Attack on School Scripture gets ugly

#1118 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 30 Aug 2015

Fresh from its recent NSW book-banning fiasco, and on the heels of victory in Victoria, the lobby group Fairness in Religion in Schools has launched yet another attack on Special Religious Education in NSW state schools, commissioning psychologists to review the SRE curriculum, and the Reverend Dr Michael Jensen’s book, You: An Introduction, with a view to presenting the “findings” to the Department of Education and presumably have SRE emasculated or shut down.

The so-called research includes an online survey of 11-18 year olds featuring biased and potentially defamatory questions relating to Dr Jensen’s book. The survey has been pulled down following complaints.

Dr John Dickson, from the Centre for Public Christianity, says “This kind of behaviour should not go unnoticed,” and he “cannot see how anyone could associate this group with ‘fairness’ of any kind, let alone fairness in religion in schools. Politicians and journalsts – and, above all, parents! – should know what they’re dealing with.”

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.