Good idea Severin if you think that will help.

Dear Richie 10,

If you read Genesis you will not find the word, Satan (or satin as you spell it) or the devil. It was a talking snake that persuaded Eve to eat the apple. The story of Adam and Eve is a Jewish creation story like the Aboriginal story of the Rainbow serpent. There is no more reason to believe in the fairy tale of the Garden of Eden than there is to believe in the Rainbow serpent. Christians interpreted the talking snake to be Satan.

See my article, "Adam's Rib" in olo for details of the Adam and Eve story and its relation to a much earlier story of Dilmun, the Sumerian paradise.

The Old Testament recycles older legends. The New Testament recycles legends in the Old Testament.

Dear David,
In the Life Application Bible I am reading at the moment, it gives this explanation for the serpent or talking snake as you aptly put it, Disguised as a crafty serpent Satan came to tempt Eve. Other words used in the bible include devil, lucifer, beelzebub, and angel of light. All used for satan.
I have 2 friends suffering with hip problems. 1 had a hip replacement and the other is waiting for God to heal him supernaturaly.
What does the truth say. First it says man has freewill. So 1 choses to live pain free and the other chooses to live with pain while waiting for God to answer his prayer request. So what does the bible say about prayer requests,Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you "have" received it, and it will be yours. It doesn't say you get your wish list granted.

It seems to me that private schools are pretty easy targets.
Firstly they generally represent religion and Aussies (for the most part) seem to love bashing organised religion (until they are in need of charity or wanting to go op-shopping).
Secondly they also breach one of the fundamental elements many Aussies love about this country - the establishment of secularism in society and in education. Indeed here in WA about 100 years ago there was a strong push to prohibit Church schools.
Thirdly they seem to reinforce notions of privilege and undermine the egalitarian (and anti-authoritarian) Aussie spirit.
Fourthly they are highly visible and particularly their gyms/pools/new science labs etc.
Fifthly, the charitable work is largely unsung. How many are aware of the scholarships given to disadvantaged students? Fundraising for worthy causes, time spent assisting the poor and needy, not to mention the inculcating of a spirit of Christian giving.
None of this denies the fact that many Church run schools are indeed institutions of privilege - but they are also training grounds for the future. I hope they are training our youth well.

It is unconscionable for a church to be closing Kingsdene while lashing out on luxury facilities at church schools for the privileged. Church people are right to be uneasy about the values being taught in the church schools: due to high fees being a barrier to access, these schools only cater to students from families in the top 20% or so SES group, plus a handful of poorer "scholarship" students. Despite the charitable traditions of churches, students come out of these schools with born-to-rule attitudes, being the worst behaved students in a group in a public situation, having learnt they won't suffer consequences for their actions. I wonder whether such students ever learn self-discipline.
I also have never seen a public school with the facilities Vanna describes:certainly not in NSW. The higher level of facilities at the privileged church schools compared to pulbic schools is stark.
Public schools also support charities:for example my daughter's public school is sponsoring two girls in Africa. The values of this public high school (on the cover of the school diary) are: participation, integrity, responsibility, care, cooperation, respect, fairness, excellence, democracy and courtesy. The school motto is "Not for ourselves alone." Public schools like this are upholding values that most Christians would be happy with.
And I am sick of whingeing wealthy telling us how hard they are working to pay for their children's excessive school fees, along with their expensive mortgages and the other trappings of their unnecessarily expensive lives.

It is unconscionable for a church to be closing Kingsdene while lashing out on luxury facilities at church schools for the privileged. Church people are right to be uneasy about the values being taught in the church schools: due to high fees being a barrier to access, these schools only cater to students from families in the top 20% or so SES group, plus a handful of poorer "scholarship" students. Despite the charitable traditions of churches, students come out of these schools with born-to-rule attitudes, being the worst behaved students in a group in a public situation, having learnt they won't suffer consequences for their actions. I wonder whether such students ever learn self-discipline.
I also have never seen a public school with the facilities Vanna describes:certainly not in NSW. The higher level of facilities at the privileged church schools compared to public schools is stark.
Public schools also support charities:for example my daughter's public school is sponsoring two girls in Africa. The values of this public high school (on the cover of the school diary) are: participation, integrity, responsibility, care, cooperation, respect, fairness, excellence, democracy and courtesy. The school motto is "Not for ourselves alone." Public schools like this are upholding values that most Christians would be happy with.
And I am sick of whingeing wealthy telling us how hard they are working to pay for their children's excessive school fees, along with their expensive mortgages and the other trappings of their unnecessarily expensive lives.