For those wondering just how "love your neighbour" works in practice please see http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=156#3008 .

Does anybody out there apart from the supporters of this plan think that there is any possibility that many christain chaplains won't be trying to create opportunities to talk to kids about their need for Jesus?

Will there be a ban on inducements?

My son was invited to a christain kids club at his school last week (and he got free lollies when he attended). Bribing kids to come and listen to the soft version of christainity, so sad.

R0bert

I'll preface this by saying I am not anti-religous, and I believe that people should be able to follow whatever faith they choose.

However, the Sydney western suburbs, co-ed public high school I attended (what seems a long time ago now) did not have enough money to maintain science labs of sufficient quality. The equiptment was circa 1970. Our library was under resourced, our sport equiptment decaying and we had a single school counseller (for 750 student) 3 days a week.

While the states of our schools suffer, the Howard government decides to throw 90 Million dollars in a chaplaincy program. This is riduculus. I couldn't even perform all of my HSC physics lab experiments using our outdated equiptment (instead reading about them from textbooks), and THIS is how they choose to spend my tax dollars?

If the government wanted to offer more pastoral support, that would be fine. If they chose to end their pathetic bickering with the states to work out a better educational funding scheme, or re-distribution of the GST, I would be in full support. But providing chaplaincy for students "should it be DESIRED", with a single denominational focus. Surely this spiritual support can be found in a church, mosque or ashram?

These priorities are way out of whack.

How about funding a little extra science, maths or reading programs for struggling kids?

And DB, I think you may be surprised to learn that many of us, who subscribe to no religon in particular, manage to live side by side with our neightbours quite happily. And this without the threat of eternal damnation hanging over our heads. Perhaps before insulting us atheists, you should remember Luke 6:31

Runner, the only evidence we have about souls, is that they were a great invention
by ancient philosophers, to make people feel better about themselves
and assist with their fear of dying. Clearly they had a point, it
still works it seems. But if ghosts floating out of bodies makes
you less scared of death, ok, whatever gets you through the night :)

BD, you still don't get it lol. As much as you don't want your
children influenced by Muslim preachers, I don't want my kids
influenced by Xtian preachers. Fairy tales are fairy tales, tell
your kids about those, when they get home from school. Meantime
a good counciler or psychologist could help kids with their problems,
no need to bring religion into it. Methinks that the godsquad
sees this as yet another opportunity to win over a few converts.
After all, brainwashing little children has been the expertise
of religions for eons, thats how they picked up most of their
followers after all.

Why did the Christian Brothers(et al.) hate me? I was seen as evil because my parents were divorced.

For professional counselling, children should see a Professional Counsellor, not clergy. Imagine if a student falls pregnant? What if a Pagan has to seek such counselling and told that they are evil for being Pagan. My eldest daughter has had both Christian and non-religious childcare and primary schooling. In both cases, she became withdrawn in the Christian sects yet was confident in the non-religious.

Christian violence today? Why not check the site; www.paganawareness.net.au and keep up to date on pagans abused/assaulted by Christians. Such as a Victorian witch who was beat up on two occasions to 'drive the devil out of her'. While church leaders such as Cardinal George Pell publicly ridicules non Catholics, rubbishes spirituality, visits USA and demonises Muslims, then such is that hateful stance of the 'church'.

Why must people see their faith as superior, better than others? I certainly don't. My spirituality is right for me. I don't begrudge people of other faiths their right to have theirs. I don't try to inhibit theirs. Mine is for me, yours is for you.

I would like to quote a Native American;

"The Creator gave each culture a path to God. To the Indian people, he revealed that the Creator is in everything. Everything is alive with the Spirit of God. The water is alive. The trees are alive. The woods are alive. The mountains are alive. The wind is alive. The Great Spirit's breath is in everything and that's why it's alive. All of nature is our church, we eat with our families in church, we go to sleep in church.

"My Creator, let us leave people to worship You in the way You have taught them." www.whitebison. org

Wise words.

It's all about votes. Christians have been taught to believe and have faith, not to reason and think, therefore they block vote as their leaders instruct, therefore they hold the balance of power in all marginal electorates, therefore all politicians will do anything to gain that block vote -- it is that simple, and demonstrates the archilles heel of the bizzare political system we endure in Australia that is erroneously called democracy.