Hi all, I am the writer of the article, and have been most interested in the comments made. I felt compelled to write, because Coach and a number of others make this distinction between facts and fiction, or truth and myth. I have been teaching religious studies for twenty years, and a professional storyteller for almost as long, and do so with the understanding that the 'story' of sacred text, and I include here all sacred text, is what holds Truth. For me it is irrelevant as to whether these stories actually happened - the literal interpretation is the least interesting and far and away the most dangerous. But if the stories are understood metaphorically, as poetry - they are endless in their Truths, they speak to us all as humanity - and therein lies the unifiying potential of a great story regardless of its source. The question to ask with regards to sacred text in my opinion, is not 'did this really happen' but rather 'what is the purpose of the story.'
If infact, I truly thought that the stories from the bible told some definitive truth about a cetain religion, I would be applauding the Department of Education for their constraints. I do not have any desire to convince my audience of anything, other than recognising that story, and possibly sacred text in particular, hold Truths that speak to the soul in the deepest possible way.

Good to see the feedback Donna.

You speak from the perspective of a "StoryTeller", and we (as Christians) are seeing the 'reaction' to your innocent approach for what it is, 'sinister'. (by the Education Dept). Because clearly, they are not interested in the truth of fiction of the stories, or your own motives, they are concerned that 'haram' information is leaking through their intellectual dykes, which could influence children in an ideologically unnacceptable way.

The story of David and Goliath, can be treated metaphorically or allegorically like "We all have Goliaths in our life experience" etc.. and explain how we need to gather up all our bravery and deal with such huge challenges.

But if all the story is included, the unmistakable 'theological' aspects emerge. The words of David

"All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."

To the "StoryTeller" this is an account of 'overcoming great odds'
but the reality of the story is about 'Is there a God in Israel'?

Lets not forget, that this moment in history was pivotal. The outcome meant the difference between slavery and freedom for the Israelites.
Had David lost, perhaps the Jews would have been subsumed by the Philistines and 'you' would not exist :)

We see the deliberate discrimination against any legitimate reference to God by the education department as morally reprehensible, spiritually bankrupt and socially dangerous. This is especially so considering the vast majority of people in Australia (69%) claim alliegance to some kind of Christian tradition.

None of us expect you to suddenly grab a few stones from the brook, and 'take them on' this is clearly not your sense of calling, but it definitely is ours.

'Evil triumphs when good men do nothing' and while most people are content to be cold blooded frogs in a social beaker slowly becoming hotter (I'm sure u know the illustration) we are more interested in turning off the source of heat.

BOAZ_David

Christianity does not have a monopoly on all that is good in this world. Love, honesty, fairness, generosity, empathy, prudence and many other positive qualities can be taught perfectly successfully and learned for life without any reference whatsoever to Christianity or indeed to any other religion.

Conversely, other religions, for example Islam, can also impart these values.

I agree, stories like David and Goliath, The Prodigal Son and The Good Samaritan are in themselves well worth the telling and still have something worthwhile to say to us today. The problem is they are rarely told as stand alone stories but are invariably associated with other more dubious aspects of Christianity.

If ever there was an example of why the teaching of Christianity should be kept at arm's length from mainstream education, it is your Christianity-based posts on this website. For example -

"How long before we see horny men or 'in season' women copulating with animals in the street ? Is this intrinsically immoral/evil ? Not if you believe post modern thought."

You've outdone yourself with this statement. And given atheism a huge free kick in the process.

Donna, it's good of you to pop by and give us some feedback on our feedback.

But while you are here, could you just confirm for me whether the reaction you got from the "Department" was a) official policy or b) just some petty functionary giving you the benefit of their prejudice?

The reason that this is an important component of your story is that it will illustrate how far this kind of behaviour has permeated our society.

If there are in fact laws that prevent you, or any other "class" of person, from telling stories of this kind, we ought to be aware of them.

If, on the other hand, it is simply a misapprehension or misinterpretation on the part of an individual, it would help us put your concerns into some form of perspective.

As I said before, the situation will only improve when we start to complain - not in a forum such as this, where we just sit and snipe at each other for fun, but to the blind lawmakers who continue to surround us with so many supposedly "politically correct" limitations on our freedom of speech, that very soon we will find that we have placed ourselves irretrievably inside the Orwellian nightmare of thought control.

mangotreeone1,

have a look at the story these photos tell - http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2006/03/would-you-let-your-daughter-go-to.html

In this report from The Daily Telegraph on the ongoing socialist tantrums in France, we learn that “Muslim youths” from the suburbs are preying on the demonstrators - http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/print/0,20285,18641620-1702,00.html

My children can't sing Christmas carols at school to protect the sensitivities of these Muslim thugs?

Who's going to protect my children from being shot or raped because they are Australian?

Are you going to protect them mangotreeone1?

Donna

Thank you for your article. And thank you for your feedback post. Both very interesting.

Cheers
Kay