I posted yesterday on the Australian Democrats' "God and Government" Survey. As promised, here's my answers to a couple of the questions:
5. Should RE [standard Religious Education in public schools] be linked to a particular religious faith or should it be more about comparing differing religious beliefs? I struggle with these kind of "make a rule for everyone" questions because I believe Christianity is firstly a personal faith. My overriding thought answering this question is that God doesn't force us to believe certain things, so why should I? However I know that the Bible is true, and God is real, and I would like to see that continue to be taught in schools.
6. Should classes in ethics be taught as an alternative to RE? The quality and source of the material is a question here. Although I reckon it's important to know about ethics, scrapping RE for ethics is not something I'd like to see happen.
10. Should funding for school chaplains be redirected towards funding for professional counsellors? The survey makes it clear that these chaplains come from a variety of religious backgrounds (so we're not just talking a Roman Catholic priest or Methodist minister). I feel that schools should be allowed to have chaplains that are funded by the government; the "professional counsellor" sounds like a good idea, but not at the expense of a faith-based chaplain. I'm not sure exactly how chaplains are used in schools, but I see the breadth of the chaplain's role to be wide enough to incorporate counselling (with proper accreditation), whereas a "professional counsellor" seems a bit more limited.
11. Should school chaplains be subject to minimum educational qualifications regarding youth work? Yes. This might raise the bar for entry into this kind of job, but as a Dad whose son is about to start school next year, I feel safer with a level of training and professionalism from the people who work with my children.
Thoughts?
Tags: personal, religion, government, faith, quiz
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