Great post Anth.
new gb runner if you come ti ideas with facts and reality as your adviser you would know that those problems you talk about occur with the at best same freq in Christians as non Christians. In fact there is a wealth of evidence to suggest that these problems you talk about are systemic in the so called bible belt of the USA.

Religion should be taught in history class along with spot the GB 101 in social studies, and maybe make reference to it in "how to debunk silly ideas" in science class.

Kenny

If your assertions are right (even though not backed up) why are so many non religous people paying lots of money to send their kids to private schools?

Depends on how the religionism is presented: e.g., "Five Approaches to Creationism in History", seems okay to me. Must be an elective only, for reason of Church and State. Albeit, delivery could prove to problematic given the diverse views of instructors

Come on BOAZ,

Those cartoons were as deliberately offensive to some people as burning the Australian flag is offensive to you, and Islam isn't the only religion that oppresses women and contains some bizzare sexual quirks.

Ivan Milat, by the way, was the product of our own society and there's as much hatred and intolerance in these forums as you would find in any other society.

Religious education (in a historic sense) seems like a reasonable idea if it's undertaken without prejudice, especially if it opens minds to a deeper level of understanding and illustrates similarities rather than differences between faiths.

Wobbles.... point taken but....surely you are not justifying violence due to being offended ?

Look around..at media..comedy.. gay mardi gras.. ask yourself 'How many times and in how many ways is Jesus Christ..the Church..Nuns.. Priests..Fred Nile etc held up to public ridicule and mocked.' ? its on a daily basis.

Then ask.. "How many of the above have threatened murder, death, invasion, bombing or worse DONE some of the above.. because of this vilification and holding up to public scorn and ridicule ?

That....is the problem as I see it.

Which leads immediately to the question of....'why' do large numbers of people of the Islamic faith DO these things ? In many cases it is nothing more than vociferous protest, but as you well know, the cases of murder, attempted murder, 'contracts' (Salman Rushdie, Ayan hirsi Ali (Dutch MP) etc) are an all too common reality.

This is where it has to be connected back to the very core and heart of the religion which is the example of its prophet. He did not like Kaab's poetry so he put a 'hit' out on him and so it goes on.

Offensive ? good grief mate.. I am offended every time I hear the Lords name taken in vain.. I don't quickly launch out with a high powered front kick to the groin.. no.. I'm saddened by the pitiful ignorance of such a person who is clearly lost and I fully understand that the most I can ever do for them is seek to present the Gospel but other than that...their life path is their own choice.

But to me, the idea of a man who used God's name and claim a 'revelation' to satisfy his own unbridled lust for uncountable women, who murders those who oppose him, and then who's followers are ready to use violence against me for exposing such a diabolical filth to the community, well..that is the point where I see a threat which the 'Emperor' needs to address, with the sword if neccessary.(Romans 13)

Teach 'religions' sure .....warts and all.

Published on Saturday, October 1, 2005 by the Los Angeles Times

The Dark Side of Faith
by Rosa Brooks

It's official: Too much religion may be a dangerous thing.
This is the implication of a study reported in the current issue of the Journal of Religion and Society, a publication of Creighton University's Center for the Study of Religion. The study, by evolutionary scientist Gregory S. Paul, looks at the correlation between levels of "popular religiosity" and various "quantifiable societal health" indicators in 18 prosperous democracies, including the United States.
Paul ranked societies based on the percentage of their population expressing absolute belief in God, the frequency of prayer reported by their citizens and their frequency of attendance at religious services. He then correlated this with data on rates of homicide, sexually transmitted disease, teen pregnancy, abortion and child mortality.
He found that the most religious democracies exhibited substantially higher degrees of social dysfunction than societies with larger percentages of atheists and agnostics. Of the nations studied, the U.S. — which has by far the largest percentage of people who take the Bible literally and express absolute belief in God (and the lowest percentage of atheists and agnostics) — also has by far the highest levels of homicide, abortion, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
: When it comes to "values," if you look at facts rather than mere rhetoric, the substantially more secular blue states routinely leave the Bible Belt red states in the dust.
Murder rates? Six of the seven states with the highest 2003 homicide rates were "red" in the 2004 elections (Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina), while the deep blue Northeastern states had murder rates well below the national average. Infant mortality rates? Highest in the South and Southwest; lowest in New England. Divorce rates? Marriages break up far more in religious states than in more secular.