Providing Commonwealth funds for religious education is unconstitutional. The constitution says that parliament shall make no law for the establishment of any religion, and funding the school chaplaincy program clearly constitutes establishment.

Why has no-one taken this to the High Court?

Dear Sympneology,

http://www.hsq.org.au/Campaigns/Counsellors-not-Chaplains/ is the url of a campaign to replace chaplains by counsellors. S. 116 is interpreted the way the High Court sees it. If enough people get behind the campaign the High Court may see it in a different manner.

Dear AGIR,

Please calm down. Preventing Christian beasts of pray from subjecting defenseless school children to your superstitious mumbojumbo is not lynching anybody. Children can learn about religion by courses of comparative religion where they are told what different people believe.

I doubt that you would care to have your children go to a school where they were subjected to non-Christian superstitions. Religious indoctrination does not belong in the public system. Parents have a right to send their children to schools where the superstition of their choice is taught. However, they or their organisation should pay the entire cost - not the taxpayers.

Sympneology - The federally funded Chaplaincy program is apparently being challenged in court by the Association of Psychologists (I may have the name wrong), they are challenging it on the basis on endangering the mental health of children. I only heard about this yesterday.

This is the high court action I was referring to in my last post: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/chaplains-in-schools-challenged-20100904-14vde.html

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