I am often dismayed [nice for 'seriously fucked off] by the righteous belief the religious have that their special creation myths should hold some special sanctified position, above criticism and examination, in the same society in which I live. It mystifies me how in this age where transport, science and technology have made the world a very small place indeed – and where we finally have the means to banish superstition to the dusty tomes of history – there is still so much that influences our daily lives dictated by belief in violent and terrible ancient superstitions and myths.
This is nowhere more apparent than in the fight to remove religion from public schools. Whether embroiled in the Creationist-Darwinian fights of America or the teaching of Christian classes here in our schools the issue is the same. Educators believe themselves above their mandate to educate in facts and take it on as some nobel right to feed impressionable children their own brand of religious Koolaid. Religious indoctrinators are able to enter the classroom with impunity to teach our kids whatever they feel like without our consent.
So it came as no surprise to me that the church is whining and crying fowl as soon as a few schools in New South Wales began trialling a viable alternative to scripture class.
At first, given the vehemence with which they are taking up the matter with fundraisers and officials in the government we might be led to believe that these classes are promoting something sinister and of real detriment to the kids and the entire fabric of society. the reality is that no such thing has happened. Children in ten New South Wales state schools have been given an alternative to scripture class in the form of a secular ethics class. These classes have been funded and endorsed by the Federation of Parents and the Citizens’ Association of New South Wales. The curriculum was put together by Professor Phillip Cam from the University of New South Wales and will introduce children to topics like understanding moral dilemmas, fairness, issues of judgement, children’s rights, lying and telling the truth and compassion towards each other and our environment. [Seriously fundies, what the fuck is wrong with that?]
To date, children have had the right to not attend scripture class, however an insidious form of peer rejection is associated with this. Reports of kids being left sitting in hallways unsupervised or made to sit in isolation in empty classrooms or the library mean that most kids during their impressionable developmental years will attend the scripture class to not be the odd one out in their group of peers.
So what happened when a real viable alternative was offered? [it was embraced as a positive step towards teaching kids values and making them better human beings? ... please let that be the answer.] Accounts of attendance are showing that 47% of kids dropped out of scripture class, estimates are that next year 60%+ will be attending the ethics class and the religious community has erupted in very un-Christian like outrage.
The religious leaders are squealing like stuck pigs, crying foul that their pretentious positions of authority have been undermined. A fundraising website to protect ‘special religious education’ has sprung up stating that the objective of the secular classes is not to teach children ethics without the healthy lashings of guilt and bronze age creation myths but to:
‘remove Jesus Christ from the state school system and from the consciousness and hearts of the next generation.’
[must have been in a secret email by Prof Cam ... let's see if we can kill Jesus in schools ... *sigh*]
They go on to say that:
‘if we lose religious education, we risk losing true, fundamental ‘ethics’ that have underpinned Australia’s moral framework for hundreds of years.’
[because history is chock full of examples of the church leading the way in enlightened ethics that underpin society ... yah right!]
The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen is pressuring the NSW premier, Kristina Jeneally, to allow the Anglican Church to have input into the ethics classes [because a fraternity of kiddy fiddling old men who know a story book off by heart are far better placed than an internationally recognised professor with experience in child education...] – really?, can’t they handle a little competition, surely their religious classes should be able to stand on the merit of its own teachings and attendance figures without having to medal in a secular class [let me repeat that with emphasis ... SECULAR ... ]
A flurry of protest and demonstration drummed up in opposition to the teaching of values and honest to children without the religious guilt and bumf has forced Verity Firth (education minister) to refuse to guarantee the continuation of these classes – perhaps use the link which follows to let Verity know what you think of the fact that she, as a government elected official there to serve the needs of all the people, is pandering to the unelected heads of tax exempt supernatural charities and organisations http://www.verityfirth.com/contact.aspx
[Dear Verity, when we elected you to stand as an educational representative for our children we had no idea you were such a spineless coward...]
We live in a multicultural society here in Australia, a land made up primarily of immigrants from all over the globe in the not too distant past. When Australia’s Federal Constitution was drafted in 1901, section 116 of the Constitution was penned in a way that attempted to mimic the American separation of Church and state:
The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.
A number of political decisions and appointments have subverted this message over the last few decades – in the 1950′s Sir Robert Menzies, Australia’s Prime Minister at the time, took it upon himself to grant state aid to Catholic schools; a decision which has almost class ramifications in the education system to this day. In 2001, John Howard appointed the Anglican Archbishop Peter Hollingworth as governor-general of Australia – a decision which was met with much public criticism that fell on deaf ears. He relinquished the office only later when it came out that he had attempted to cover up several instances of child sexual abuse [a decision that would no doubt have met with the approval of our current pope]. In 2002 a civil suit was lodged against Hollingworth by Rosemary Ann Jarmyn when she identified Hollingworth as the man who raped her during a church youth camp. Jarmyn committed suicide in April 2003 and Hollingworth relinquished the reigns of office during the trial.
I don’t believe I am alone in believing that the church has had too much free reign when it comes to matters of state and state run entities like the public schools. I have a say and a vote in the representatives who run the country so why don’t I have a choice over what it taught to my child? Under no circumstances should religious denominations of any form be allowed to enter schools as they see fit to preach their toxic beliefs to a captive and impressionable audience.
I for one am glad to see a valuable life skill like secular ethics offered as a course in schools where children can learn valuable life skills without fear of hell, eternal damnation or the crazy warped moral values of religion. I hope that in a short time the majority of kids will choose these secular classes over their scriptural counterparts and that their success spreads to every school in the land. I hope that their septic spewings from the pulpit dry up in schools like drought addled vines and the indoctrinators retreat to their unattended Sunday sermons to lick their wounds and contemplate the end of their days of any form of influence or power in our education system.
Enough is enough.
My wife’s a genius for organising this!
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