Australian Anglican bishop denies evangelical group is using school chaplain program to convert children to Christianity

The Age  -   Australia          May 13, 2011

We are not trying to convert kids: Bishop

by Jewel Topsfield, Mex Cooper



The Christian group responsible for religious education in Victorian government schools has denied it is trying to convert children to its faith.

Access Ministries chair Bishop Stephen Hale defended the role played by its religious educators and chaplains in schools, who he said did not breach government guidelines.

The Age revealed today that Access Ministries chief executive Evonne Paddison told a church conference in 2008: "We need to go and make disciples".

"In Australia, we have a God-given open door to children and young people with the Gospel, our federal and state governments allow us to take the Christian faith into our schools and share it. We need to go and make disciples," she told the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion national conference in Melbourne.

Bishop Hale said despite Dr Paddison's comments, which will be investigated by state and federal governments, Access Ministries was not proselytising to students.

"We're not actually seeking to convert them and she may have given that impression but I don't think that's what we actually do in reality," he told ABC 774.

Bishop Hale described teaching children Christian stories and values without pressuring them to adopt Christianity as "a pretty tricky exercise".

"We are extremely respectful of the balancing act that's involved," he said.

He said teachers remained in classrooms during religious instruction and if guidelines were being breached there would be more complaints.

The Victorian branch president of the Australian Education Union, Mary Bluett, said most volunteers appeared to adhere to the guidelines but there had been some shocking examples.

"Comments such as, 'Buddha is Satan's friend' ... and things like that clearly breach the guidelines," she said.

Ms Bluett said religious instruction should be offered outside of school hours.

Schools Minister Peter Garrett said he would look closely at Dr Paddison's remarks after being provided with a recording from the conference.

He will ask his department for advice on any action that might need to be taken.

"The guidelines for the National School Chaplaincy Program are very clear; any breach of those guidelines will be investigated," Mr Garrett said. "If there is any evidence of a breach it should be referred to the department for investigation."

Victorian Education Minister Martin Dixon said the Victorian government did not "in any way, shape or form condone proselytising".

"We will be talking to Access Ministries and seeking an assurance from them that their instructors abide by this requirement," Mr Dixon said.

Access Ministries provides chaplains to 281 Victorian schools and its volunteers teach 96 per cent of special religious instruction in Victorian schools.

The Victorian government announced an extra $200,000 a year to Access Ministries in this month's budget to fund 196 chaplains. This brings the total state government contribution to $500,000 a year for four years.

The national school chaplaincy program, introduced by the Howard government, also received a $222 million boost in this week's federal budget, to fund chaplains for up to 3700 schools by 2014.

The code of conduct for the school chaplaincy program states: "A chaplain should not take advantage of his or her privileged position to proselytise for that denomination or religious belief."

with Alana Rosenbaum


This article was found at:

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/we-are-not-trying-to-convert-kids-bishop-20110513-1elg9.html

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Dublin Archbishop says Irish church not indoctrinating enough children, secular society advancing

IrishCentral   -  May 18, 2011

Dublin Archbishop - Catholics are not passing religion on to the next generation

Failure to pass on religion will have serious consequences

By ANTOINETTE KELLY, IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

The abuse crisis in the Irish church is not the only grave challenge facing it, Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin told the Catholic News Service this week. [see article below]

The failure to pass on the faith to the younger generation has far reaching consequences for the church too he claimed.

"We have to completely, radically change the way we pass on the faith," Martin told CNS. "Our parishes are not places where evangelization and catechesis are taking place."

Speaking in Washington before he presented a lecture to the Order of Malta Martin, the Primate of Ireland, lamented the declining practice of the faith in Dublin - where just 18 percent of Catholics now regularly attend Sunday Mass.

Controversially, Martin noted that if the Catholic Church runs 90 percent of the elementary schools in Ireland yet only 18 percent of Catholics attend Mass, it made him wonder about the commitment of Catholic teachers.

"If people are being prepared for the sacraments by people who don't frequent the sacraments, there's a real problem there," Martin said.

"Unless we address it, we're not going to have a next generation of young Catholics," he said.

"We're suffering from some of the products of being a mass Catholicism in the past. We're still living, in some ways, as if that were the case today," he said.

Martin said he believed the secularization of Irish society was quite advanced and he spoke of the need for training laypeople to relieve priests of some of their extra tasks so they can focus more on priestly duties.

Young people in particular, Martin said, have a great deal to contribute but they must be treated with respect

"Parishes where young people are present and committed are parishes where they've been given responsibility," he said. "And the parishes which treat young people where they say 'You come on our conditions,' that's just not working."

This article was found at:

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Dublin-Archbishop---Catholics-are-not-passing-religion-on-to-the-next-generation-122142799.html

*********************************************************************

Catholic News Service   -  May 17, 2011

Dublin archbishop says Catholics not passing on faith to young people

By Barb Fraze |  Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Irish society is not just suffering from the sex abuse scandal but from a failure to pass on the faith to the younger generation, said the archbishop of Dublin.

"We have to completely, radically change the way we pass on the faith," Archbishop Diarmuid Martin told Catholic News Service May 16. "Our parishes are not places where evangelization and catechesis are taking place."

The archbishop traveled to Washington to present the Order of Malta Inaugural Lecture, "Faith and Service: the Unbreakable Bond." During his speech and in remarks to CNS beforehand, he spoke of the declining practice of the faith in Dublin -- 18 percent of Catholics regularly attend Sunday Mass -- and of the need to give young people responsibility in the parish to reinvigorate them.

Archbishop Martin has served in Dublin since 2003 and presided over the uncovering of hundreds of past cases of sex abuse and the mishandling of priest abusers, but he says the problem goes deeper than abuse.

The Catholic Church runs 90 percent of the elementary schools in Ireland. Yet if only 18 percent of Catholics attend Mass, he said, he has to wonder about the commitment of Catholic teachers.

"If people are being prepared for the sacraments by people who don't frequent the sacraments, there's a real problem there," Archbishop Martin told CNS.

He reiterated what he has said often in the past, that "young Irish people are among the most catechized and the least evangelized."

"Unless we address it, we're not going to have a next generation of young Catholics," he said.

"We're suffering from some of the products of being a mass Catholicism in the past. We're still living, in some ways, as if that were the case today," he said.

In his speech near the Georgetown University campus, Archbishop Martin said he believed the secularization of Irish society was quite advanced, and he spoke of what it means to live as a Christian citizen.

"If we start out in ... reflection on the place of faith in our culture with the conviction that God's grace is present and can be found even within a world marked by human sinfulness, then our vision of the place of the faith in society changes, and the entire framework for the presence of Christians in society takes on a new shape," he said.

"Christian commitment means getting your hands and your shoes dirty," he said. "The Christian in society is not just another social commentator, but a witness to another way of living."

He said Christian commitment "must not be limited to the occasional outburst of global solidarity" after natural disasters or "the more militant enthusiasm engendered around protest meetings."

"For the Christian, solidarity and sharing should be the stuff of every day, an imperative and not just an option, a daily imperative and not an occasional awakening of conscience," he said.

"Faith and service constitute an unbreakable bond," he said.

"Defense of the faith is about living the faith without being afraid," he said, adding that it means knowing that faith can improve all aspects of life.

In his CNS interview, Archbishop Martin spoke of the need for training volunteer laypeople to start relieving priests of some of their extra tasks so they can focus on priestly duties. Laypeople "bring a richness to ministry," he said, and where he has full-time laypeople working in parishes, they have increased the numbers of volunteer laypeople.

He said Irish young people are "extremely generous, dedicated."

"Parishes where young people are present and committed are parishes where they've been given responsibility," he said. "And the parishes which treat young people where they say 'You come on our conditions,' that's just not working."


This article was found at:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1101942.htm

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US conservative lawmakers increase attempts to legislate promotion of creationism in public schools

Mother Jones - March 23, 2011

9 Bills That Would Put Creationism in the Classroom

By Josh Harkinson | Mother Jones staff reporter

State governments are grappling with massive budget deficits, overburdened social programs, and mountains of deferred spending. But never mind all that. For some conservative lawmakers, it's the perfect time to legislate the promotion of creationism in the classroom. In the first three months of 2011, nine creationism-related bills have been introduced in seven states—that's more than in any year in recent memory:

1. Texas

Legislation: HB 2454 would ban discrimination against creationists, for instance, biology professors who believe in intelligent design. Defending his bill, Texas state Rep. Bill Zedler toldMother Jones, "When was the last time we’ve seen someone go into a windstorm or a tornado or any other kind of natural disaster, and say, 'Guess what? That windstorm just created a watch'?"

Status: Referred to Higher Education Committee.


2. Kentucky

Legislation: The Kentucky Science Education and Intellectual Freedom Act (HB 169) would have allowed teachers to use "other instructional materials to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review scientific theories in an objective manner." Kentucky already authorizes public schools to teach "the theory of creation as presented in the Bible" and to "read such passages in the Bible as are deemed necessary for instruction on the theory of creation." The state is home to the world-renowned Creation Museum and it may soon build the Ark Encounter, the world's first creationist theme park.

Status: Died in committee.


3. Florida

Legislation: SB 1854 would amend Florida law to require a "thorough presentation and critical analysis of the scientific theory of evolution." In 2009, Florida state Sen. Stephen Wise, the bill's sponsor, rhetorically asked a Tampa radio host: "Why do we still have apes if we came from them?"

Status: Referred to Senate Committee on Education Pre-K-12, which Wise chairs.


4. Tennessee

Legislation: HB 368 and SB 893 would require educators to "assist teachers to find effective ways to present the science curriculum as it addresses scientific controversies." The bills list four "controversies" ripe for pedagogical tinkering: biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning. Modeled on Louisiana's Science Education Act (which became law in 2008), the bills are believed to have a good shot at passing. Steven Newton of the National Center for Science Education, which promotes teaching evolution in public schools, worries that the legislation "will allow teachers to bring this culture war into the classroom in a way that is going to leave students very confused about what science is and isn't."

Status: HB 368 was passed by the House General Subcommittee on Education on March 16.


5. Oklahoma

Legislation: The Sooner State kicked off its creationism legislation season early with the January 19 pre-filing of SB 554, a bill that would have ensured that teachers could present "relevant scientific information" about "controversial topics in the sciences" including "biological origins of life and biological evolution." It also would have required Oklahoma to adopt science standards echoing those passed by in 2009 by the Texas state board of education. "Using your tax dollars to teach the unknown, without disclosing the entire scientific findings is incomplete and unacceptable," wrote the bill's sponsor, state Sen. Josh Brecheen, in theDurant Daily Democrat. A second bill introduced in February, the Scientific Education and Academic Freedom Act, resembled Louisiana's Science Education Act.

Status: Both bills died in committee.


6. New Mexico

Legislation: HB 302, another bill modeled on Louisiana's Science Education Act. Sponsor Kent Cravens, a state senator from Albuquerque, told the Santa Fe New Mexican that the bill wasn't anti-Darwinian, but rather was "intended to give the teacher the ability to disclose that there may be another way to think about this, whatever subject they are talking about."

Status: Died in committee.


7. Missouri

Legislation: HB 195 would permit teachers "to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of the theory of biological and hypotheses of chemical evolution." Missouri is the site of the newly opened Creation Museum of the Ozarks.

Status: Not yet referred to a committee.

This article was found at:

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/03/9-bills-creationism-classroom

*********************************************************************
Mother Jones  -  April 8, 2011


Tennessee House Passes Creationism Bill

— By Josh Harkinson


The state that infamously hosted the Scopes Monkey Trial more than 85 years ago is at it again. Yesterday Tennessee's General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a bill that would make it easier for public schools to teach creationism. The bill would require educators to "assist teachers to find effective ways to present the science curriculum as it addresses scientific controversies." It lists four "controversies" ripe for pedagogical tinkering: biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning.

"This is part of a long held creationist strategy," says Steven Newton, policy director for the National Center for Science Education. "By doing everything except mention the Bible, they are attacking evolution without the theology."

Yesterday's floor debate on the bill, though not quite as dramatic as Inherit the Wind, was nonetheless a tour de force in creative polemics. For example, Republican state Rep. Frank Niceley implied that Albert Einstein, who was more or less an agnostic Jew, was actually a Christian and ergo creationism should be taught in schools:

watch video at: http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/04/tennessee-house-passes-creationism-bill

And then there was state Rep. Sheila Butt's Aqua Net theory:

watch video at: http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/04/tennessee-house-passes-creationism-bill

Did Butt really learn this in high school? Or is she confusing global warming with ozone layer depletion? Has she seen this piece in Science? Just a few "critical-thought questions" for Butt's colleagues in the state Senate, who'll decide the ultimate fate of the bill in the coming months.


This article was found at:

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/04/tennessee-house-passes-creationism-bill

Also see:

http://ncse.com/evolution/antievolution-legislation-scorecard



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Living Without Religion - why atheist advertising campaigns are necessary but hated by believers

LivingWithoutReligion.org

You don't need God— to hope, to care, to love, to live.

To hope, to care, to love. We have all experienced these powerful, fundamental feelings. They help define what it is to be human. These important elements of a fulfilling human life are experienced by religious and nonreligious people alike.

There are some common myths about the nonreligious—atheists, agnostics, and secular humanists. One popular myth is that the nonreligious are immoral, or at least that they can’t be relied upon to be as good as those with religious beliefs. If you know any nonreligious people (and almost everyone does—see below), you already know this is not true. Human decency does not depend on religious belief. There are good believers and good nonbelievers; there are wicked believers and wicked nonbelievers. You can’t predict a person’s moral character just from knowing his or her metaphysical beliefs.

Another prevalent myth is that the lives of the nonreligious are empty, meaningless, and dominated by despair. This, too, is false. The nonreligious experience the same range of emotions, sentiments, and sensations as the religious. They are joyful and sad; they feel sympathy and disgust; they experience pain and pleasure. They have aspirations; they are concerned about others. They love and are loved.

One reason this myth persists is many religious believers see their god or their faith as the basis for emotions such as hope, caring, and love. We don’t deny that the religious may find inspiration in their beliefs—but our religious friends should not presume that accepting their beliefs is necessary for a fulfilling life.

We who are nonreligious lead meaningful lives without reliance on the supernatural. Moreover, we believe anyone can find meaning in a life that is human-centered and focused on the here and now instead of the hereafter.

Some people have parted ways with traditional god beliefs intellectually but hesitate to give up their faith because they’re afraid of what life might be like without the beliefs and practices they have found so comforting. They’ve heard myths about the nonreligious, and they may think these myths are all they have to go on.

But today, one American out of every six has no religious affiliation. You almost certainly have friends, acquaintances, and colleagues—even family members—who already live without religion. If you’ve asked tough questions about your faith and aren’t sure where to go next, we invite you to consider how many people have already found that living without religion provides a foundation for a life that is rich, rewarding, and complete.

Read more on  Hope  Care  Love  Live  at livingwithoutreligion.org

Press Release:  http://www.centerforinquiry.net/newsroom/living_without_religion/

**************************************************************************

AlterNet  -  March 28, 2011

"Spreading the Good News About Atheism": Why We Need Atheist Ad Campaigns

By Greta Christina, AlterNet


"Are you good without God? Millions are."

"Imagine no religion."

"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

Atheist ad campaigns are everywhere. Around the U.S. and around the world, atheist organizations have been buying space on billboards, buses, TV and more, with messages ranging from the mild-mannered "Don't believe in God? You are not alone" to the in-your-face "You know it's a myth." The current "Living Without Religion" campaign from the Center for Inquiry, letting the world know that "You don't need God -- to hope, to care, to love, to live" -- is only the latest in a series of advertising blitzes: from American Atheists, the Coalition of Reason, the American Humanist Association, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and many other organizations. Even local student atheist groups have been getting into the act, using buses in their college towns to spread the good news about atheism.

And whenever they do, they are almost guaranteed to garner resistance. Conservative religionists often object vehemently to the very concept of atheist advertising: in many cases trying to get the ad campaigns stopped altogether, and frequently even vandalizing the billboards. (In what has to be the irony of the year, some bus companies have stopped accepting all religious-themed ads, simply so they don't have to accept ads from atheists.) And while moderate and progressive believers have never (to my knowledge) tried to stop these atheist ad campaigns from moving forward, many are still baffled and even offended by the ads. They see them as proselytizing, evangelical... and they don't understand why people who are opposed to religion would be proselytizing and evangelical.

So why do atheists do this?

Why do atheists spend substantial amounts of money and resources to let the world know we exist, and to get our ideas across?

Which Atheists?

The first thing you have to remember is this: Not all atheist ads campaigns are created equal. Different atheist organizations create different ad campaigns, with different goals, and different strategies for achieving those goals. So when you ask, "Why do atheists have to advertise?", the first question you have to answer is, "Which atheists?"

Some atheist ad campaigns, for instance, are purely about visibility. The sole message behind them: "Atheists exist." The folks behind these campaigns know that visibility is key to acceptance of atheists -- just like it's key to acceptance of LGBT people. Simply getting people familiar with atheists, and getting them comfortable with the concept of atheism, goes a long way to countering anti-atheist prejudice and hostility. What's more, the folks behind these campaigns know that plenty of non-believers feel isolated -- cut off from family and friends if they're open about their atheism, hiding in secrecy and silence if they're not -- and they want these people know they aren't alone. It's like the annual Coming Out Day campaign for LGBT people.

Other ad campaigns are about information. They're there to counter myths about atheists. They're not just telling you, "Atheists exist" -- they're telling you, "Atheists exist, and are good, happy people." Misinformation and bigotry against atheists abound, and many atheist ad campaigns -- including the current "Living Without Religion" one from the Center for Inquiry -- are aimed at countering this misinformation. They're aimed at letting the world know that, contrary to popular opinion, atheists have morality, meaning, joy, and hope in our lives... just as much as religious believers. It's like a public service information campaign, letting you know that, contrary to popular opinion, HIV is a treatable illness/Arab Americans are your peaceful hard-working neighbors/the library is open late on Thursdays.

Still other campaigns are trying to gain new members for their atheist groups. They aren't necessarily trying to persuade anyone out of religion... but they know there are non-believers in their communities, people who feel isolated, people who may even think they're the only ones who think they way they do. And they want those folks to know that atheist organizations are available: to provide community, support, education and entertainment, or simply to provide reinforcement for the idea that they aren't crazy or immoral for thinking the way they do. Like a softball team distributing flyers for new players... or AARP advertising for new members, and letting you know about the wonderful programs they have available for people over 50.

And still others are, in fact, actively trying to change people's minds about religion. They're trying to persuade people that atheism is, you know, correct: that there is no God, and people should stop believing... or, at the very least, consider the possibility that their beliefs might be mistaken. Or they're trying to persuade people to respect the separation of church and state, even if they believe in God. Like Pepsi trying to persuade you to buy their products instead of Coke's... or Marriage Equality trying to get you to vote against Prop 8.

Of course, while these ad campaigns do have different goals, many of those goals dovetail and overlap. The "atheist visibility" folks may not be deliberately trying to persuade people out of religion, for instance... but since religion relies on social agreement to perpetuate itself, the mere act of saying "Atheists exist, not everyone believes in God" lays a small but powerful piece of dynamite under its foundations. The "deconversion" folks may be trying to get people to question their faith... but they're also getting atheism on a lot more people's radar. And while the "countering misinformation" campaigns aren't necessarily designed to increase group membership, that's often the effect.

And I would argue that every single one of these goals is valid.

After all -- they're valid for every other human endeavor.

When it comes to every other human idea/affiliation/activity/organization, we think it's perfectly reasonable for people to make themselves visible. To make information available. To let others who might be interested know that a group exists. To persuade others who don't agree to change their minds. When it comes to politics, science, art, medicine, hobbies, philosophy, food, etc., we consider it not only acceptable, but positive and worthwhile, to share our ideas, and to get our points of view into the world, and to make our case when we really think we're right.

Why should atheism be the exception?

If it's okay for Democrats to run ads saying, "Vote Democratic"? If it's okay for the Boston Red Sox to run ads saying, "Go Sox"? If it's okay for the Red Hot Organization to run ads saying, "Safe sex is hot sex"? If it's okay for Greenpeace to run ads saying (seriously) "There's probably no cod, now let's stop overfishing & think of the future"? Then why on Earth is it not okay for the Center for Inquiry to run ads saying, "You don't need God -- to hope, to care, to love, to live"? Or even for American Atheists to run ads saying, "You know it's a myth"?

Why should religion, alone among all other ideas, be entitled to a free ride... free from criticism and questioning and the uncomfortable reminder that not everyone in the world agrees with it?

And in fact, when you look at the ugly responses that atheist ad campaigns typically get, the need for them becomes even more obvious. Religious believers have called the ad campaigns "aggressive," "hateful," "offensive," "a disgrace," "political correctness gone amok," "terrible," "disturbing," and "dangerous." They've said that they "have had their sensibilities assaulted" by the ads, that their beliefs were being "attacked" and "vandalized" by them. They've suggested that someone "accidentally burn" the billboards. They've equated atheist advertisers with Fred Phelps. And these responses are hardly isolated: they're very much in line with general American sentiments about atheists, which view us asthe most disliked and distrusted minority in America.

Of course atheists need visibility -- lots of people are bigoted about us. Of course we need to spread information about who we are -- lots of people are ignorant about us. Of course we need to let other atheists know that support networks are available -- lots of people are hateful about us. Of course we need to advocate for separation of church and state -- lots of people want to make it actually illegal for us to advertise. The very hostility that the atheist ad campaigns generate proves why we need them so badly.

Sauce for the Goose?

Now, some people may think I'm being a hypocrite here. Some people think that religious evangelism sucks, whether it's atheists or believers doing the "evangelizing" -- and they think it's hypocritical for atheists to cut slack for the atheist ad campaigns. "Sure, she doesn't like religious proselytizing," these folks are probably saying, "but she thinks it's totally okay for atheists to try to swell their ranks and change people's minds! How is that fair?"

But these people would be mistaken.

Because I don't, in fact, have any objection to religious evangelists trying to change people's minds.

Don't get me wrong. I have serious objections to many of the religious evangelists' methods. I object to their use of fear-mongering as a form of persuasion; to their offering of false hope; to the way they present unsubstantiated opinion as authoritative fact. I object to their arrogant use of personal experience as the keystone of their case, with little or no understanding of the fallibility of the human mind. I object to their dismissal and even contempt of the most fundamental notions of evidence and reason. I object to their use of social pressure and even shunning to enforce complicity and silence dissent within their ranks. I object to their knocking on people's doors at eight in the morning on a Saturday.

But I do not have any objection whatsoever to the basic idea of religious believers trying to persuade people that they're right. None. If they think they're right, then that's exactly what they ought to do. That's how the marketplace of ideas works: people share their ideas, they make the case for their ideas, and (in theory, anyway) in the long run the best idea wins. In fact, if these believers were right, and our eternal afterlives in bliss or torment really were contingent on believing the right religion? Then not trying to persuade others to share the faith would be objectionable. Immoral, even. Callous to the point of being monstrous. I disagree passionately with their case, I disagree with how they typically make that case... but I have not even the slightest objection to the idea of them making it.

And I'm not afraid of them. I think the case for atheism is better than the case for religion... by several orders of magnitude. I think that, when stripped of the fear-mongering and social pressure and unsubstantiated opinion and so on, religion falls apart almost laughably fast. I think that religion is a house of cards built inside a fortress, and when the fortress of excuses and diversions and non-arguments gets breached, the actual case for religion is so flimsy it's almost pathetic. I think atheism is correct; I think the case for atheism is winning, and will continue to win... and I'm not afraid of religious believers making their case.

And the fact that so many believers are afraid of atheists making our case?

That just makes my point for me.

Atheists aren't the ones trying to shut up religious believers. When religious ads go up on buses and billboards and TV, we roll our eyes and go about our business. We don't agree with the advertisers... but we don't try to stop them from advertising. Sure, we're trying to get religious messages out of government -- no Ten Commandments in City Halls, no creationism in public schools, no prayers to start city council meetings, etc. -- but that's a separation of church and state issue. (One that works for religious believers just as much as it does for atheists, I might point out.) When it comes to religious groups hawking their message on their own private property -- or on other people's private property they've rented with their own money -- we may think it's obnoxious or silly, but we totally respect their right to do it.

And the fact that so many believers don't respect atheists' right to hawk our message? It just shows how weak their message is -- and how afraid they are of having it contradicted. As my wife Ingrid points out, "If you've got God on your side, why are you so afraid of a billboard?"

If religionists thought their case for God was strong, they wouldn't be trying to silence atheists.

And the fact that they are trying to silence atheists, all by itself, is Exhibit A for exactly why we need to keep advertising.

Read more of Greta Christina at her blog.


This article was found at:

http://www.alternet.org/story/150399/%22spreading_the_good_news_about_atheism%22%3A_why_we_need_atheist_ad_campaigns

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The Age - Australia March 24, 2011

School denies Scientology deal

byJewel Topsfield


A MELBOURNE school linked to the Church of Scientology spends among the lowest per student in Australia despite receiving thousands of dollars in government funding.

Yarralinda School in Mooroolbark has also come under fire for obscuring its affiliation with Scientology, in a flyer that spruiks the school as a ''no homework school''.

My School website reveals Yarralinda School spent $3727 per student in 2009, despite receiving $6171 per student in combined government funding and $4609 per student in fees.

Victoria's independent schools spend an average of $15,201 per student, while government schools spend an average $10,178 per student.

However, most of Yarralinda's income - $7765 per student - was allocated to paying off debts, according to My School.

A former board member at Yarralinda, Paul Schofield, who resigned in 2009, alleged the school's debt repayments were so high because the school had taken out a mortgage to lend money to the Church of Scientology for its headquarters in Ascot Vale.

''I was livid the school had been left with this debt in order to fund the Scientology building,'' he said.

The Australian Education Union called on the federal government to investigate the use of government funding.

''The government is providing recurrent funding for very specific purposes, and it appears this funding is not being used for the purpose of education,'' president Angelo Gavrielatos said.

Yarralinda principal Christel Duffy refused to comment on why the school's spending per student was so low.

''Any debt the school has is directly in relation to the school and there is no debt in relation to the Church of Scientology,'' she said.

Ms Duffy said the school used Applied Scholastics teaching materials based on the works of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, who died in 1986. Its patron is Scientologist Kate Ceberano.

''We do not teach any religion at Yarralinda School nor do we attempt to ask any children or their parents to join or study any religion,'' Ms Duffy said.

She said the school's promotional flyer included a logo indicating it is part of the Applied Scholastics network.

Mr Schofield said Applied Scholastics was a ''Scientology front group''.

''The name of Ron Hubbard and Scientology is absolute poison [so it is] policy to say the school has nothing to do with Scientology, which is absolute crap.''

In its promotional flyer, titled ''Local kids love no-homework school!'', Yarralinda promotes its ''official no homework policy'', its ''traditional phonics-based teaching methods'' and its ''highly personalised learning programs''.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon, who has pushed for Scientology's tax-free status to be scrapped, condemned the lack of disclosure on the flyer, questioning what the Church of Scientology has to hide from parents.

''Will federal funds in effect be used to recruit new members to the Church of Scientology, which has got a shocking record of harming individuals who get caught up in its web?'' the senator asked.

A spokesman for Schools Minister Peter Garrett said: "A full briefing on these matters has been requested from the department.''

This article was found at:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/school-denies-scientology-deal-20110323-1c6sf.html

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