I’m going to this thing, so if anyone wants me to pass on a message to Professor D just put it on this page.

There’s an issue with the funding request: If it is the wish of Australian secularists for their government to cease financially assisting religious organizations (though it probably doesn’t apply to largish events like the Parliament of the World’s Religions), it wouldn’t be right for them to go requesting it for themselves. To argue for a conditional exception to be made for the sake of equal treatment (‘If they’re gettin’ some, we should be gettin’ some too!’) would be weak.

Personally, I’m all for the idea of making Secular Humanism a legally recognized religion. Then we can do what Frank Zappa suggested and not pay tax on our cars by declaring them temples.

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From the story:

“The Parliament of the World’s Religions, held in Melbourne in December, received $2 million from the federal government and the state government.”

The story doesn’t say how much of the $2 million came from the state government, which according to the Australian constitution has the right to make a law establishing a religion.

What the Australian Constitution says about freedom of religion, according to wikipedia:

Section 116 — The constitution creates a limited right to freedom of religion, by prohibiting the Commonwealth (but not the states) from “making any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion.” This section is based on the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, but is weaker in operation. As the states retain all powers they had as colonies before federation, except for those explicitly given to the Commonwealth, this section does not affect the states’ powers to legislate on religion, and, in accordance with High Court interpretations, no Federal legislation on religion, short of establishing an official religion of Australia, would be limited by it either.”

A chart about Australia’s religious/non-religious identity:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AustralianReligiousAffiliationGraphWithoutTable.jpg

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