The Rationalist Society of Australia (RSA) promotes the interests of rationalists nationally in Australia. Originally formed as the Victorian Rationalist Association, the society originated in a meeting of freethinkers in the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

in 1906. It is the operational arm of the rationalist movement in Australia. The society created a rationalist library in 1909, and grew its collection though donations. The society ran the 1910 and 1913 Australian tours of rationalist thinker,

Joseph McCabe Joseph Martin McCabe (12 November 1867 – 10 January 1955) was an English writer and speaker on freethought, after having been a Roman Catholic priest earlier in his life. He was "one of the great mouthpieces of freethought in England". Becomi ...

. A number of trade unionists and social campaigners sought to advance political causes, including

Robert Samuel Ross Robert Samuel Ross (5 January 1873 – 24 September 1931) was an Australian socialist journalist, trade unionist, and agitator best known as the editor of a series of political magazines associated with the Australian labour movement in the 1890s ...

and Alfred Foster. John Samuel Langley became the secretary in 1919, and William Glanville Cook became the secretary in 1938. Its aims include: * to propound and advance rationalism, that is, adherence to the principle that all significant beliefs and actions should be based on reason and evidence, that the natural world is the only world there is and that answers to the key questions of human existence are to be found only in that natural world * to stimulate freedom of thought, and to promote inquiry into religious beliefs and practices * to encourage interest in science, criticism and philosophy, as connected factors in a progressive human culture, independent of theological creeds and dogmas * to promote the fullest possible use of science for human welfare * to promote a secular and ethical system of education * to print, publish or re-issue any journal, magazine, newspaper or other periodical publication and standard or notable books on science, criticism, ethics or philosophy, and to support the printing, publication or reissuing of the same by any other person * to aid the progress of rationalism by means of literature, popular scientific lectures, and other promotions. The RSA publishes the ''Australian Rationalist'' journal. Issues are archived in the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

, and previous issues of the journal can be found on their website. Victoria University maintains a Rationalist Collection from the society. Contributors have included Brian Fitzpatrick and

Ian Robinson Ian Robinson may refer to: *Ian Robinson (Australian football umpire) (born 1946), Australian Football League umpire active in the 1970s and 1980s *Ian Robinson (Australian politician) (1925–2017), Australian MP *Ian Robinson (author) (1937–202 ...

. The

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for statistical collection and analysis and for giving evidence-based advice to federal, state and territory governments ...

in the national

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

categorises rationalists under "No Religion". In the , 29.6% of respondents (or 6,933,708 people) selected "no religion" or

irreligious Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ant ...

, a category that includes rationalists as well as

Humanists Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanis ...

agnostics Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

and

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

References

Year Book Australia, 2006. Religious Affiliation section
from

. Much of the text of

is taken from here (or previous versions).

External links

* for Rationalist Society of Australia
Human Rights Brief No. 3
Assessment of international law pertaining to freedom of religion and belief from Australian

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but opera ...

Rationalism Skeptic organisations in Australia 1906 establishments in Australia {{Australia-org-stub

See also

Australian topics

Other topics

References

External links