We stand for:
- A woman’s right to choose an abortion
- Voluntary euthanasia
- The right to die
- Embryonic stem cell research
- Same-sex marriage
We stand against:
- Censorship
- Religious indoctrination of children
- Counter-productive “anti-terror” restrictions on civil liberties
The Secular Party of Australia strongly believes in personal freedom.
Religious beliefs can have an unwarranted tendency to intrude into moral affairs. Religious people often claim the right to prevent others from engaging in harmless consensual activity, merely because they are offended on the basis of their religious preconceptions. We oppose such intrusion. We believe in equality in all respects.
Religious beliefs may also lead people to seek to prevent scientific research that benefits all humanity. We oppose such detrimental interference, which is often based on religious notions of morality that have no objective basis.
The Secular Party believes that children should be protected from harmful influences. They should be able, through education, to develop to their full potential as human beings, with the capacity for freedom of thought unimpaired by religious biases. We are opposed to religious indoctrination in education, including by way of the wearing of religious attire in schools.
A major problem with the religiously inspired ‘war on terror’ is that it is likely to make the problem of terrorism worse. The restrictions on freedom of speech and association that have been imposed in this cause may result in greater alienation, hence encouraging covert activities. The Secular Party believes in the free expression of religious views, so that the nature of such views becomes more readily apparent.
I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. Richard Dawkins