Ethics Classes

It’s the mantra any organisation ignores at its peril: don’t be afraid of a little healthy competition. If having a few rivals keeps you on your corporate toes, then so much the better.

Whether it’s sheer fear or plain old arrogance to blame, it’s a tenet of Business 101 ignored by religious groups determined to maintain their monopoly over the impressionable young minds of primary school children in NSW.

With the O’Farrell government reliant on the support of the Christian Democrats in the Upper House, the rights of parents to be kept informed of the options available to them are being restricted at the behest of Fred Nile. Rather than be upfront with parents that both scripture and ethics classes are now available in primary schools, Education Minister Adrian Piccoli has confirmed students will only be told about ethics after they decline an offer to attend scripture.

Continue reading "What are the ethics of concealing parents’ choices?" »

What is the point of a “non-judgemental” ethics centre? It’s a serious question.

In my naiveté, I had always assumed that the whole point of ethics was to arrive at some sort of judgement about what is right and what is wrong. But take a look at the secular St James Ethics Centre’s website and it would appear I was wrong.

The St James Ethics Centre - headed by Dr Simon Longstaff – bills itself as offering a “non-judgemental forum” to explore ethical issues.
It won’t investigate unethical behaviour. It won’t help you make an ethical financial investment. But the biggest problem is that a “non-judgemental” approach lowers the stakes. It means your standard of ethics can only be judged by whether you are being true to yourself or not.

Continue reading "Who’s teaching the ethics teachers getting their ethics?" »

When I was young Catholic, I remember being struck by the contrast between two different approaches to spreading the Gospel – that of the conquistador Hernan Cortes, who did so by the sword and cannon, and that of Francis Xavier, who did so by word and example.

In the lives of the saints, Xavier was a hero to me. It appears the Churches in NSW follow in the steps of Cortes when it comes to evangelical ‘realpolitik’. Not for their state the freedom to choose a faith or citizenship tradition.

They will simply not tolerate neutral ethics classes in competition with Christian scripture classes. The Government must ban alternative perspectives and prohibit parental choice.

Continue reading "Intolerant Churches punishing non-believers" »