$90m God Squad

Government and non-government schools can get up to $20,000 a year to help them provide chaplaincy services under a three-year, $90 million program that Mr Howard announced yesterday.

I am absolutely appalled to hear that Prime Minister John Howard is investing $90 million into yet another school program to take us back to the 1950s era thinking, and I find it inappropriate for taxpayer funds to go towards the promotion of select religious activity in schools.

$90 million would be better spent on school counsellors, youth workers who could serve the whole school population without a preconceived agenda.

...unlikely to include guidance by Scientologists, Falun Gong practitioners or Jehovah's Witnesses, Mr Howard admitted. "We're not going to discriminate, but clearly we reserve the right to say no to somebody who is plainly unacceptable, whatever that person's background might be," he said.

It is not appropriate to pick and choose, there should be freedom for any group to represent, I just think it's not workable, to have freedom you can't discriminate therefore this plan should be scrapped immediately!



Lincoln Wright of the Sunday Herald Sun says in his article on the topic :

"...The program may help prevent another Werribee DVD-type incident in which a gang of teenagers molested a girl, filmed the incident and sold it on DVD."

I find it absurd to suggest that having a chaplain in the school would or even could have changed the outcome of "that incident"!


Content Sources:
The Age - Schools get chaplain funds.
Sunday Herald Sun - Schools will get $90m God squad by Lincoln Wright 29/10/2006 p. 13