Two steps forward...

[Hermit]

Australia prides itself on being a pretty laid back, secular nation, but if the former Prime Minister John Howard's policies haven't already done so, the education department in the state of Victoria shows that theocratic tendencies have not been brought under control yet, let alone rooted out.

Backlash as God forced into schools
Michael Bachelard March 27, 2011

THE Victorian Education Department is forcing public primary schools to run Christian education classes taught by volunteers, angering parents and schools that do not want to host them.

An email exchange, obtained by The Sunday Age, reveals the department told one parent that his school ''must'' keep its Christian religious instructor whether it wanted to or not.

A number of Melbourne primary schools have questioned whether students should be taught about Christianity. But the department and Christian religious education provider Access Ministries says they have no choice.



This comes as the Humanist Society of Victoria takes legal action against the department, claiming children who opt out of ''special religious instruction'' are being discriminated against.

Under Education Department guidelines children who opt out are not allowed to do other school work and are often forced to sit at the back of the class, or in quiet rooms or corridors while religious education is under way.

Hawthorn West Primary School parent Tim Heasley recently tried to challenge the hosting of Christian classes at the school, telling Education Department senior policy officer Christine Pinto the school should be able to reject religious instruction if it wanted to.

He pointed to the state legislation that says religious instruction ''may be given''.

But Ms Pinto told Mr Heasley that his school must continue to offer it.

''The word 'may' used in … the Education and Training Reform Act … is interpreted as 'must' to conform with the original intent of the Victorian legislation,'' she wrote late last year in an email to Mr Heasley.

''This interpretation (of 'may' = 'must') was confirmed … when the Act was introduced in Victoria in 2006,'' she wrote.

The department's lawyers later confirmed this advice in separate emails to Mr Heasley and in response to questions from The Sunday Age.

A department spokeswoman said schools ''must comply with their obligations under the Act and any departmental policy''.

Mr Heasley, a lawyer, said the department's interpretation was insupportable. At a recent school council meeting, he moved to end religious instruction at the school, but the move failed.

Principal Robert Webb told The Sunday Age that the school had appointed a working party to assess the community's views on religious instruction.

''My impression is there's a lot of schools watching what we're doing,'' Mr Webb said.

The Sunday Age understands another Melbourne school came under pressure earlier this year when it tried to move religious instruction to 8.30am on Tuesdays, outside school hours. The school is negotiating with Access Ministries and the department.

Access Ministries has 4000 volunteers who teach in two-thirds of Victorian primary schools. Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Baha'i, Greek Orthodox, Hare Krishna and Roman Catholic courses are also accredited, but Access provides 96 per cent of ''special religious instruction''.

Children must attend the half-hour classes unless their parents choose for them to opt out.

Monash University academic Anna Halafoff said non-Christian parents often expressed concern at the way religious education was structured in Victoria.

''The way it's being taught is not facilitating a general religious literacy,'' she said. ''Depending on which individual is teaching it … it might further aggravate prejudices or misunderstandings about certain groups.''

Access Ministries chairman Stephen Hale said when religious instruction was last reviewed in 2006, the community had overwhelmingly supported it.

He likened Christian education to environment lessons, saying it was ''not just about teaching things in a neutral way,'' but encouraging children to have an opinion and ''be committed to doing something''.

The Humanist Society has written to all state primary schools saying they do not have to offer religious instruction. The society has also set up a website, http://www.religionsinschool.com, to garner views on the issue.

(Bolding added)

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I read about a place in Canada where the only school available is a Catholic school. The government won't provide public schooling there. Town has about 8,000 IIRC. You'd think they'd have a gym or basement some place where non-crazy education could be done away from pedo priests.

[Magicziggy]

1000 extra chaplains to be dispatched into state schools

THE Gillard Government will dispatch another 1000 chaplains into state schools across the country.
CHAPLAINS will be placed in up to 1000 additional schools and outstanding teachers handed cash bonuses as part of a major education spend.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan told Parliament schools spending formed part of the "core" of this Budget.

The $222 million boost to the National Schools Chaplaincy scheme will expand the program at 2700 existing schools and introduce it in up to 1000 additional schools.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/extra-cha ... 6053506274

Nooooooooooooooo...

Australia, you are being brainwashed by the churches.

Fuck, this is depressing. It's just the foothold they want.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Law suit time?

[Magicziggy]

I have to read this again to cheer myself up.

http://www.27bslash6.com/easter.html

Whilst I haven't had a correspondance like this, schools in Adelaide do, as a matter of course organise Christian church activites throught the chaplain.
And the kids get a choice of go, or sit in a room doing work and be seen to be not cool by their friends.

Bah!

[Feck]

[Hermit]

Law suit time?

Shoot a chaplain time.

Or a thousand.

Not much different to Howard, is she? Neither of them seem to approve of the separation between Church and State.

[nellikin]

My kids prefer sitting in a room reading to singing/talking about god. At least they get to read a book instead. And after I had a chat to the secretary, all religious connotations of easter seemed to disappear from the school agenda this year, leaving them eating chocolate whilst parading around in funny hats. Now to tackle childhood obesity...

[Mysturji]

What's the problem?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

He's funny lookin'.

[Svartalf]

Law suit time?

I doubt Oz has the same protections against religion and state conspiring to bugger the citizenry as you yanks have... for all I know, they even have the CoE (or whatever local equivalent there may be) for a state religion the same way they still got the damn hanovers for asses of state

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Law suit time?

I doubt Oz has the same protections against religion and state conspiring to bugger the citizenry as you yanks have... for all I know, they even have the CoE (or whatever local equivalent there may be) for a state religion the same way they still got the damn hanovers for asses of state

If five thousand Ozzies filed five thousand lawsuits, the government might get the idea.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

There's no such thing as evolution. There's no such thing as climate change. And that's the law.

Outrageous as it sounds, this is the situation that thousands of science teachers find themselves in as more and more states pass radical laws promoting the teaching of creationism and climate-change denial in public classrooms.

But in Louisiana, one high school senior is fighting back.

Zack Kopplin is just 17 years old, but he knows what's right: He wants his science teachers to teach him science, not religion. Zack is spearheading a campaign to repeal the Louisiana law that pushes science teachers to deny evolution and climate change.

Zack wrote a letter to the Louisiana state legislature, and 42 Nobel Prize winners have signed it, too. Now, he's asking you to join his fight on Change.org.

Zack's campaign is working: On April 15th, Louisiana State Senator Karen Carter Peterson introduced a bill to repeal the repeal the recent legislation, but Zack still needs help to keep the pressure up.

Please sign the petition today to tell the Louisiana legislature to let science teachers teach science:

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-lo ... nge-denial

Thanks for taking action,

- Patrick and the Change.org team

[Hermit]

Law suit time?

I doubt Oz has the same protections against religion and state conspiring to bugger the citizenry as you yanks have... for all I know, they even have the CoE (or whatever local equivalent there may be) for a state religion the same way they still got the damn hanovers for asses of state

If five thousand Ozzies filed five thousand lawsuits, the government might get the idea.

No case can be made. We don't have a law we could say was broken.

[Svartalf]

Tort law. Introducing dogma in education possibly causing trouble for the kid's further schooling if he learns as truth stuff that will let him laughed out of serious universities, or cause damage to children of atheists, non chretins, and members of disfavored denoms who might get harassed by the religious guys put in positions of authority and their influence over school staff.