Religious bias and discrimination

HSQ’s submission stated that its primary position was to end religious instruction and replace it with normal professional curriculum programs. HSQ maintained that the current system, conducted in schools by visitors from the religious communities, is fundamentally incompatible with the provision of public (secular) education.

However, since the Department stated that those practices would remain, the fall back position of the Society was to support an option presented in the Consultation Paper of extending the current arrangements to include “philosophical programs”, therefore Humanism.

We were delighted to find that philosophical programs were indeed included in the forthcoming draft Education Bill, 2006, when the Minister for Education announced in Parliament, “The provisions include … making sure that our schools are inclusive of their school communities in the provision of instruction in religious or other belief systems”.

While HSQ had no intention of “instructing” students in Humanism (the “Study of Humanism” program being educational, not instructional), future access to schools seemed guaranteed now that the range had been extended to include non-religious systems of belief and philosophies.

At this point the Christian lobby attacked these progressive developments. Spearheading the charge, Federal Minister for Education, Julie Bishop, threatened to withhold the funds needed to run the Queensland school system if the indicated changes to RI went ahead. Using fear tactics that completely misrepresented the true situation and intention of the changes, she claimed that the new Bill would open schools to witchcraft, cults and paganism.

The Queensland Christian Lobby who visited backbenchers, and emailed and telephoned others employed more fear tactics. They also apparently emailed more than 3,000 churches where Lobby contacts raised the issue at Sunday morning church meetings. The Lobby claims that in 24 hours they can reach about 45,000 Queenslanders (The Courier-Mail, May 23, 2006).

The media coverage immediately showed the success of this campaign. It reported that “the plans to widen religious education had been dumped after the Beattie Government bowed to pressure from conservative Christian groups”. “The backflip followed growing concerns among Labor backbenchers that the Government would face electoral opposition from some Christian churches and right wing community groups” (The Courier-Mail, May 23, 2006).

The fact is that all religions, including Wicca, Paganism and religious cults, under the old Act and under the new Act, have access to schools because they maintain supernatural beliefs - the definitive element of religion. If parents exercised their right to nominate any type of religion there is no legal obstacle to the students receiving that religious instruction if it is available. The only beliefs excluded from the Act are the non-religious, philosophical ones, such as Humanism.

It is hard to believe that leaders of the Lobby did not know that the real goal of the campaign was to keep out Humanists, rather than witches, pagans or cultists, from the schools: for it is certain that Humanism is the system of thought that appeals strongest to intelligent inquiring young minds as well as the minds of their astute parents. For this reason Humanism can be viewed as a serious competitor!

All dictatorial, dogmatic and totalitarian regimes, religious or secular, fear above all systems of belief that promote liberty of thought and a critical mind, freedom of expression, democracy, equality, and human and civil rights. Humanism represents, therefore, everything that challenges their claims to wield authority, power and social control.

Recognising the Humanist potential to challenge and undermine autocratic and authoritarian regimes, defenders of those regimes link it to the most negative ideas and destructive effects they can think of, and attach to it the worst atrocities in history.

For instance, on June 7, 2006, the deputy leader of the State Opposition, Dr Bruce Flegg (Liberal) commented in the Queensland parliament about the ill-fated Education Bill: