Can human rights unite people of faith, agnostics and atheists? 
We have the honour and pleasure of the Australian Human Rights Commissioner Ed Santow presenting to Sydney Atheists, attempting to answer a very difficult question. With the animosity shown to us by people of faith, his response will be illuminating.

Ed Santow

Edward Santow commenced his five-year term as Human Rights Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission in August 2016.
Prior to joining the Commission, Ed was chief executive of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, a leading non-profit organisation that promotes human rights through strategic litigation, policy development and education.
Ed was previously a Senior Lecturer at UNSW Law School and a research director at the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law. His areas of expertise include human rights, administrative and constitutional law, discrimination and freedom of information.
As Human Rights Commissioner, Ed leads the Commission’s work on marriage equality and other human rights issues affecting LGBTI Australians. Ed also leads the Commission’s work on the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) and he has primary responsibility for the Commission’s work on freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of religion.
Ed is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and serves on a number of boards and committees, including the Australia Pro Bono Centre. In 2009, Ed was presented with an Australian Leadership Award, and in 2017, he was recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Entry to this event will be $5.00 for supporter members of Sydney Atheists and $10.00 for non supporter attendees. Annual Supporter membership is only $20. To become a supporter member, please go to:http://www.sydneyatheists.org/p/donations-and-membership.html


To purchase advance tickets, please go to: https://www.trybooking.com/SHUW

Our talk events are held 7.00pm at the Function Room at Club Redfern:
2nd Floor, 159 Redfern St
REDFERN, NSW 2000


NB Khalid Almulhim has replaced Thomas Kraemer as our Public Relations officer
The committee now consists of Steve Marton, Jessica Nissan, Caroline Wykamp, Semih Ilhan, Mohamed Farahat, Mike Beecham and Khalid

Ethics - An evening with Simon Longstaff

This evening we will turn the tables on Simon Longstaff as Steve Marton will interview Simon on this occasion. Dr Simon Longstaff is the Executive Director of the Ethics Centre. This centre started Ethics Classes in schools, runs IQ2 and has run the Festival of Dangerous Ideas at which Simon is usually the host and interviewer. The Ethics Centre provides direction, information and advice to the public, institutions, corporations and government on ethical matters. It is one of the most important organisations for honesty and integrity in Australia.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DR SIMON LONGSTAFF AO FCPA
Simon’s distinguished career includes being named as one of AFR Boss’ True Leaders for the 21st century, with Carol Schwartz noting; "I don’t know one CEO or chairman in corporate Australia who has not worked with Simon Longstaff". Simon Longstaff began his working life on Groote Eylandt (Anindilyakwa) in the Northern Territory where he worked in the Safety Department of the then BHP subsidiary, GEMCO. He is proud of his kinship ties with members of the island’s Indigenous community. Following a period studying law in Sydney and a brief career teaching in Tasmania, Simon undertook postgraduate studies in philosophy as a Member of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Simon commenced his work as the first Executive Director of The Ethics Centre in 1991. Simon is a Fellow of CPA Australia and in June 2016, was appointed an Honorary Professor at the Australian National University – based at the National Centre for Indigenous Studies. Formerly serving as the inaugural President of The Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics, Simon serves on a number of boards and committees across a broad spectrum of activities. He was formerly a Fellow of the World Economic Forum.

Friday 13th of October at 7.00pm

Function Room
2nd Floor, 159 Redfern St
REDFERN, NSW 2000
RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/sydneyatheists/events/242216112/
or purchase tickets at https://www.trybooking.com/SAHA

Ramasamy and the evolution of Atheism in Southern India
Balaji Abayavaratheswaran will present the history of Atheism in the southern region of the second most populated country on earth. He will discuss E.V.Ramasamy and his impact on generations of Indians. E.V.Ramasamy was a rationalist who rejected God.

For more details and to RSVP please go to  https://www.meetup.com/sydneyatheists/events/238894209/

Is judgment at the centre of thinking about right and wrong?

It gives us great pleasure to have our Friday the 11th of August presentation by Emeritus Professor Max Deutscher, Honorary Professor in Philosophy from Macquarie University and the University of Queensland. Max is also the author of "In sensible judgement" and "Judgement after Arendt" He will provide us with a philosophical treat not only discussing his wide experience in judgement, right and wrong, but also touching on the works of philosophical masters such as Immanuel Kant, David Hume and more recently Alice Crary.


This is a night to be savoured.
7.00pm at Club Redfern, 159 Redfern Street Redfern



If you are a Sydney Atheists member, RSVP here:  https://www.meetup.com/sydneyatheists/events/240857053/

or purchase tickets here:  https://www.trybooking.com/QYXO

Census 2016

No religion has increased by 31% from 2011 making up at least 30% of Australia's community. More and more Australians are waking up to the fraud that is religion.

http://www.news.com.au/national/no-religion-tops-religion-question-in-census/news-story/a3b45e6b2e35df695932a83535078f51

national

‘No religion’ tops religion question in Census

JUNE 27, 20173:51PM

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Are Australians turning into a nation of nonbelievers?

Charis Chang and AAPnews.com.au

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DESPITE a scare campaign about Australia becoming a “Muslim country”, those ticking “no religion” in the Census has now overtaken the number of Catholics.

It’s the first time in Australia’s history the number of people who claim “no religion” has overtaken Catholics.

The latest Census drop showed those ticking “no religion” rose from 22.6 per cent to 29.6 per cent — nearly double the 16 per cent in 2001.

Meanwhile, those identifying as Catholic dropped from 25.3 per cent to 22.6 per cent.

The number of Christians in total still made up 51 per cent of the population, but this is much less than the 88 per cent in 1966 and 74 per cent in 1991.

Islam (2.6 per cent) and Buddhism (2.4 per cent) were the next most common religions reported.

Islam grew from 2.2 per cent in 2011, overtaking Buddhism, which dropped from 2.5 per cent, to become the most popular non-Christian religion.

The religion question was controversial this year, with Australians warned not to mark “no religion” on the Census survey by those afraid the nation would become a “Muslim country”.

An email was circulated that asked Australians to avoid the “no religion” option as this would give prominence to Muslims.

Those reporting no religion increased noticeably from 19 per cent in 2006 to 30 per cent in 2016. The largest change was between 2011 (22 per cent) and 2016, when an additional 2.2 million people reported having no religion.

But it was Hinduism that had the most significant growth between 2006 and 2016, driven by immigration from South Asia.

Those who did not answer the religion question, which is the only non-compulsory question in the Census, was 9.6 per cent, up slightly from 9.2 per cent in 2011.

The results show Australia remains a predominantly religious country, with 60 per cent of people reporting a religious affiliation but the trend towards “no religion” has some calling for changes.

The Atheist Foundation of Australia said it was time to stop pandering to religious minorities and to take religion out of politics.

AFA president Kylie Sturgess said political, business and cultural leaders needed to listen to the non-religious when it came to public policy that’s based on evidence, not religious beliefs.

“This includes policy on abortion, marriage equality, voluntary euthanasia, religious education in state schools and anything else where religious beliefs hold undue influence,” she said.

She said certain religious groups seemed to get automatic consideration in the public policy sphere and to enjoy a privileged position that wasn’t afforded to other large groups, such as the non-religious.

“That has to stop. Politicians, business leaders and influencers take heed: this is an important milestone in Australia’s history. Those who marked down ‘No religion’ deserve much more recognition. We will be making our opinions known, and there’s power in numbers.”

How likely a person was to identify as religious in 2016 had a lot to do with their age.

Young adults aged 18-34 were more likely to be affiliated with religions other than Christianity (12 per cent) and to report not having a religion (39 per cent) than other adult age groups.

Older age groups, particularly those aged 65 years and over, were more likely to report Christianity.

In terms of states, New South Wales had the highest religious affiliation (66 per cent of people reporting a religious affiliation), while Tasmania (53 per cent) was the lowest.

An earlier release of Census data in April showed the typical Australian was now a 38-year-old married woman with two children.

Why don't you just leave? Why ending an abusive relationship is not simple.

Sydney Atheists Talks cover areas as diverse as psychology, philosophy, science, technology, religion and of course atheism. The talk this evening will relate to psychology.



This evening Mary will share a personal journey of meeting and falling in love with a psychopath. Mary's story examines the master manipulator and how a smart, professional woman could fall for such a nasty person. Mary also explains why, when a relationship turns violent it isn't always easy to "just leave" as there are many layers of complexity behind an abusive relationship.

Mary has been on a 2 year journey of self-forgiveness and what has been described by health professionals as surviving PTSD.

Susan has a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics), has a long career as an energy professional and is now studying Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy).

Entry to this event will be $5.00 for supporter members of Sydney Atheists and $10.00 for non supporter attendees. Annual Supporter membership is only $20. To become a supporter member, please go to:http://www.sydneyatheists.org/p/donations-and-membership.html

Our talk events are held at the Function Room at Club Redfern:

2nd Floor, 159 Redfern St
REDFERN, NSW 2000
RSVP here: https://www.meetup.com/sydneyatheists/events/239076010/

From Wahhabi Islam to Christianity to Atheism - an extraordinary journey

Khalid, who grew up in Saudi Arabia will discuss his experience of abandoning Islam, converting to Christianity then ultimately abandoning all the religions and becoming an atheist.He will discuss life in Saudi Arabia and the negativity of its religion,the unjust rules, treatment of women, discouraging music, arts and freedom of speech. Khalid will also discuss the teachings in school from an early age and how they affect the actions of people to do irrational and violent things. Even in a public school (not a religious one), around one third of the courses given are religious ones.

Entry to this event will be $5.00 for supporter members of Sydney Atheists and $10.00 for non supporter attendees. Annual Supporter membership is only $20. To become a supporter member, please go to:http://www.sydneyatheists.org/p/donations-and-membership.html

Our talk events are held at the Function Room at Club Redfern:

2nd Floor, 159 Redfern St
REDFERN, NSW 2000

RSVP https://www.meetup.com/sydneyatheists/events/237991008/