THE DEBATE ABOUT CRE IN VICTORIAN SCHOOLS

When you visit the religionsinschools.com website, you are immediately confronted with a picture of Fr Bob McGuire and a quote: “At school, there ought to be a general religious curriculum to introduce children to the ideas and motivations and rituals – in a word the ethos – of all the religions.”

Really? All the religions? Must schoolchildren be taught about Sikhism, Shinto, Scientology, Mormonism, Bahai, Unification Church, etc, etc? And what about all the multiple sects of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism? Sorry, Fr Bob, there literally wouldn’t be time for anything else in the school curriculum.

Christianity is different because a basic understanding of Christianity is necessary for understanding Australia and the values that have made us what we are.

Back to the FIRIS (Fairness In Religion In Schools) website. Another headline quote comes from Cathy Byrne who, among other things, a sociology and ethics teacher. She says: “It is time to expel dogma, discimination and special privileges and to teach children to think critically about religious ideas and ethical worldviews.”

Well, Cathy, the CRE program in Victoria is certainly not pushing dogma. Volunteer teachers cop a lot of very unfair flak on this website and others like it. They are actually trained to say “Christians believe…” rather than to dogmatically assert their own beliefs.

Jacqui Tomlins, another freelance writer, says: “Why would you expose your kids to unqualified volunteers teaching a curriculum you know very little about? And do you really believe they’re teaching acceptance, tolerance and open-mindedness – or something else entirely?”

Well Jacqui, you can always opt your own children out of the CRE program. But the truth is that CRE helps to open the minds of children to things that are otherwise kept from them in school. Do you really think that your lack of “acceptance, tolerance and open-mindedness” when it comes to CRE is helping to broaden the minds of children. I would suggest you are doing the exact opposite.

The battle over religion in schools is dangerous because it’s being fought on the wrong issues. A truly comprehensive, multicultural approach to religion in schools is impossible but, I repeat, Christianity deserves special privilege in Australian schools because Christianity has been by far the dominant religion ever since the First Fleet.

If you are a Christian reading this, I urge you to pray for Access Ministries, the provider of CRE in Victoria. They really are facing extraordinary pressure at the moment, despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of schools appreciate the half-hour CRE class each week and the volunteers who work so hard to do it well.