Don’t expel God from our children’s classrooms

Enraged secularist elites are digging in their heels in a bid to get God out of the National Curriculum and out of our public schools, insisting that religion should be taught in the home and not in the classroom.

But the review of the National Curriculum provides a welcome opportunity to ensure Australian kids are given every chance to grow into the best 21st-century citizens they can become.

Opponents of religious education in public schools, such as the Rationalist Society and the Secular Party, insist that teaching kids about religion is indoctrination, and that the state should have no part in it.

They also argue that teaching about specific religions in an increasingly multi-faith and culturally diverse country is potentially divisive by promoting social exclusion and marginalisation.

These same opponents are often the most ardent advocates of government-backed multiculturalism and maintain that all cultures are equal in value and worth.

But if our children are to grow up celebrating the cultural diversity of Australian society, as we hope they will, they should be educated about that diversity.

Kevin Donnelly, a leading conservative education commentator, says there should be more religion, not less, in our public schools. He wants to see our kids better informed about the world’s great religions. Being taught what to believe about God — best done at home or in places of worship — is very different from being taught what others believe about God and how those beliefs shape society.

With 61 per cent of the Australian population reporting an affiliation with Christianity, an understanding of this religion is vital for students to understand modern Australia, but so is an understanding of Islam, Judaism or Hinduism — the fastest-growing religion in Australia.

Western countries are working hard to hold Islamist extremism in check but we have already seen placards calling for beheadings carried through the streets of Sydney.

We have a duty to teach our children diligently about religion so they will be better equipped to respond when religion turns bad.

It is because Australia is a secular country with no religion favoured or imposed by the state that the classroom is the best place to learn.

We should be encouraging teachers to give religious and non-religious students alike the very best opportunity to learn about different religions.

Don’t boot God out of the Australian classroom.

Peter Kurti is a Research Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies.