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

Secular society a 'recipe for loneliness '

Anglicans quake in their boots cause secular-ness is coming! EEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

An absence of faith invites an inward focus and undermines human relationships, Dr Jensen said in his Easter address at St Andrew's Cathedral on Sunday morning.

"I have emphasised human loneliness this Easter because that is what expert observers of our society are saying is a real problem," Dr Jensen said.

"It is what we would expect to occur given the secularist philosophy we have embraced.

"This philosophy emphasises the individual and individual rights, it invites us to invent our own lives and it undervalues commitment to other human beings.

"It is a recipe for loneliness and the path to a very lonely old age."

The Age Article

Anglican... whatever his fucking title is... Dr Jensen is keeping up the scare campaign with his threats of dying alone if you think that we should protect the 'secular' in Australia's secular democracy. One would think that a professional religionist would at least know what secular means. Secular democracy simply means that the government will be neutral towards religion. This allows all religions to stand on their own merits, without the assistance of the government. That doesn't make it anti-religion. Does he really want the government making rules about religion? What if those rules favour islam or catholicism instead of his favourite meme, anglicanism? Would he be screeching then.

Typical of religionists, he abuses a group of people then blames them for his abuse. Just like rape culture and the cathlics. Atheists this time instead of GLBTI or women or muslims or witches or whoever they've decided to hate this week...

There is no better way to unite a group than to denounce others as evil. They're struggling for relevance, followers and their very existence so they'd better introduce a dose xenophobia just to frighten everyone back to church.

It's not working on me and I suspect that people will just see it for the cynical move that it is.

Atheists are believers who hate God, says Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen

A day after Sydney Catholic Archbishop Cardinal George Pell criticised non-believers, Dr Jensen said in his Good Friday sermon at Sydney's St Andrew's Cathedral that atheism was a form idolatry.

"As we can see by the sheer passion and virulence of the atheist - they seem to hate the Christian God - we are not dealing here with cool philosophy up against faith without a brain," Dr Jensen told worshippers.

Link:

I hope that all the xians enjoyed the hateful, xenophobic messages of their religious leaders. Is this really what your Jesus would do? Is this really religion teaching people how to be good. Why didn't these hate filled men just come straight out and call for the death of atheists? they didn't because this secular country's secular legal system constrains the worst of their hatred.