to connect with this large and growing secular constituency, policy positions should be reviewed, and narratives tweaked. Read the full article |
| PEARLS & IRRITATIONS The Liberal party, Moira Deeming and political Christianity Lucy Hamilton: Christians have been the majority faith in
Australia. It can be hard for some to accept moving from dominant status to just one of many belief systems in a pluralist society. Christians tempted to see themselves as persecuted because they are no longer able to dictate our way of life need to understand the injunction from the rest of us: believe on as long as you do no harm. Read the full article |
| THE MONTHLY The true legacy of the rapist George Pell Louise Milligan: As the Catholic Church finds a new legal defence against child sexual
abuse charges, disgust with the late cardinal George Pell’s glorification has now led some of his own victims to come forward and detail their abuse at his hand. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN When Peter Dutton and the Coalition use the Jewish community as political footballs it makes all of us less safe Sarah Schwartz:
Amid a very real and terrifying rise in antisemitism, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, and the Coalition – prior defenders of the “right to be bigots” – have now appointed themselves our nation’s anti-antisemitism warriors. But their concern for Jews appears to me to be confected and self-serving. Read the full article |
| THE AGE Sam died at an Exclusive Brethren-linked workplace. His sister wants answers Michael Bachelard: When Sam Keast arrived in Melbourne for
his dream job, he produced a video tour for his dad of the factory he’d been sent to Australia to set up and run. “Welcome to my kingdom,” he declared. Two months later, the young man in the video was dead. He was found lifeless inside the factory he’d so proudly and so recently established. Read the full article |
| MOTHER JONES Christian Nationalists Are Swooning Over JD Vance’s Remarks on Fox News Kiera Butler: After Vance’s Hannity appearance, Andrew
Isker, a reformed preacher and co-author of the book Christian Nationalism: A Biblical Guide For Taking Dominion And Discipling Nations, was triumphant in a post to his 37,000 followers on X. Read the full
article |
| THE GUARDIAN We are seeing anti-medical, anti-science narratives everywhere – how can doctors like me respond? Dr Mariam Tokhi: I am seeing the
rise of anti-medical, anti-science narratives everywhere… Medical doctors and scientists now face a barrage of anti-science, anti-medicine narratives, and it feels like we are losing the battle. We are no longer trusted instinctively. Read the full article |
| PEARLS & IRRITATIONS How can pro-Palestine protests be intimidating to Jews when Jews attend them? Judith Treanor: Those advocating for
restrictions on pro-Palestine protests must acknowledge the diversity of Jewish perspectives. Many Jews, including members of anti-Zionist groups like Jews Against the Occupation ’48, Tzedek Collective, and the Loud Jew Collective, actively participate in these weekly rallies, standing in solidarity with Palestinians suffering atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION The Supreme Court decision about St. Isidore, a Catholic school in Oklahoma, could redraw lines around church and state in education Charles J. Russo: The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Oklahoma can open St. Isidore: an online Roman Catholic charter school named after the patron saint of the internet. If affirmed, the school would be the nation’s first faith-based charter – a sea change in education law, expanding the boundaries of government aid to faith-based schools. Read the full article |
| THE CONVERSATION The far-right is rising at a crucial time in Germany, boosted by Elon Musk Matt Fitzpatrick: With only a few weeks until
Germany’s election, Elon Musk has unambiguously thrown his support behind the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. In a video address to a party rally last week, he appeared to urge Germans to “move on” from any “past guilt” related to the Holocaust. Read the full article |
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