Keneally allows Anglican Church to vet content of ethics lessons

THE Anglican Archbishop of Sydney has privately lobbied the Premier, Kristina Keneally, against the permanent introduction of secular ethics classes in public schools, saying they would jeopardise the future of religious education.

Archbishop Peter Jensen said Ms Keneally had promised the Anglican Church would have input into the trial, which would be subject to an independent review.

Dr Jensen met Ms Keneally in February to voice his concern that the limited trial of ethics classes, which begins on Monday, could lead to scripture classes being abolished.

Link: SMH

Why would we want an ethics course to be vetted by the Anglican Church? The course will not be attended by Anglican children. All churches have failed to implement an ethical system that stops its own employees from raping children in their care so it cannot possibly be said that they have any special insight into moral issues.


Jensen on ABC Radio

The Anglican and Catholic Archdioceses in Sydney are lobbying the New South Wales Government against the introduction of ethics classes in public schools. Later this year there will be a trial of ethics courses for students who opt out of special religious education.

Currently those students spend the half hour watching videos, colouring in or reading. But church groups fear that the ethics class will lead to a drop in the number of students learning about religion.

The ethics course was "developed by the philosophy department at the University of New South Wales and the St James Ethics Centre.

The centre's director is Dr Simon Longstaff. He says there won't be an exodus of children leaving scripture to attend ethics lessons."

There's no doubt that in an ethics class there is a solid view that you're better off living an examined life than just operating as a matter of habit.

But what it allows basically is for children who might have come from a background at home where they have their own distinctive values and principles, whether they be derived from religion or culture, to give voice to those, to encounter others and to explore what it might mean in practice. So it's not about shoving down the throats of children a particular view which is just derived from one single spot. It's more open than that.

But it's you know, it's a got venerable tradition going back at least as far as people like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in the Greek world.

Jensen on ABC radio's PM