Brights News Feed

Stonehenge has long been a symbol of anything. To some it is a work of secular awe, a scientific instrument for connecting to the calendar of the cosmos. For others it is a work of pagan veneration, born of a religious impulse for a mystic beyond. For yet others it is some big stones that don’t even have a roof.

Now, achaeologists have announced the discovery and excavation of a village, of possibly many dozens of houses, a short distance from the site. The settlement dates from the time of stonehenge’s construction, around 4,600 years ago. The interpretation of this new finding parallels the symbolic ambiguity of the monument itself, this time with the divide falling along national borders.

For the British, the BBC reports the discovery of “Stonehenge builders’ houses“. For the Americans, the LA Times reports the unearthing of a “religious complex“. And for the Australians, The Australian reports the discovery of a “party village“.

As the Australian government plans to fund chaplains in state schools to promote “values”, Rationalist Society of Australia President, Ian Robinson, responds with scathing admonition.

This is another nail in the coffin of a viable free, compulsory and secular education system in Australia. The PM’s justification for this use of tax-payers money to subsidise superstition is that the schools need the “values” that the chaplains can provide.

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Despite many Australians pushing for ever more secular education (Catholic News: “Parents seek non-religious alternative to school scripture classes“) speakers at a Christian forum in Parliament House, Canberra, have argued (The Australian: “Christian MPs meeting hits back at secularism“) that Christianity was under “consistent attack” and “should be re-established as the dominant belief system in Australia.”

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