Students to be taught there's no God

[Ayla]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24797395-29277,00.html


VICTORIAN state primary school students will soon be able to take religious education classes which teach there is no evidence God exists.
The Humanist Society of Victoria has developed a curriculum for primary pupils that the state government accreditation body says it intends to approve, The Sunday Age newspaper reported.

Accredited volunteers will be able to teach their philosophy in the class time allotted for religious instruction, the newspaper said.

As with lessons delivered by faith groups, parents will be able to request that their children do not participate.

"Atheistical parents will be pleased to hear that humanistic courses of ethics will soon be available in some state schools," Victorian Humanist Society president Stephen Stuart said.

The society does not consider itself to be a religious organisation and believes ethics have "no necessary connection with religion".

Humanists believe people are responsible for their own destiny and reject the notion of a supernatural force or God.

On a related note, I used to HATE it that in the RE period, anyone who wasn't religious was sent to do extra school work. It totally came off as a punishment for not believing in something :headshake

[Ayla]

Poll on NineMSN (http://ninemsn.com.au/) (underneath the main story photo) "Is it right to teach students the logic behind atheism?"

[Beatrice]

That's such a brilliant idea. Pity it's taken so long. This article (http://www.theage.com.au/national/religion-in-schools-to-go-godfree-20081213-6xxs.html?page=-1) is a bit longer and has much funnier quotes in it from outraged missionaries :lol I'm loving the comments protecting their patch - yep, RE should be Christian because we're a Christian country orright :rolleyes

Incidentally, I won prizes in RE in primary school. Think my teacher would be proud of me today? :rofl

[Janet]

Here's another nice blog entry. http://viv.id.au/blog/?p=2963

My state high school had religious heads of different areas so yes we atheists got punished in various ways. Obviously the punishment of going straight to hell for our heathen ways was not enough and needed supplementing. :wanker

[Asrathiel]

Fundamentalist Christian group the Salt Shakers panned the idea of humanists being given religious education class time.
Research director Jenny Stokes said: "If you go there, where do you stop? What about witchcraft or Satanism?
"If you accredit humanism, then those things would have an equal claim to be taught in schools."



Cool! Witchcraft classes! :D

[Asrathiel]

Access Ministries chief executive Evonne Paddison said while it was not her decision as to who should or should not have access to state schools, she did not think humanism fell under "the relevant legislation to be classified as a faith-based religion in religious instruction in the way that Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism" did.

Aww, she didn't mention Paganism :P

[Sarasvati]

Hinduism IS a pagan religion :lol

[Janet]

:lol