David, there is already separation of State from the Church.

The Roman Church as a State and the Muslim Immams as a State govern the people in secular affairs.

The Australian secular State does not govern Church affairs and that is what seperation means. They are autonomous bodies functioning independently. Though the Atheists want the Government to take control of Church practise and beliefs as it did under Roman State control and how the CCP works. When the Government gets involved in Church affairs it destroys the conscience of the people by controling draconian laws.

I see you want to reintroduce Government control of religion.

Dear Josephus,

If Australian was a secular state there would be no chaplains in the state schools nor government funds for religious schools.

Dear David F.,

Thank you for explaining further.

It is appreciated.

Dear David,

«I would like to see Australia become a democracy. To me a democracy means separation of religion and state.»

Statements starting with "I would like to see..." can never be disputed, nor can statements of the form "To me X means Y".

For the rest of us (including myself who also would welcome the separation between religion and state), democracy only means that the majority of citizens rule over the rest - nothing there stops democratic majorities from being stupid and/or cruel like any other tyrant.

I would like to see the state of Australia exist no more as such.
Short of that, I would like to see separation between science and state.
Yet I make no claims that my wishes have any relation with democracy.

ttbn made the statement that no one in authority cares
about what we think.

Politicians do pay attention to polls and they certainly
care what voters think. Of course entering into a
political debate online can be a minefield because of
the vitriolic tones of some of the debates. Many people can
be put off engaging in public online conversations.

Politics is a sensitive issue. However most people who enter
into these discussions do care and want to enable a more
diverse set of people to participate.

We were taught at school - "Don't discuss politics in polite
company." Fortunately I grew up in a family where that notion\
was put in the bin where it belongs.

"Don't Rock the boat," or "Keeping the peace," and keeping
politics off the table was considered dishonest in our home.
My parents encouraged us to speak out on issues.

It's not a huge stretch to say that some of the violence and
agression we see today in our societies is an example of
underlying unaddressed tensions spilling over into people's
day to day lives.

We should be ablt to withstand tough conversations. Hearing
people out is as important as "winning" arguments. That's
how we learn. Expressing our views helps our leaders in
their policy making decisions. Anyone in authority worth
their salt is going to care what voters think and to ignore
them they do so at their peril.

David seperating Church and State would be fine if State only dealt with secular events, but unfortunately Public Education has moved from secular to be involved in how we behave socially and think about the World. With the current values promoted by Public Schools it violates the conscience of many parents. That is why tax paying parents fund the secular education segment of religious schools and parents of children in religious schools pay child fees - when I had children in religious school 30 years ago it cost me over $10,000 each year in fees.

What you are ignorant of is the parents of children in religious schools are also taxpayers and deserve a say in how their tax is used in education. What is really your bug about religious schools?

I had a grandson attend a state public school where gender dysphoria was taught, and it confuses children and creates anxiety.