Should we teach more religion in schools?

The ACARA curriculum promotes learning about liberal parliamentary democracy, civil behaviour and civic duty. Pretty much the defining characteristics of Western civilisation, wouldn't you say? And not only learning about these important institutions and values but also learning how to put them into practice. Surely we could do with a bit more civility in public and private lives.

Is Australia based on the Judeo-Christian values?

It's often bandied about that Western civilisation is based on Judeo-Christian values, and to an extent, that's true. But Christianity's key ideas were already familiar territory to those living two thousand years ago. Early Christianity was itself already based on the moral philosophies of the ancient Greeks – Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The Golden Rule for example, in the Sermon on the Mount – 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you' – appears in the Egyptian and Babylonian traditions, and is better expressed in Confucianism – 'Do not impose on others what you would not choose for yourself'. The Greek philosopher Thales put it this way: 'Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing'.

Further, what's always left out of these claims is the crucial role of the Enlightenment, from which we get most of our secular values: freedom of speech, universal education, the scientific method, freedom from dogma, separation of church and state, tolerance, and of course the big three – liberté, egalité , fraternité.

So let's not get distracted by the call for 'Judeo-Christian values'. If there's any gap in Australian education, it's that there's not enough recognition of the foundational role of the ancient Greeks in ethics, the ancient Romans in law, and the Enlightenment.