Once again politics and religion have reared their heads and are threatening to derail the Philosophical Ethics alternative to SRE in NSW state schools.
A week or so ago Fred Nile from the Christian Democrat Party came out and announced that he would “torpedo” the State Governments industrial relations legislation in the upper house unless philosophical ethics classes were either:
A. Removed from state schools altogether or;
B. Timetabled so as not to clash with SRE.
Needless to say, these two points are easily addressed from an (ahem) ethical point of view. In regards to Fred’s plan A the point is simply put, a Christian Reverend simply has no business telling secular/atheist/other interested parties what they can and can’t discuss during a period of school time reserved for students to learn more about their own parents/families beliefs and values. The plan B suggestion to move the classes to a non-SRE teaching period is just as pointless of course. A constructive alternative to existing non-SRE is not so constructive when it is not offered as an alternative.
In other words plans A & B are one and the same. Fred Nile’s point then is also simply put: You are not entitled to an alternative beyond that which Fred himself is prepared to grant you and if you refuse to learn about God then you must sit down and shut up. Given the recent statements from the Anglican Education Commission and the Catholic Conference of Religious Education in State Schools that they withdraw their objections to the ethics stream in SRE you have to wonder exactly who these Christian Democrats are? There seems nothing much democratic about this behaviour and I’m pretty sure that “screw people over who don’t share your beliefs” was not mentioned in the sermon on the mount.
So it’s all religion so far. Fair enough, you would expect this kind of behaviour from a certain sort of person. The sort whose personal faith disqualifies non-believers from the human race. There can be no question of equal treatment here: If your parents want to send you to a religious class to learn it’s history and values – go for it, if they don’t – some kind of apartheid of metaphysics! Still, this sort of thing is easy to understand. It’s been the prevailing position in State Schools not just in NSW but around the country for some time. The part I’m most curious about is the political aspect.
After the news broke that everyone except Fred and his CDP were ok with ethics they started to look a little lost and alone. Marginalised and irrelevant is no happy place to be in politics I guess. So a deal was done. The Shooters and Fishers Party who hold the other useful vote in the Upper House came out with a “we’re with Fred” statement. If they weren’t messing things up for our kids I could almost feel sorry for them. A politically naive bunch I think. In return for a few extra licences or kilometres of coastline to fish or perhaps a bit more freedom with their firesticks they are prepared to sink industrial relations legislation and social justice for our states children.
I actually would agree that more freedom for our recreational past times like shooting and fishing are quite legitimate voter issues and enough people agreed to get them a seat in the Upper House, but I do wonder, as much as an Aussies recreation means to them, how many people who voted for this party realised that a chance for more fishing and shooting would come at the price it looks like we might have to pay?
For those among us who feel that the claim of a deal done here is a little cynical, you should take a look at the website for the Shooters and Fishers. They have nothing to say about ethics or religion. In fact the only common ground that Fred and the Shooters and Fishers publicly have is on immigration. This common ground is however far from complete. The Shooters & Fishers want no immigration and Fred Nile just wants no Muslim immigration. They say that politics makes for strange bed fellows but it can apparently also make for merely imperfect ones as well.
It’s often said that something you caught or killed yourself tastes better. This time it might end up leaving a pretty bad taste indeed.