God and the Democrats

Schools recognise that the integrity of spiritual care is grounded in the wholeness of a belief system. Our post-modern thinking has difficulty dealing with any specificity. The spiritual care of chaplains is effective precisely because it arises from a coherent set of beliefs based on a specific meta-narrative.

Equity requires that other faith groups should also have the opportunity to offer chaplaincy to state schools. The Jews and Muslims who are most likely to be accepted by schools seem content to let Christians provide this spiritual care in state schools. One Jewish leader told me, “We are small communities without resources. We are happy for the churches to do this for us”.

In fact, the only other groups wanting to offer chaplaincy are the Baha'i and atheists. Cautious school principals regard Christianity as the default religion in Australian society and some say they are unlikely to welcome what they see as “fringe groups”.

The 500 or more government school chaplains around Australia cannot be dismissed as tax-payer funded religion. It is a complex phenomenon, meeting needs that will not be met by secular counsellors or youth officers.

I applaud the efforts of the Democrats to raise the matter of religion and politics for national discussion, but I fear if their methodology is as weak in all areas as it is in RE and chaplains in school and tax exemption, the debate will be superficial and ultimately self-defeating.