Teenagers Value Faith

There’s been an interesting result in a survey of the religious literacy of teenagers. It found – they didn’t have much. Religious literacy that is.

The survey found that just under half of Australian high school students are taught nothing about different religions and spiritual beliefs; and in government schools the figure is 56%.

I’m not surprised by this. Many secularists have demanded that public life be a religion-free zone, despite the fact that this is not what the concept of secular, or separation of church and state, means.

The Labor party found out – to its cost, that ignoring people of faith was not the way to go. Australia is a multi-faith nation and even the teenagers recognised this – 90% of teenagers believe that Australia’s religious diversity makes it a better place to live.

I’m Russell Powell for the NSW Council of Churches