Secular does not mean anything goes. Australia like most free countries in the western world has its constitution based on Christian principles. Therefore observance of prayer in parliament, Christian holidays, judicial system, etc..., are all affected at least morally by Christianity.

Having said that I sympathise with Syed and his difficulty in explaining and accepting the fact that the minorities have to ‘suffer’ when not in a majority surround.

One suggestion is to allow discretional “holy days” to be taken by individual religions and sects. The chaotic outcome may be balanced by increased productivity (happier workers) and a better sense of community.

But until then majority rules.

Syed: A 'sneaky?' way to get pagan islam into the schools it seems to me.
What's to stop you taking your children out of schools for your special days?
I bet if the school explained Christmas/Easter or whatever about the Christian faith to ALL students there would be an outcry from you people.
Yet it appears that you want this day perhaps taught to ALL children. Not to convert or confuse of course? but just using your freedom of choice, freedom of religion and promoting religious togetherness - Oh yes Syed.
You people forget that most of us can see daily the brutality, filth, corruption and dictatorships of 99% of islamic nations. We do not want this totally evil, depraved system here in this country.
We value democracy, freedom and the right to choose our religion which very few islamic nations grant.
Just imagine if islam RULED in this nation. A special tax on non-islamics. Women denegrated to third class citizens all wearing burkas. Their word in the courts less than males, it's two females to one male isn't it Syed. No non-islamic religions allowed to proselyte. No keep islam right out of our schools it's so un-Australian, so brutal so pagan. numbat

Syed, I would guess you are from Pakistan or at least have Indian/Pakistani racial heritage, but.. by your name Syed, it also signifies you are a blood descendant of Mohammed !
Putting those two things together, one is reminded of a lot of very bloody soaked history which took Islam to India and produced your own genetic make up.

Enough about that. An important point. The 'secular' aspect of most western society and the consitutional tones of 'Congress/Parliament will not enact any law which establishes a particular religon" in my reading of it, was more about the divide between Catholicism and Protestantism, than 'Religions and Secularism'.

One needs to understand the historical and cultural mood of the time those documents were raised. The underlying assumption was that we are 'Christian' in heritage, but it would be most dangerous to establish one 'brand' of Christianity as that of the State.

But be under no illusion that the frame work and cultural background is very real even today, of Judao/Christianity as our national foundation.

CULTURAL CLASH
Another important point you raise (thankyou) is the different understanding that children TODAY have when they are told our state is 'secular'. Most likely those of non European/English background will react as you described the child asking "Why can we not celebrate Eid" as a holiday etc..

Now this point touches on the most CRUCIAL aspect of the whole multicultural/immigration debate. It ignores the points I made above, and assumes that we have no cultural/religous framework that underpins pretty much all else in our society.

NEED FOR HISTORY
The very FACT that children can ask this question, is something which places the full force of our focus on the need to revisit Australian HISTORY and its teaching to all levels in schools. INCLUDING private religious schools.

PRE-EMINENCE OF JUDAO/CHRISTIAN CULTURE in Australia
Minorities are welcome to celebrate their specials occasions, just not as separate public holidays. We don't supress your culture, we simply protect the pre-eminence of ours as you would in Pakistan or wherever.

"Here", you are 'dhimmis' :) be thankful for what you have.

Hey guys, I'm back from holidays.

I just googled "Australia's Christian heritage". One particular site by Col Stringer was quite enlightening, a good read for those who wonder how a secular state can have such strong Christian affiliations.

At the end of the day, we are a federation "humbly relying on the blessings of Almighty God" (according to our constitution), but everyone has the right to practice their own religion.

Numbat, I think what you just wrote is entirely uncalled for. Sorry mate, I don't think that's what Syed was trying to bring across.

Anyway, whenever anybody wants to influence for their point of view in a democractic/majority-rule society, the rest of the society must judge that view based on its merits and on its underlying philosophical assumptions.

I recommend "The battle for truth" by David A. Noebel. It examines 6 major worldviews: Secular humanism, cosmic humanism (which includes the New Age), Islam, Marxism/Communism, post modernism and Biblical Judaism/Christianity. The study goes into their philosophical/theological points of view, and then into how that effects their views on: ethics, biology, psychology, sociology, law, politics, economics and history. Similar studies can be found online and are important to understand in maintaining a cohesive but diverse Australian society.

Syed, your central argument is probably correct however the tone of the article does not seem to give a lot of credit to the western nations for the effort that they have put in to get as far as we have done. Not perfect but we are giving it a pretty good go against some stiff opposition.

Likewise I believe that we are still in a period of transition which is often a time of turmoil, that does not necessarily mean that our society is going down the gurgler. We need to find new ways of teaching children respect for others, the law etc without using the God's gonna get you approach. We are still finding our way through the boundaries of individual freedom vs the impact of an individual exercising their freedom on the freedoms of others. We are trying to do so in the face of individuals who believe that they have a devinely ordained right to decree how others should live. To their credit many thinkers from a variety of religions including Christainity, Islam and Hinduism are strongly involved in this.

We will continue to make mistakes as we go forwards, some things may get worse before they get better but where we are heading is worth the pain. Are you with us?

R0bert

"However in the West, where Christianity is the major religion, the rulers tried to compromise between day-to-day affairs and the practices of the faith. They decided to include some of the values of their religion (Christianity) in the making of the rules of their version of a secular state."

We live in a democracy - our government is elected - it does not 'rule' or make decisions based on their own versions of a secular state (theoretically!). Of course the majority will have a greater say in how things operate - that is how it should be.