Isn't it amazing that religion has caused more wars than anything else.Religion causes intolerance and hatred towards others.I believe in god but not religion.I went to public and private schools and the only difference was,more discipline in private.I do however resent the private schools getting more govt funding per head than public.All you really need to know to get through life as a decent person is "do unto others as you would have done unto you".Noone can prove their religion is the right one,be it worshipping the stars or whoever your particular god may be.The 3 Rs and how to become decent citizens are what we should be learning at school.Truthfullness and compassion covers all we need to learn about how to treat others.We need a lot more than that to earn a living.

As a product of the NSW public education system from kindy to uni, and as the parent of two daughters who are entirely products of the NSW public education system - between us we've gone to about 5 or 6 public schools, none of us, not once, have ever heard religion dissed or condemned by any teacher, principal or staff member. To the contrary, many of the teachers were personally religious themselves. The unrelenting propaganda put out by people who either have universalised from a bad personal experience, or who haven't been near a public school in decades, is quite bizarre. There are good and bad schools of all flavours, always have been, always will be. To say one side -either private or public - has a monopoly on a particular way of teaching, or on bullying, brainwashing or social engineering or bad teaching is demonstrably bollocks.
Once they finished year12, two of my eldest daughters dearest school friends (her school was co-ed, public, comprehensive and had - horror of horrors - no uniform) - devout christians both (she is an athiest) - took themselves off to the US for their gap year to surf 50 states raising money for charity, to considerable acclaim. Like many of their mates back here - many non religious like her, she set herself to supporting them in everyway she could, to their great pleasure. Isn't it nice to see the religious and non-religious working together so well? That's what public schools can achieve when all our kids - regardless of background -sit and learn side by side. They discover they have more in common than not.
Can her godless school claim any credit for this? As they get plenty of blame for their mistakes (and no school is perfect - no matter how much or how little it costs), I think its only fair they get some praise for their successes too, don't you?
And as I sometimes say to my friends ( a little gleefully, I confess), all this for no fees.

haygirl ,

If “religion has caused more wars than anything else”, would you list all the wars caused by religion and all those not caused by religion so we can determine the factual basis for your claim? The two biggest wars in all of human history, World War One and World War Two, with tens of millions dead, were not caused by religion.

Nice one Xoddam ;) Oh, that we were all svch accomplished Latin scholars and could astovnd all with ovr svrfeit of ovtstanding vocabvlary.

And thanks George, I believe you have just a tad more insight into my position. I wasn't going to dignify that idiotic rant with a reply though. Cheers.

Of course i don't have exact figures on religious and non religious wars.Look it up on the net.Just to name a few.French war of1562-1598.Ireland,orange and the green.Thirty year war in Europe1618-1648.Hitlers extermination of the Jews.We now have radical Muslims declaring war on Christianity.I am no expert on wars but if religious groups were living by what they preach then surely their should not be any wars on religious grounds at all.I have no problem with religion being taught at school,my problem is the fact that they all teach love and turn around and kill someone who doesn't agree with their particular creed.To say that someone who gets schooled at religious schools,learns more than public is a fallacy.Look up the university records re admissions and who gets the higher marks and you will see that for yourself.I believe in god but not religion.

Chris,here's some more.Spanish Inquisition.15th cetury Hussites slain.16th Pope Paul declared crusade.1572 france.17thMagdeburg/Germany.In the 30 year war 40% of population slain.Croation extermination camps 1940 killing non catholics.Jerusalem 1099 60,000 victims.Battle of Askalon 1099,200,000 slaughtered.Witch hunts. Now you tell me the wars that weren't religious.Sure a few have been political,not many.