RSA Weekly For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia
Sunday 28 September 2025 Hi , In recent days, we've been raising concerns with the West Australian Department of Education about its use of the propaganda line that independent and faith-based schools provide
"values education". But what 'values' are they? In a new article today, we report on the teaching of anti-science dogma at a WA Christian college as part of science classes. Last week, we also asked the state's attorney-general about when the government would deliver on its promise to remove exemptions to discrimination laws for religious schools. 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 Christian school teaching creationism myth as part of science
classes, website shows28 Sep: A Christian school that receives millions of dollars in taxpayers’ money says it gives its science students “different perspectives”, including the creationist perspective, in relation to human evolution. In articles published on its public website, West Australian-based Rehoboth Christian College blends religious myths with science in discussions about student activities and excursions as part of science
classes. Read the full article |
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| RSA RSA questions WA government over department’s use of “values
education” propaganda line23 Sep: The Rationalist Society of Australia has questioned the West Australian government over why its education department’s website features the propaganda line that independent and religious schools teach “values education” while not mentioning the public system’s superior secular values. The state’s Department of Education, in presenting the different schooling options on its website, says that the
independent and religious schools system provides “values-based education”. Meanwhile, the website does not mention the word “values” on the equivalent page about public education. Read the full
article |
| THE GUARDIAN Australian defence force says ‘no place’ for extremists despite member’s link to neo-Nazi group 28 Sep: The Australian defence force says it
has “no place” for rightwing extremists, despite one of its members remaining in the service for more than eight months after police found he had been involved in a gathering of the National Socialist Network, a neo-Nazi group. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Gay Malaysian man rejected for Australian protection visa could face persecution over sexuality, tribunal says 27 Sep: Australia’s home
affairs department rejected a gay Malaysian man’s bid for a protection visa, saying he did not provide enough evidence that he was an LGBT person. But the administrative review tribunal subsequently accepted the man is gay and could face persecution in Malaysia. The tribunal said persecution could include prosecution under sharia law and the penal code, being subjected to so-called “conversion” practices, and physical harm. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Oklahoma superintendent who put Trump Bibles in classrooms resigns 26 Sep: Oklahoma’s superintendent, who has attracted national attention as
he sought to install religion and rightwing viewpoints in Oklahoma schools, will resign to run a conservative education non-profit. Ryan Walters put Trump-endorsed Bibles into classrooms and required teaching 2020 election conspiracy theories. Read the full
article |
| THE AGE Non-binary teacher takes Catholic school group to court over refusal to use preferred pronouns 24 Sep: A non-binary teacher at a Melbourne Catholic
school says they will take a fight to have their preferred pronouns used in the workplace all the way to the High Court. The teacher’s union, which represents 75,000 educators from Australian religious schools, says the case could open the floodgates to gender and sex discrimination disputes around the country. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Hindu Council of Australia accused of Islamophobia 23 Sep: The Australian Human Rights Commission is investigating a complaint filed against
the Hindu Council of Australia for alleged repeated instances of Islamophobia. The complaint alleges that the council, its president Sai Paravastu and head of media Neelima Paravastu, made Islamophobic posts on X and Instagram, and comments in public, between May 2024 and July 2025. Read the full article |
| ABC RADIO Push for voluntary assisted dying 'portal' in Tasmania to streamlime paperwork for doctors 23 Sep: Independent MLC Mike Gaffney says a doctor who
was facilitating voluntary assisted dying in the state has walked away from the process due to the administrative demands. Mr Gaffney tells David Reilly on Hobart Drive that urgent change is needed, and all other states use a portal to streamline paperwork. Listen to the episode |
| ABC The public hospital patients who ended up paying abortion clinics for miscarriage care 23 Sep: Women having miscarriages say they were denied surgical
care at the public Mater Mothers’ Hospital in Brisbane because of its religious policies on abortion. Two women have told ABC News they ended up going to an abortion clinic because the Catholic-run hospital, which receives some taxpayer funding, would not provide them with a surgical procedure when they were having what’s called a missed miscarriage. Read the full article |
| THE AGE Sky News orders review after guest unleashes anti-Islam rant 22 Sep: Sky News is reviewing its new Sunday night program Freya Fires Up, hosted by
Freya Leach, after removing an interview with a guest who appeared with bacon draped over his shirt and told the host it was to “protect him” from terrorists, as he made further Islamophobic comments before being cut off. Read the full article |
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| RATIONALE Christian extremism: An American ideological
contagion in the Australian context Clare Heath-McIvor: Just three weeks prior, anyone warning of the dangers of white Christian nationalism would sound like an alarmist, a conspiracy theorist who looked at America and incorrectly thought it could happen here, too. Now, these voices have been vindicated in the worst possible way. White Christian nationalism has been here in Australia for a long time, but three
cultural moments have just combined into a significant cultural flashpoint. Putting that genie back in the bottle just became a significantly more challenging problem. Read the full article |
| THE AGE What’s behind Andrew Hastie’s new crusade? Natassia Chrysanthos, et al: While he resisted his family’s religion as a teenager – his father
was a Presbyterian pastor – Hastie has a deeply held Christian faith. He was in the headlines as a candidate for refusing to be drawn on his father’s views on creationism. Colleagues say he continues to wrestle with how, as party leader, he would explain his positions on same-sex marriage, abortion and women in military combat roles to an increasingly secular Australia. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Future Liberal leader or party disruptor? Andrew Hastie and the rise of the ‘Maga right’ Dan Jervis-Bardy: A decade on from that
conversation with Abbott, with whom he remains close, the former Special Air Services captain is putting himself within striking distance of the Liberal party leadership. Or at least that is how some of his colleagues interpret the personal crusades Hastie has launched since the federal election. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN A US fascism expert warns: Australia is not immune and undoing the damage is ‘very, very hard’ Ben Doherty: Stanley made global
headlines in March this year when, as a Yale professor specialising in the study of fascism, he announced he was leaving the US because he believed it was at risk of becoming a “fascist dictatorship”. Now a fortnight into his exile, he says he is not surprised by the worsening political climate in the US, “but it’s always terrifying when it comes”. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN The hard right is claiming the cross – and true Christians should not allow it Polly Toynbee: Humanists UK was a lone voice
sounding the alarm about far-right Christians looking to dissolve the boundaries between church and state, and promote deeply conservative values. The idea was long dismissed as an Americanism that couldn’t happen here, but here it is. Read the full
article |
| THE AGE More MAGA rally than funeral, Kirk farewell was ultimate blur of church and state Michael Koziol: It was a ceremony that made no
distinction at all between church and state. Trump, in his speech, repeated his pledge to “bring God back” to America. Watching these proceedings, you were in no doubt: God never left. Read the full
article |
| ABC RADIO Charlie Kirk’s memorial and Trump’s attack on free speech Since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, there’s been raging debate in the US about
free speech. At a memorial for him in Arizona, President Trump described Mr Kirk as a ‘martyr for American freedom’ while simultaneously attacking the likes of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, whose show was suspended last week over comments he made about Kirk’s death. Listen to the full episode |
| THE GUARDIAN The Taliban are making religious schools girls’ only option A Guardian and Zan Times investigation across eight of
Afghanistan’s 34 provinces has revealed the Taliban’s deliberate and calculated efforts to make religious studies the only education option available to women and girls in Afghanistan. Read the full
article |
| THE GUARDIAN How Charlie Kirk became a Christian nationalist martyr J Oliver Conroy: Christian nationalists in the US are positioning Charlie
Kirk as a martyr for their movement, one that has grown in popularity and whose rise was intertwined with Kirk’s own political ascent. While Erika Kirk’s private sorrow is no doubt very real, her public remarks are telling, said Jeff Sharlet, the author of several books on Christian nationalism and the far right. Read the full article |
| THE FREETHINKER The unique and foolish status of the clergy James Merryweather: If willing, we should all read the Bible and learn some basic
theology. Many ex-Christians became atheists by doing just that. They were persuaded to deconvert by Bible study, critical thinking, and personal integrity. The Bible itself provides the confirmatory evidence that the clergy lie to the faithful and lie for Jesus. Read the full
article |
| THE CONVERSATION Greg Sheridan thinks the early Christians have lessons for today’s faithful Robyn J. Whitaker: For Christians mourning the end
of Christendom, this book will resonate. I ultimately disagree with Sheridan about the extent to which our society is hostile to Christians and the extent to which it resembles ancient Rome, but I concur that we cannot go back to Christendom. Read the full article |
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