RSA Weekly For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia
Saturday 12 July 2025 Hi , Amidst attacks on places of worship and calls for measures to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia, a number of state governments are planning to introduce new laws to restrict
protests. One of the Victorian government’s proposed measures is to ban protests from outside places of worship. Earlier this year, we raised concerns about the possible impact on peaceful protests. In the state parliament recently, one MP warned that the proposed laws could criminalise survivors of child sex abuse for holding peaceful demonstrations outside churches – such as the tying of ribbons to church fences (see the top article). 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 Victorian MP seeks assurance proposed laws won’t infringe
peaceful protests outside places of worship11 Jul: The Legalise Cannabis Party is urging the Victorian government to protect the right of people to protest peacefully outside places of worship, warning that proposed laws to introduce ‘safe access zones’ represent “government overreach”. In a speech to parliament last month, Rachel Payne said she had “grave concerns” that the laws would prevent victim-survivors of institutional child abuse
from protesting outside churches. Read the full article |
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| RSA RSA seeks confirmation on when non-religious Defence personnel
can access secular frontline support8 Jul: The Rationalist Society of Australia has again asked the Albanese government for confirmation on when non-religious Defence personnel will be able to access non-religious frontline wellbeing support. In a letter to Minister of Defence Personnel Matt Keogh, RSA Executive Director Si Gladman said it was time for the government to get on with the job of modernising and secularising Defence’s
wellbeing support capability. The Army and Air Force still only provide religious-based chaplaincy. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN (UK) Church must ‘turn back’ public opinion on assisted dying, says archbishop 12 Jul: Members of the Church of England should work to
“withstand and even turn back” the forces of public opinion “that risk making … assisted dying a reality in our national life”, the archbishop of York has said. Speaking to the church’s General Synod on Friday, Stephen Cottrell said permitting assisted dying would change “forever the contract between doctor and patient, pressurising the vulnerable and assuming an authority over death that belongs to God alone”. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Plan for Australia to adopt contested antisemitism definition to face pushback from concerned Labor MPs 11 Jul: Jillian Segal’s push for the
federal government to adopt a contested definition of antisemitism will face pushback from some concerned Labor MPs and party members, as Anthony Albanese mulls a response to his envoy’s 49 recommendations to stamp out anti-Jewish hate. Read the full article |
| ABC Doctors face Islamophobia in Australian healthcare 'crisis', research shows 11 Jul: Three in four Muslim healthcare workers surveyed had faced
discrimination for their religious beliefs, the study found. Researchers said the study highlighted a "hidden crisis" in the Australian healthcare workforce. Read the full article |
| USA TODAY IRS lifts ban on churches getting involved in politics and endorsements 11 Jul: America’s Internal Revenue Service reversed decades of legal
precedent in a July 7 court filing by saying that churches and other religious 501c(3) organizations can endorse political candidates in certain circumstances. The filing creates a narrow exception to the so-called Johnson Amendment, which has barred churches and other charitable organizations from getting involved in politics since 1954. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Envoy’s antisemitism plan criticised as ‘Trumpian’ over concerns changes could be used to silence dissent 10 Jul: The antisemitism envoy’s
recommendations to remove funding from universities, charities and cultural bodies if they promote or fail to act against antisemitism have sparked concerns among academics and peak bodies that funding could be weaponised to censor opinion and silence dissent. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN ICC issues warrant for Taliban’s supreme leader for persecution of women 9 Jul: The international criminal court has issued arrest warrants
for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity for the persecution of women and girls, including depriving them of “education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion”. Read the full article |
| THE AUSTRALIAN (VIA CATH NEWS) Labor ‘stands ready’ to add antisemitism studies to school curriculum 8 Jul: Federal Education Minister Jason Clare “stands
ready” to reform the school curriculum so children are taught more about antisemitism, declaring there was a role for teachers in educating young people about the “poison” of bigotry towards Jews. Read the full article |
| DAILY TELEGRAPH (VIA CATH NEWS) Sydney bishop stands aside after historical abuse allegation 7 Jul: Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Richard Umbers has stood aside
from his public duties as the Church investigates a claim of historical abuse. In a statement attached to Bishop Umbers’ online biography on the Sydney Archdiocese website, Vicar-General Fr Samuel Lynch confirmed the archdiocese “has received notice of a civil claim of historical abuse” and Bishop Umbers. Read the full article |
Rachel Payne, of the Legalise Cannabis Party, raised her concerns in the Victorian parliament last month about the state government’s proposal to ban protests from outside places of worship. What do you think? Email your comments to: editor@rationalist.com.au |
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| RATIONALE What is the ‘Seven Mountains Mandate’ and how is
it linked to political extremism? Art Jipson: Vance Boelter, who allegedly shot Melissa Hortman, a Democratic Minnesota state representative, and her husband, Mark Hortman, on June 14, 2025, studied at Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas. The group is a Bible school linked to the New Apostolic Reformation, or NAR. The NAR is a loosely organised but influential
charismatic Christian movement that shares similarities with Pentecostalism, especially in its belief that God actively communicates with believers through the Holy Spirit. Read the full article |
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| RATIONALE Lee Kuan Yew’s insight into the fall of
democracies Jack Dikian: Long before Australia saw four sitting prime ministers deposed by their own parties between 2010 and 2018, before the United Kingdom saw five prime ministers unceremoniously dumped following the 2016 Brexit vote, and before the establishment of an authoritarian-leaning presidency in the United States, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, wondered where all the good leaders
had gone. Read the full article |
| THE FREETHINKER On the dangers of religious narratives John Richards: Humans seek explanations and answers: learning about our environment is a
good survival strategy. Discovering, investigating and exploring form an evolved behaviour that has served us well, especially since we learned the best way to do it: by using the scientific method. It’s astonishing what we have discovered in the last 150 years, and our technological achievements are worthy of celebration. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Australia must combat antisemitism, but not simply defer to demands of some voices Ben Saul: Israeli violations can never justify
blaming and attacking Jewish Australians and do not help Palestinians. But the special envoy’s plan will never be effective if it tackles only the symptoms and refuses to acknowledge let alone address a key driver. Read the full article |
| CRIKEY So, will News Corp, Seven and other platforms for neo-Nazis and promoters of antisemitic theories be censored? Bernard Keane: News Corp,
the Seven Network and The Spectator all face the possibility of censorship and content control under antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal’s extraordinary proposal to personally regulate Australian media. Segal, an Israel apologist who oversaw systemic misconduct by NAB while a director of that bank from 2004-16, yesterday issued a report urging the government to give her unprecedented powers. Read the full article |
| CRIKEY Segal’s antisemitism plan would be the deepest intervention in Australian universities since Federation Ben Eltham: Australia’s
antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal yesterday released her “plan to combat antisemitism“, which she thinks is “evident within schools and universities and has become ingrained and normalised within academia and the cultural space”. Segal’s report is a fully fledged crackdown. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Attacks in Melbourne have struck fear into the Jewish community Josh Burns: Targeting East Melbourne Synagogue strikes fear to all
who feel connected to their culture, community and way of life. Many will recognise this antisemitism from the darkest times in Jewish memory. But targeting Miznon also strikes fear for all who are proud of their culture, heritage, and background, and want to share it with their fellow Australians. Read the full article |
| THE AGE Editorial: In the fight against antisemitism, free speech must be upheld If implemented in full, these recommendations could have far-reaching
consequences on free speech and institutions like universities and the media. Such action should not be rushed. The baseline of this work must, by necessity, be reconciling the urgency of combating antisemitism in this country and defending the rights of free speech. Read the full article |
| PEARLS & IRRITATIONS Australia doing nothing to attract American scientific talent Noel Turnbull: Much of the rest of the world is gearing
up to attract US scientists who are being deprived of funding by the Trump Government. Admittedly, the Australian Academy of Science has started a Global Talent Attraction program to recruit US researchers in areas of national need. Sadly — while there has been strong interest from US-based researchers — no funding is yet available for such a program. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN The daunting task of finding a new archbishop of Canterbury Harriet Sherwood: In the bars and cafes of the University of York’s
campus, talk among the 500 members of the Church of England’s parliament over the next few days is likely to be dominated by one issue: who will be the next archbishop of Canterbury? Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN ‘God chose you, Jair Bolsonaro!’ Is Brazil now in the grip of evangelicals? Tiago Rogero: From TV soaps to the supreme court to the
top job, Christian fundamentalists are on a power-grab in the country. We meet the director of Apocalypse in the Tropics, a new film charting their rise. Read the full article |
| ABC RADIO Are there spying nuns in the Russian Orthodox church in Europe? Across Europe, governments are cracking down on clergy associated with the
Russian Orthodox Church, accusing them of being propagandists, even spies for the Putin regime. Just how deep does suspicion of the church run? Listen to the full episode |
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