what about that schoool?
it is a christian school it will teach christian values and morals,
as well as what is set out by the BOARD OF STUDIES…

parents do have the choice of sending there kids to a christian schoool, wanting them to know and learn.
so you cant really say anything to it.

Its fact of life. live with it.
we all have different views to life…
and this is mine…

(i didnt read this article….just something about education and PHCS…. )
so im commenting on that..

“Do I think that parents and schools should have the opportunity — if they wish to — for students also to be exposed to this and to be taught about it? Yes I think that’s fine,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, students can be taught and should be taught the basic science in terms of the evolution of man, but if schools also want to present students with intelligent design, I don’t have any difficulty with that. It’s about choice, reasonable choice.”

So you wouldn’t expect to see Kansas-like problems in neighboring Australia.

Well, we can’t export them all. From an Aussie point of view, I agree with Damian’s comparisons between Australia and New Zealand on the one hand and the US and Canada on the other. I had no idea we were more sexually permissive though.

For me, the worrying thing about these schools (apart from teaching creationism in science class at all) is the potential for confusion if students decide to study biology in year 12. I’m not sure about other states but evolution makes up a large part of the senior biology curriculum in South Australia. I know I’d have a hard time passing a subject if the content contradicted a decade of previous education.

Actually, public schools sometimes have a similar problem, not through teaching creationism, but by omitting to teach evolution before year 12. (and other things as well, like the effectiveness of condoms in preventing STDs). Of course, the conflicting information come from outside the school, so at least the school is consistent but when there’s misinformation in the community we really should try and counter it by teaching these things early and often.

It seems that every time I get into a religious debate with a fundamentalist Christian, its usually an Aussie. Maybe thats just my luck of the draw, but it does surprise me that the Aussie’s here claim that their country is mostly agnostic or not as serious about religion as other countries.

Then again, I’ve also heard that Foster’s (supposedly “Australian for Beer”) is not even a popular beverage down under, and after trying it at a local pub, I now know why. My aunt and uncle went to Australia on vacation, and they came back with the knowledge that Aussies prefer a crafty micro brew over a Foster’s any day. Hearing that made me want to visit and see for myself, as most Americans lean towards things far worse than Foster’s (try Coors and Budweiser, eww.).

Australia as a whole is pretty much agnostic or has a low level religious belief. There are strong pockets of reigious faith though. Ken Ham is Queensland born and bred, and luckily for us and unfortunatly for you Americans has gone on to richer pickings.

Australian politicians on both sides of the political spectrum have a much higher rate of religious belief than the general population. They are aware though of loudly prolclaiming it will lose them the audience. This does leave scope for much secrecy and makes them curiously sympathetic to the more wacko fundamentalist groups (Christian groups that is. Muslim fundamentalists receive the attentions of ASIO and the Australian Federal Police.) The religious groups if they get a sympathetic ear and can keep a secret can get all sorts if dispensations for their school’s.

The previous conservative goverment for some reason had a lot of time for a strange mob called the Exculsive Bretheren. Strange, because the Bretheren ban their members from voting in elections they also don’t like their members watching TV or listening to the radio or using computers. They also don’t like educating their women much. They do have a lot of money though. They managed to get allowances for their schools to drop certain compulsory blocks of Board of Studies requirements.

Damian above, stated that their was quite a strong fundamentalist movement here in Australia, to clarify their strengh comes not from numbers, but their suprisingly good political contacts.

Bit scary ? Huh.

Those are professional people, not elected amateurs.
All in all, it’s quite a bit different from just “a school board” in the usual US sense.

I note that Australia has a slightly higher proportion of agnostics and atheists than New Zealand; I would not expect the level of acceptance of evolution to differ very strongly.

As for figures on evolution belief, the only one I could find (from 2004) had just over a quarter of Australians “believe the bible provides a more likely explanation of the origins of life than evolution”, which while not exactly the same question, gives some indication that acceptance of evolution is up toward the 75% mark.