Well put ena. It is interesting that Christian schools do not see it as relevant to their role in our society to teach Christian morals and values to disadvantaged kids whose parents could never afford private Christian education.

It is very ironic that very many, if not the majority of private schools are chosen by parents because of academic standing, not religious viewpoint.

$20 000 could be spent much more effectively by employing a trained counselor. Somebody who is not going to promote their personal anti or pro abortion opinions, but that of the child and her family. How did abortion get into this thread? Are these Christian counselors there to prevent teenage girls from having abortions? Is that what's behind this?

"It is interesting that "Christian schools do not see it as relevant ... to teach Christian ... disadvantaged kids whose parents could never afford private Christian education."

Yvonne, things must have changed since my daughter (now 34 years) went to school in Melbourne! At that time one could not imagine a Catholic child being refused admission to a Catholic parish school (or college) just because its parents were poor. What one could object to were low academic standards, partly also because of low funds.

I believe there exist highly qualified psychologists, Christian or not, who could provide counseling to children without exposing the bias of their faith and/or personal opinion about religion. However, I doubt there are enough of them to be widely available to schools.

If your child goes to a public school you do not have to pay any extra for it to learn mathematics, but you will have to pay privately if you want him/her learn to play some musical instrument or speak some foreign language. The same with religion, because at least politically, the question whether religion should be a private matter, has already been settled in most Western countries.

What the Churches have to face, (if they want Christianity to survive also as an intellectually viable world-view), is the need to find/train enough educators and chaplains (employed outside the public school system) sufficiently qualified and open minded to complement the religiously sterile secular humanist education at public schools, and sometimes even counterbalance its anti-religious bias. To replace the old style RE instructors who could only parrot what they themselves had been taught. (ctd)

(ctd) I speak here from my own experience: having grown up in a Stalinist country I never had RE at school (though a lot of anti-religious education, albeit more primitive than what is on offer now) and I was grateful to my father for him being able to correct this bias, because, as I saw him, he was more educated and knowledgeable than our marx-leninist teachers. That was an extreme situation, but I think Christians in the West must prepare themselves for something similar. Unfortunately, the churches are (yet?) ill-prepared for that.

The big question is no more who is in possession of the TRUTH (at least not as much as it used to be in the past), but who is more OBJECTIVE i.e. who has more "evidence" to support his/her world outlook while having an understanding of (and for) the alternatives. I think this paradigm shift must be reflected also in education.

George, the vast majority of the private schools are Christian schools. Catholic private schools are a bit different again. I’ve had experience with both and will not go into the pro’s and con’s of either here. Simply put, I’ve had excellent experiences with both Catholic and non denomination Christian schooling. All private schools cost, many of them a lot and are only available to parents who are able to pay.

If you send your child to a private Christian school you are fully aware and informed as to the type of Christian philosophy the school espouses. So you know beforehand how the school’s spiritual philosophy ties in with your own.

This is not so in public state schools. As Simon Wright points out in his article, children and their parents are ambushed by an association, the Scriptures Union, whose aim is not to teach values or even to speak of Christian morals, but to encourage conversions to their brand of Christianity. They clearly proclaim their ‘missionary’ vision and the aim of ‘transforming lives’.

The Christian philosophy my children have been taught in is Catholic. I can tell you the SU makes statements to children and actively teaches children with their school programmes that my husband and I regard as contrary to what is widely taught within the Catholic faith.

It is outrageous that children are interfered with in such a private matter as religious and spiritual beliefs without the express permission of their parents. It is quite unbelievable that tax payers fund this.

Turn Right Then Left & Lev: Secularism CAN be classified as a religion. In fact, Prof Niall Ferguson (Prof of History at Harvard Uni) in his article in Foreign Affairs (Sept/Oct 06) The Next War of the World quotes the Marxist hsitorian, Eric Hobsbawm: "the most militant and bloodthirsty religions (between 1914 & 1991) were secular ideologies"!

CJMorgan: public (state) schools are the responsibility of the States and devour the lion's share of State funding.

Lev: you state that child abuse is more likely under theological dictates (whatever that means!). Anyone know anything about the German government's Ministry of Family Affairs which has just withdrawn a booklet aimed at parents of toddlers and young children which encouraged father's to massage their daughters genitals (including, I presume, the clitoris). After all, "the child touches all parts of their father's body, sometimes arousing him. The father should do the same". Where's the theological dictate for that bit of secularist paedophilia?

Francis,

Eric Hobshawm's comments were a condemnation of secular governments behaving with a religious-like mentality, that is they had given up earthly considerations in favour of meta-historical ones (whether race, nation or class).

You will find the direct quote in "The Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914-1991". The same frustration can also be found in Hannah Arendt's 'On Totalitarism'.

I am uncertain why you do not know what theological dictates means. It is quite simple; the person with authority derives that authority through a specialist caste of interpreters of divine revelation.

Perhaps you may also note that the book you refer to was withdrawn. If it was a 'sacred text' I doubt whether this would be the case.

Not that I expect you to learn from any of this.

Regards,

Lev