Women having 'missed miscarriages' say they were denied care at Mater Mothers’ Hospital in Brisbane because of its religious policies on abortion. This hospital receives public money. Why are we funding hospitals that don't provide medical services? #auspol #qldpol www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Fascism expert warns Australia could be next. "A lot of what you’re seeing in the US must seem familiar to you, even though you’ve come nowhere close to what we’ve seen in the last few months ... the ideological preconditions are certainly familiar to you." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Parliament is not a place for worship, and certainly not sectarian worship. Any parliament claiming to represent all citizens - and claiming to provide and protect a right to religious freedom - should not be endorsing or engaging in the practice of a single religion. #auspol @albomp.bsky.social

Watch this past week's Four Corners, where former members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church speak about the manipulation, surveillance, and threats the church allegedly used against them. #auspol https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-15/big-brethren/105776410

Ex chief of staff John Kelly from October 2024. As it turns out: bang on the money. #Trump

Typical behaviour from the Gangster-in-Chief: don't ask questions I don't like or I'll punish your entire country. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

New research reveals a profound shift in Australian attitudes towards religious education in government schools, with support for religion being taught at least once a week falling from 72% in 1997/98 to 50% in 2024/25. #auspol http://bit.ly/4nnyScy

"The Plymouth Brethren … pumped so much cash and on-the-ground support into the Liberal Party’s 2025 election campaign that some party officials feared the religious sect would hold significant sway over an incoming Peter Dutton government." http://bit.ly/47BmcKt

The irony of a bunch of white supremecists protesting immigration and then attacking a First Nations camp is off the charts. #auspol

"In assuming all respondents have a religion, the framing of the question produces acquiescence bias that inflates data — by as much as 11 points, according to a number of surveys — in favour of religious affiliation." #auspol #census Just as we found in our 2021 survey! http://bit.ly/3JDRSoj

The difference between a private prayer and a communal prayer in parliament: are people religious, or is parliament religious? In a secular country, our government should not be taking part in sectarian religious rituals. #auspol

What if we banned the Lord's Prayer from Parliament? Ali Moore (ABC Melbourne) ponders this question with input from Georgie Purcell (Animal Justice Party) & Evan Mulholland (LNP). #auspol https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/melbourne-drive/what-if-wednesday-ban-lords-prayer/105593082

The Australian government spends a lot more money supporting those who want to discriminate against others than it does supporting those who are discriminated against. Religious schools still have free reign in refusing employment & enrolment of LGBTIQ+ staff & students. #auspol

US Senate Republicans have confirmed a lifetime appointment for a 35-year-old district court judge who is anti-abortion, has compared LGBTIQ rights to pedophilia & bestiality, and who thinks that Christians are “obliged ethically to impose their beliefs on others.” www.joemygod.com/2025/07/sena...

The LNP's Alex Antic continues his push for "god-fearing, conservative" people in politics, attracting "angry activist Christians who see politics as a pathway to changing the morality of Australia.” #saparli #auspol #ChristianNationalism www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Two very informative articles from Abraham Edwards on the content and context of Jillian Segal's antisemitism report. "Segal’s plan is to use various arms of the state to combat opponents of Israel’s apartheid and genocide." #auspol 1: https://bit.ly/ae-segal-1 2: https://bit.ly/ae-segal-2

From @theklaxon.bsky.social. Such enthusiastic support of right-wing activism really casts Segal's proposed punitive measures against universities and the media (including a singling out of the ABC for spreading "manipulated narratives") in a new light. #auspol

Segal's plan to combat antisemitism, which proposes using the IHRA definition as the basis for (amongst other things) disciplining staff or cutting funding at universities, raises concerns of a chilling effect on legitimate freedom of expression. #auspol www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Exciting first images from the new Rubin Observatory in Chile, which aims to survey the entire sky every three nights for the next 10 years! www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPVc...

@manmademoon.bsky.social I see Denis Villeneuve will be directing the next Bond movie. Do you have any ambitions there? I'd be up for seeing the new Bond have an existential crisis after realising he is merely the latest in a long line... 😬

The pro-religious lobby wail about persecution any time a shred of their privilege is threatened. These institutions receive a continuous free ride - financed by Australian taxpayers - based solely on their religious association. Our public education system is being strangled by inequality. #auspol

Welcome to the 15 June 2025 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues! #auspol #secularism https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-15-june-2025/

"One Sunday in mid-April, two weeks into the federal election campaign, the global leader of the extremist Christian sect formerly known as the Exclusive Brethren … gave permission for an unprecedented electoral effort by the church." #auspol https://bit.ly/202506-brethren-message

A new report details more than 100 examples of "unethical or potentially corrupt actions" that benefitted Elon Musk or one of his companies and which took place during Musk's tenure in the Trump administration. #doge #musk #trump johnmenadue.com/post/2025/06...

"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." - Frank Wilhoit

Welcome to the 1 June 2025 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues! #auspol #secularism https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-1-june-2025/

It's a bad idea to outsource the provision of vital services to private companies when they then have a direct financial incentive to avoid providing those services. #auspol #privatisation www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05...

I guess #NeverAgain only goes one way. In no way should we be supporting what Israel is doing to human beings. #auspol

#Catholic schools misrepresent Labor's position on school funding and hint to school parents they should vote LNP. Deceptive and disgraceful behaviour by these institutions seeking to retain their privilege. #auspol

"I believe in a separation of church and state. I’ve always chosen to do an affirmation [rather than swearing on a Bible], because I think that, as the Australian prime minister, I represent people of every faith and no faith." #auspol www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

Welcome to the 18 May 2025 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues! #auspol #secularism https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-18-may-2025/

"Israel’s planned actions in the Gaza Strip are blatantly unlawful, and Australia has clear legal obligations to actively use its power to halt further violations." #auspol #gaza www.hrlc.org.au/news/stateme...

Under #ACNC rules, a registered charity is not allowed to engage in activity "promoting or opposing a political party or a candidate". This is a flagrant violation by the PBCC on behalf of the #LNP and a shocking breach of trust by a major political party. #auspol www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...

I took this photo tonight as I walked past the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Bendigo. The ribbons have been there for years, each one in memory of a person abused by the church. Jacinta Allan’s proposed anti-protest laws would make this illegal.

"The election campaign was fraught … with more mysterious front groups emerging to push talking points that official actors were not prepared to utter themselves. Perhaps most worrying was the growing activity by religious actors." #auspol https://bit.ly/202505-extremism

Welcome to the 11 May 2025 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues! #auspol #secularism https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-11-may-2025/

He did not stop. #albo #auspol #ausvotes2025

Corruption and incompetence are back on the menu, boys! #auspol www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Performance evaluations at #NASA are now based primarily on fealty to the US king. 🤮

Time to tax these religious entities who feel they have a right to push their politics on voters. #taxreligion #auspol #Hillsong #ACL

A reminder that the total wealth of the Catholic Church in Victoria alone is estimated at over $9 billion. #auspol #springst melbournecatholic.org/news/biparti...

A fantastic 4-minute explainer video on the #AtlasNetwork and how it operates, both here in Australia and around the world. It stokes culture wars, reinforces conservatism, undermines the response to climate change, and aids the wealthy elite to society's cost. #auspol #ausvotes

Bugger the debate - just read @amyremeikis.bsky.social’s weekly column instead www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politic...

Do have a look at @lucyham.bsky.social's investigation of the #AtlasNetwork and their involvement in pushing far-right religious ideology in Australia (and NZ, and many other countries) via "think tanks" and conservative politicians. They are a present and growing threat. #auspol

The Atlas Network trains local "think tank" organisations (such as the IPA in Australia) on how to push conservative values into legislation. They are active here and everyone needs to be aware of their activity. #auspol www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04...

Question: if you were to replace religion with something that included its advantages (community cohesion, social interaction, involvement in 'something bigger than you') but without the worship of gods, exclusion of those different from you, and any patriarchy or privilege aspect, what would it be?

According to RFK Jr, Autism is an “epidemic” and a “preventable disease” with the root cause lying with “environmental toxins”. I assume his upcoming 'study' will find a link to vaccines and will result in some kind of dissuasion or ban of vaccinations. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I'm not into masochism but the new "Asshole Mode" I created for my AI assistant is strangely addictive. #ai

Lucy Hamilton on the Coalition's embracing of Christian Nationalism. #auspol #ausvotes johnmenadue.com/post/2025/04...