“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Meg [Margaret] Wallace, a distinguished author, tireless advocate for secularism, and former president of the Secular Association of NSW. Meg passed away [on 4th August 2024] peacefully, leaving behind a legacy of thought leadership and activism that profoundly impacted the humanist and secular communities in Australia and beyond.
Meg was the author of the influential book “Freedom From Religion: Rethinking Article 18,” a critical examination of religious freedom in the context of human rights. This book showed that as well as freedom of religion we need a stronger focus on freedom from religion to fully realise human rights for everyone. Her work has been celebrated for its rigorous analysis and compelling argumentation, challenging us all to reconsider the role of religion in public life and the importance of maintaining a secular state.
As president of the Secular Association of NSW, Meg was a respected leader who championed the cause of secularism with unwavering dedication. She worked tirelessly to promote the separation of church and state, advocating for policies that protect the rights of all individuals, regardless of their religious beliefs or lack thereof. Her leadership, integrity, and passion for justice inspired many to join the movement for a more just and equitable society.
Meg leaves behind her husband, Max Wallace, a loving partner who shared in her commitment to humanist principles and whose own work has also made significant contributions to the secular movement.
Meg’s passing is a tremendous loss to the humanist [and secular] community, but her legacy will endure in the many lives she touched and the ideals she fought for so passionately. As we mourn her loss, we also celebrate the extraordinary life she lived and the enduring impact of her work.
Meg Wallace will be remembered not only for her remarkable contributions to secular thought but also for her indomitable spirit and the profound sense of purpose she brought to everything she did. Her memory will continue to inspire us as we carry forward the causes she held so dear.”
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As requested by her loving husband, Max Wallace, we are reminded of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds:
Admit impediments; love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever-fixèd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand’ring bark
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come.
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom:
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Copyright Credits:
1. Mary-Anne Cosgrove. “Meg Wallace | In Memorandum” from Humanists Australia.
2. William Shakespeare. “Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds” from SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS. London: G. Eld for T. T. and sold by William Aspley, 1609.