Weekend Wrap for 19 June 2022

Barbara Heggen (ABC RN) – Do faith workers need a holy alliance?: "Even in the face of very real threats of legal action they would not budge and that reflects a culture where faith organisations have been a law unto themselves. If you believe you are only accountable to God … then it makes it very easy to just say 'no court, no Fair Work Commission, no external arbiter can impact this'." (12 Jun 2022)
Read more at ABC News

Ben Schneiders and Simone Fox Koob – Parent says she was deceived by Scientology-linked ‘grammar’ school: "A recent investigation by The Age uncovered undisclosed links between Mooroolbark Grammar and Scientology, a religion described by critics as an abusive cult. The new Mooroolbark Grammar has prominently advertised links to a Montessori early education program taught on site, which prompted concerns the school was using that as cover to hide its Scientology links to prospective parents." (12 Jun 2022)
Read more at the Sydney Morning Herald

John Dickson – What’s so offensive about Australia’s public school chaplaincy program? An open letter to Jane Caro: "You say that your recent piece arguing against the school chaplaincy program is likely to come across as “offensive” — but not nearly as offensive as you personally find the program itself. I think very few of us who are broadly supportive of chaplains in public schools find your piece offensive. But I find myself wondering how your argument amounts to more than an expression of your personal distaste of religion." (13 Jun 2022)
Read more at ABC News

Josh Pallas – What next for queer politics under the Anthony Albanese government?: "Like many other queer people I breathed a sigh of relief when it became clear that the Scott Morrison government was deposed. As if Prime Minister Morrison’s harmful rhetoric towards queer people was not damaging enough, his government’s policy positions sought to remove protections from discrimination, and to in fact expressly permit it." (14 Jun 2022)
Read more at the Star Observer

Jane Caro – Why the public school chaplaincy program is (still) a bad idea: A response to John Dickson: "When I began formulating my own response to Dickson’s eight points of disagreement, I had it in mind that I would rebut them one by one — including those points where I felt I had been misrepresented. But halfway through writing I changed my mind. It was wordy and repetitive and — frankly — rather dull. Instead, I have decided to offer five reasons why I still think the chaplaincy program in public schools is a bad idea." (15 Jun 2022)
Read more at ABC News

Aileen Kennedy, Alice de Jonge and Morgan Carpenter – ACT releases Australian-first draft law to protect intersex children from irreversible medical harm: "The Australian Capital Territory government has released a consultation draft law to protect the rights of intersex people. If passed, the bill would ban deferrable medical interventions on children with intersex traits until they’re old enough to decide treatments for themselves. There will be exceptions for emergency and urgently necessary procedures. The bill will criminalise unnecessary medical interventions, and create an independent body to determine whether other proposed procedures are urgently necessary." (15 Jun 2022)
Read more at The Conversation

Rob Norman (ACL) – ACT: Government decriminalises illicit drugs: "The ACT Government’s decision to decriminalise the possession and use of illicit drugs is irresponsible and lacks compassion. If the Portuguese experience of decriminalisation is anything to go by, we can expect an increase in experimentation with hard drugs, a significant spike in crime, including homicides, and an increase in treatment for drug abuse." (15 Jun 2022)
Read more at the ACL

Hugh Harris (RSA) – What’s so offensive about secularism?: "Demonising secularism has become something of a sport for the religious right in the United States. Secularists are routinely painted as ‘aggressive’ or ‘militant’, often with allusions to 20th-century totalitarian regimes. Secularism becomes a Stalinist strawman rising as the enemy of all faith. In culture war rhetoric, truth is often the first casualty. Clearly, Australia is not immune. In his open letter to Jane Caro on the subject of the school chaplaincy program, John Dickson, founding director of the Centre for Public Christianity, provides an example par excellence of the strange sport of secularism bashing." (16 Jun 2022)
Read more at Rationale Magazine

Paul Gregoire – The ACT Government Has Greenlighted Drug Decriminalisation: "'The Uniting Church Synod of NSW/ACT has been advocating for drug decriminalisation since 2016. This led to the launch of its Fair Treatment campaign in 2018, which has a large number of civil society organisations supporting it, including the NSW Bar Association. Decriminalisation doesn’t solve the problem, but it goes a long way to reducing stigma and allowing people to access the help and support that they need when they need it.'” (16 Jun 2022)
Read more at Sydney Criminal Lawyers

Elizabeth Farrelly – Why Australia should ban private schools: "Education is the key to civilised life – which is why, if I could change one thing about Australia, it would be this. I’d ban private schools. Not because such schools are necessarily bad, nor do they necessarily produce bad people. Rather, private schools are systemically toxic to the kind of vibrant and inventive future we desperately need to create." (18 Jun 2022)
Read more at The Saturday Paper

Neil Foster – Religious Freedom Challenges for Theological Colleges in Australia: "I am presenting a paper to a seminar for senior leaders in Australian theological colleges, dealing with religious freedom challenges. I comment briefly on some of the current protections provided, but also how those protection have been eroded recently, especially in Victoria (where amendments to the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic) which I previously commented on have now commenced.) A copy of the paper can be downloaded here." (18 Jun 2022)
Read more at Law and Religion Australia