Humanist SA—Vol 1, Issue 1
July, 2014
CAHS Convention—A Rousing Success
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n May this year the HSSA hosted the
Council of Australian Humanist
Societies Convention. Humanists from
around Australia gathered in Adelaide for three
days of conviviality, debate and, hopefully,
some inspiration.
The formalities began on the Saturday morning
with the AGM held in North Adelaide.
Delegates and guests filled the room and there
was a lot of interest in the areas covered in the
agenda, especially the thorny question of what
the CAHS position should be in regard to
religious education in schools. As in 2013 the
matter remained un-resolved with the different
states all holding different positions on the
issue.
CAHS President, Paul Zagoridis of the Australian Humanist of the Year
Award to Geoffrey Robertson Q.C. and his acceptance speech, made via
phone from The Hague.
Geoffrey’s Speech touched on many aspects of Human Rights including
some very pertinent observations about current events
(Continued on page 3)
A Lively discussion during the Australian Humanist of the Year award dinner
After the rigorous debates of the AGM
attendees were more than ready to relax
at the dinner on the Saturday night. The
highlight of the event was the awarding by
This Issue
CAHS Convention Review—A
Rousing Success .............1,3
School Chaplaincy—Why? Or
WTF? .............................1,2
SA’s Humanists ....................... 2
For the Calendar ................ Back
From the Editor ................. Back
The School Chaplaincy Program
Why? Or WTF?
Australia is becoming an increasingly multicultural and multireligious society. Successive
censuses tell us that such religions as Hinduism and Islam are
on the rise while Christianity of
every denomination is declining.
However the biggest rise in
terms of religion in this country
is that of the non-religious, a rise
which has been accelerating
Stewart Henderson
over the past couple of decades.
Given these facts, what are we
to make of successive federal
governments seeking to impose
Christian representatives on our
state school system—a system
that has long prided itself on being secular? ‘Puzzling’ might be
one word to describe it—but
surely that would be too mild.
(Continued on page 2)
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