A Time For Understanding
By Dick Shearman, IEU General Secretary
Many were surprised by recent articles in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Daily Telegraph telling of a coalition of Christian congregations who had joined forces to speak out against, on religious grounds, a Muslim school being built in Camden.
The IEU is opposed to any form of discrimination based on religion. We, as a Union, represent teachers, support staff and principals from every major religion and faith, along with many non-religious schools.
Our position is always that faith-based schools have a right, not just to be funded, but also to be accepted in every day public life. After all, every school must be registered and abide by the Board of Studies requirements.
Divisive argument Some argue that only secular education is valid — that these are the only schools embodying equity, mateship and the Australian way.
But what this narrow definition does, in essence, is it excludes faith-based schools and ignores their rightful place in and contribution to the community. It also creates division when we should all be encouraging unity.
The definition denies the importance schools place on ethics, faith, religious observance and the strong set of values they share with the broader school community.
Integral to community Students from faith-based schools can be just as much a part of the Australian way of life, and this is why we support state aid and we actively speak out against those who oppose state aid funding to religious schools.
So how ironic it is that we now have a group of Christian congregations claiming a Muslim school has no place, and accusing a religion of being set on world domination when it is, in essence, no more evangelical than other religions.
As a Union, we absolutely reject the approach taken by Camden’s local heads of Baptist, Anglican, Presbyterian and the Evangelical Sisters of Mary congregations.
And, while the comments made by the congregations have not been endorsed by the central spokespeople of the Anglican, Uniting or Catholic Churches, criticism of their approach has been clearly inadequate.
Surely, in this global age in which misunderstanding can have dire consequences, we should be embracing opportunities to learn about each other and foster understanding?
The IEU will continue to uphold the rights of our members in schools of every faith (and indeed those of none at all) to establish schools and run them in accordance with the religious or secular values of their school communities.
This article appears in the May issue of Newsmonth. Members can read IEU publications online at www.ieu.asn.au/publications.html . Or subscribe at www.ieu.asn.au/subscribe.html .
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