franc hoggle- not sure what your issues are with the blog- both posts are on the front page.

I stand by what I said about Access Ministries:

"If Access Ministires are guilty of the crimes you suggest they are, I have full confidence in the appropriate government departments to intervene."

Beelzabubba:

YOu have not followed The Age's coverage of this issue if you think it is fair. The Age newspaper, which I have been an avid reader of for the 18 years I have lived in Melbourne, has foregone objective investigative journalism and has now moved into the domain of political advocacy and lobbying on behalf of Humanist groups and opponents of Chaplaincy and SRI. It is an alliance that should concern all for the reason that we look to such organisations to provide fair, factual, and balanced reporting of issues. But in recent times, The Age has published a 7-1 ratio of articles and opinion pieces concerning anti and pro arguments for SRI and chaplains. They have ignored the fact that both Labor and Liberal federal governments have supported the program, and they have failed to report that the vast majority of school principals are supportive and affirming of chaplains in their schools. This disturbing alliance of a credible media outlet and a lobby group must stop.

I thank everyone for engaging with my thoughts on this issue. I am signing off for now. Try to be kind and do unto others...Kind regards. Nicholas

"It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them."
Mark Twain

Nicholas you’re right. The Age actually has a long history of Christophobia – and it is one reason why I don’t buy the paper. Sales are right down. The good news? They are becoming more irrelevant in many parts of Victoria.

They have a culture of censorship and are now projecting onto others more militantly. I’d also add that they don’t treat their own workers fairly, so their poor treatment of Christian educators doesn’t surprise me one bit.

I'm assuming that you also think the chaplain of Melbourne Grammar(senior school) is Christophobic?

http://mike-stuchbery.com/2011/05/18/919/

"The problem begins at the basic philosophy of education. Serious Religious Educators have recognised that the context for religious ‖instruction‖ is the church and not school classrooms. The classroom is a place for reasoned, open and honest debate about religious ideas and an examination of how the spiritual dimension can affect human existence. The state school classroom is not the place for conversion or proselytising, and while Access Ministries would claim that‘s not what they do, I‘m afraid that is their default position and, when challenged, they will revert to that stance."

[Deleted for abuse.]

Nicholas, cherry picking Twain quotes is naughty. Ol' Sam would probably not have associated with the likes of your good self and Access Ministries.
The quote is an aphorism attributed to one of Twain's characters, Pudd'n'head Wilson. A bunch of the those aphorisms were collected in a calender and used a promotional gimmick for one of Twain's novels.
Given Twain's views on organised religion there could possibly be a hint of sarcasm in the quote. Clemens/Twain was probably a mild atheist or maybe a deist and to think you'd use a Twain quote to support your position is laughable.

I've got another Clemens quote for you. It came from his autobiography published recently:

"There is one notable thing about our Christianity: bad, bloody, merciless, money-grabbing, and predatory. The invention of hell measured by our Christianity of today, bad as it is, hypocritical as it is, empty and hollow as it is, neither the deity nor his son is a Christian, nor qualified for that moderately high place. Ours is a terrible religion. The fleets of the world could swim in spacious comfort in the innocent blood it has spilled."

I grew up in the non-denominational Christian school system. We had neither a chaplain, nor RE - it was the belief of the school that the church was in the best position to provide RE. I agree with this idea - one of the problems with having such a narrow band of approved organisations and material (including some which, looking at the Access Ministries website, is theologically unsound from a mainstream Christian perspective) is that Christian parents are denied the right, if they send their children to a government school, to educate their own children about religion or to send their children to a church which teaches what they believe, and not what some evangelical organisation believes should be forced down their children's throat, often without their express permission. The organisation has ducked and weaved when confronted with its own misdeeds in the public arena, and has not to my belief acted in a Christian manner. It is up to parents to decide this, and their wishes should not be violated by totalitarians in the Education Department and the likes of Access Ministries.