Billboard targets religious discrimination in Victorian schools
Posted by jaysondcooke in Activism, Chaplains, Education, Equality, News, NSCP, Politics, Religious Instruction, Religious instrusion, Secularism on February 3, 2012
The new school year is being welcomed by a billboard targeting church missionaries for still being in State schools.
The billboard went up Thursday, February 02, 2012 near the corner of Greenway St. and Manningham Rd. in Bulleen, Victoria. Responsible for the strongly worded message is a group of parents, called Fairness in Religions in School (FIRIS) who want the State Minister of Education to sever all links between schools and the controversial parachurch: ACCESS Ministries.
The billboard says “State Schools are not Church Playgrounds” and “Special Religious Instruction Divides our Children”. FIRIS says the billboard aims at alerting the public to unfair policy that gives an “open door”, and also funds a church ministry to use curriculum time to instruct children in specific religious beliefs.
“This is the Minister’s preference as the law imposes no such requirement,” says Campaign Chairman Tim Heasley.
ACCESS is the parachurch controlled by 12 protestant churches that made headlines attracted last year when its CEO, Evonne Paddison, urged church congregations to “make disciples” by adopting “missional attitudes” in Victoria’s State Schools.
The billboard comes in advance of a case being put by parents before the Victorian Administrative and Civil Tribunal (VCAT) which aims to force Mr. Dixon to bring the policy into line with the expectations of Victorian parents and end the exception the policy allows to a guiding principle of Victoria Schools, “secular education”.
Said Mr. Heasley: “We would like to see religion taught in a fair way that reflects Australia’s multi-cultural commitments and we’re asking our schools to do this in a way that does not violate the `secular principle’ of public education. This needs to be done by closing the door to activists from all religions who want to use our schools to get at kids”.
“Our State Schools are not Church Playgrounds and it is deeply concerning to me as an Australian and as a parent, that I should need to put up a billboard to make this case to the Minister of Education. The Minister could easily change this policy, and that is what we intend to see him do”.
The policy by which church volunteers come into the school day and take up part of the curriculum is not supported by the Australian Education Union. The Victorian branch passed a resolution calling for an end to the policy.
“Parents should never be put in a position of having to remove their child from a church-run program in a state school, yet here we are at the start of the school year and policy to favor this ministry rolls on”, said Mr Heasley.
The billboard, funded by donations to FIRIS, and designed by a parent, is based on what the designer’s six year old daughter experienced at her school, as a result of what many parents agree forces a choice between making their kids feel different or having them ministered to by ACCESS volunteers.
Another parent, Julia Brotherton, said in her case, even the choice between two evils wasn’t possible, because the schools can’t reasonably be expected to deal with equitably with the problems the policy creates. She says, “despite opting my child out at the start of the year, I discovered she was in fact attending Christian Religious Instruction by ACCESS Ministries. When I asked the school why this was, they explained how hard it was for the school to administrate the system and that ultimately it was up to my 6 year old to tell her teacher she was not meant to be there”!
Ms. Brotherton, said that it was the policy and not the school where change needed to occur. “The schools are doing the best they can, it is obvious that the policy is designed to induce parents to go along, even if they don’t want to. Its a political problem, that infringes on my rights as a parent. This is not fair to families, and its not fair to teachers, and it shouldn’t be on the principal’s to do list”.
FIRIS is a parent-run group supporting the upcoming parents case in VCAT. The case, which is being run by the law firm Holding Redlich, will be heard on 1 March, and will be the first time that this policy has been given a true hearing in an impartial setting.
Mr. Heasley said that the case before VCAT will show how SRI hurts families, but also fully explain the policy undermines the very principles of public education in Victoria. “One of the non negotiable values Australians hold is that our schools should not discriminate between children according to their parents’ religions or lack thereof. This policy is designed to do exactly this and gives church groups say over part of the curriculum. We hope to end this policy in 2012”.
“ACCESS Ministries instructs children with what amounts to a Sunday School type program that includes prayer and has no comparative religious component. It is totally out of step with the state school curriculum”, said Heasley.
FIRIS believes religion is a family matter, and that there are a diversity of approaches families choose with respect to religion. It is an obligation on the Minister of Education to prevent discrimination on religious grounds, to uphold the secular principles written into our constitution, in order to foster citizenship and tolerance in our nation.
For more information check out religioninschool.com
Is racism is still very much alive in Australia?
Posted by jaysondcooke in Discrimination, Equality, Human Rights, Humanism, News, Politics, Racism, racism or just plain old ignorence? on January 19, 2012
It amazes me that this question still gets asked, and that the answer given is often not a unanimous YES despite all evidence to the contrary.
One way of looking at this odd phenomena is wishful thinking taking precedence over reality.
Could it be the case that we would prefer discrimination based on an individual or group’s ethnic and/or cultural heritage, even generations removed, to be an embarrassing remnant of a less enlightened time?
An article published today by world-renowned Australian neurosurgeon and son of Chinese immigrants, Dr Charlie Teo read to me like as a proud Aussie recognising and acknowledging the problem of racial intolerance. However the comments following the post are prime examples of the vitriol that emerges whenever this topic is broached.
Ironically a poll listed on the page shows that 21.63% of those that voted (218 individuals so far) don’t believe that racism is still alive in Australia. This despite several of the commentators requesting that Dr Teo should ‘go home’, along with a litany of excuses and justifications for the way certain Australians and visitors are treated here.
I wrote a response which I’ve published below, however I highly recommend reading both Dr Teo’s article and the resulting comments for an insight into ‘everyday’ Australian attitudes to multiculturalism.
Oh, and in case anyone suggests I should ‘go home’ for holding ‘un-australian’ views, I was born here and am incredibly grateful for that fact, just like Dr Teo.
Thank you for drawing attention to these issues in such a respectful way Dr Teo.
Many of us feel regularly embarrassed by the level of intolerance that often does seem endemic throughout this great land.I have seen men physically assaulted with no provocation, woman and children spat on, told to go home either face to face or from passing cars, and often it’s as if no-one batts an eyelid. Worse still is the level of ignorance, excuse making and special pleading of those that attempt to justify such behaviour.
On the other hand I have seen great compassion and collaboration in so many projects of all scales from the smallest act of kindness to larger gestures of welcoming.
Of course there is good and bad behaviour by all Australians, regardless of their cultural heritage, ethnicity or skin tone. However by blindly discriminating, do the commenter’s here actually believe they are not contributing to this problem?
Yes of course other countries are intolerant of other nationalities, but how does this make it alright for such behaviour to exist here? Isn’t it better to strive to lead by example in this area as we, as a nation and hopefully as individuals do in other respects?Australia is a magnificent country in no small part due to the hard work of people from many nations who strove to make it what it is today, not because the populace were complacent or afraid of progress. We are and have always been a multicultural nation and were this not the case we would not be enjoying the way of life we all seem to agree is pretty damn great.
To deny this is a failure of appreciation of our nation, and to deny a more encompassing, optimistic and reality-based Australia Day celebration.
Jayson D Cooke
Cognitive decline can begin when we hit 45
Posted by jaysondcooke in Health, Humanism, News on January 6, 2012
International researchers have reported in the British Medical Journal that the brain’s capacity for memory, reasoning and comprehension skills can start to deteriorate from age 45; 15 years earlier than it is normally thought to begin. They assessed the onset of cognitive decline by observing more than 7,000 men and women over a 10-year period from 1997.
Associate Professor John Stevens, Associated Professor in the School of Health and Human Sciences at Southern Cross University and academic researcher in lifestyle medicine and ageing, including dementia, had this to say.
“This study examines where cognitive decline related to ageing starts to occur. The literature on this topic has suggested for years that aged related cognitive decline does not normally begin till after 60 years. This research indicates very convincingly that aged related decline is measureable in ages as early as 45 years. This is a very robust study of over 5000 people followed over more than ten years.
The results provide new insights into the processes of normal ageing. While the study was not designed to predict the relationships that might tell us when abnormal cognitive decline begins, such as with Alzheimer’s Disease, it provides an exciting, evidence based starting point for new research into this area.
The research also indicates that ‘what is good for the heart is good for the brain’ meaning that that the same lifestyle risk factors that cause abnormal decline, in heart health and function (obesity, high blood sugars, high blood pressure, hyperlipidaemia, low physical activity etc) affect the cognitive health and rate of decline of the brain in similar ways.
With populations all over the world and in Australia ageing, then new knowledge like this about the ageing brain can be added to the thinking and researching of a diverse range of paradigms including dementia, lifestyle medicine and health, education, design, I.T. and town planning, for example.”
Sheikh falls victim to poorly translated copy of The Vagina Monologues
Posted by jaysondcooke in Human Rights, Humour, News, Politics on December 19, 2011
“What is a veil? A veil is what covers the woman’s face. Therefore the woman’s face is like her vagina,” Sheik Abou Ishak al-Houwayni was quoted on the Elaph news website as saying.
(Photo via antzinpants.com)
Jayson D Cooke
Queensland’s Minister for Health responds to anti-vaccination propaganda campaign #woodfordff
Posted by jaysondcooke in Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, Cons and Scams, Consumer advocacy, Education, Health, Human Rights, News, Politics on December 15, 2011
STATEMENT FROM THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND THE CHIEF HEALTH OFFICER
Parents should vaccinate themselves and their children, Minister for Health Geoff Wilson said today.
Mr Wilson said fringe groups like the misleadingly named ‘Australian Vaccination Network’ are wrong to discourage people from getting vaccinated.
“I love Woodford Folk Festival. I’ve been numerous times. There’s great music, great food and great folk entertainment. Fortunately, there’s enough wonderful things to do at Woodford that patrons have plenty of alternatives rather than sitting through the nonsense Meryl Dorey spouts about vaccination dangers”, Mr Wilson said.
“For the small number of people who might be entertained by what Ms Dorey has to say, Woodford Folk Festival has a place for everyone. Just don’t take her nonsense too seriously.”
“The fact is vaccinations have saved millions of lives. Their invention was a miracle of scientific achievement.”
Queensland’s Chief Health Officer said Queensland Health remained absolutely committed to delivering its immunisation program to as many Queenslanders as possible.
“In the past year hundreds of thousands of Queenslanders have been protected against deadly diseases such as whooping cough, cervical cancer, diphtheria and measles, as well as influenza.” she said.
“The benefits of vaccination are obvious. Between 1930 and 1988, around 40,000 Australians developed paralytic Polio. Now Australia is Polio free.”
“Vaccination prevents potentially fatal conditions like measles, diphtheria and whooping cough.”
“This program saves lives, and we will continue to urge Queenslanders to vaccinate their children against life-threatening illnesses,” Dr Young said.
“Queensland’s vaccination program is extremely safe and is the most effective way to prevent illness and death from vaccine preventable diseases,” she said.
http://www.cabinet.qld.gov.au/MMS/StatementDisplaySingle.aspx?id=78177
Woodford Folk Festival criticised for one sided anti-vaccination promotion
Posted by jaysondcooke in CAM, Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, Cons and Scams, Consumer advocacy, Health, Integrative Medicine, News, Zedlines on December 14, 2011
Queensland’s Woodford Folk Festival has come under fire for promoting the discredited views of the Australian Vaccination Network’s founder and president Meryl Dorey.
In 2010 the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission issued a public health warning stating that the AVN provides information that is incorrect, misleading, and poses a risk to public health and safety.
AMA Queensland president Richard Kidd said the festival has a responsibility to add speakers who could provide the medically accurate side of the immunisation argument.
Amber jewellery doesn’t assist with teething but can be deadly
Posted by jaysondcooke in CAM, Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, Cons and Scams, Consumer advocacy, Health, Integrative Medicine on December 13, 2011
While there is no evidence that Baltic Amber Necklaces are beneficial to infants, unscrupulous marketeers are taking advantage of parents concerns for their children with practiced ease.
So-called Baltic Amber necklaces are marketed towards parents of teething infants as an ‘all natural’ treatment for teething pain, despite there being no evidence that they’re effective in any way. For readers not familiar with the “appeal to nature” it is an argument commonly used in advertising, marketing and empty rhetoric. Whenever you find a claim that a product or service is good, beneficial, and safe solely because it is ‘natural’, what you are seeing is the appeal to nature in action. We are expected to not realise that most natural things are dangerous e.g.: poison ivy, snake venom, UV radiation, serial killers, hemlock, bee stings, lightning; you get the point.
We’re also expected to believe that tying anything around a babies neck is ‘natural’, despite this aberrant behavior rarely occurring in nature for obvious reasons. As I’ve said previously, it’s difficult to see how tying tree resin around someone’s throat can be considered ‘natural’, but then I’m safely outside the target market.
As for the supposed mechanism that allows Amber to heal it’s infant wearer, we’re told the warmth of a babies skin is enough to allow ‘natural oils’ to be released into the child’s skin. Note here that what is claimed to be released is not called a chemical as this more accurate definition has negative connotations in certain circles, particularly the demographic targeted.
The claim that an infants skin generates enough warmth to leach chemicals from the amber has been dismissed by Chemistry professor at New Zealand’s Otago University, Alan Blackman, who advised
“You have to heat amber to over 200degC in order to be able to get any volatiles out of it, so I find that quite unlikely.”
Volatile is an interesting choice of words considering that Succinic acid (the ‘natural oil’ contained in Baltic Amber) is combustible and corrosive, capable of causing burns in a high enough concentration. However incredibly small amounts are found in the human body and in plants. It is most commonly used in the food and beverage industry as food additive #363 to be precise. Ironically there are recommendations from some quarters to avoid the substance.
The majority of websites I searched also went no further than claiming that their products ‘were reputed to improve health and wellbeing’, rather than going all out and saying that they do improve health and wellbeing.
This is no accident, merely an attempt to hedge bets in the off chance that evidence of effectiveness is ever called into question.
Those sites that do address safety concerns advise that the necklaces are knotted in such a way as to only release one bead in the event the jewellery snaps.
Assuming it would take more than one beads to choke, this would be comforting.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the reason it was not common until quite recently to see babies with things tied around their neck is that it in an obvious health hazard. Yet parents with an upset child will do anything to protect their child from harm and it’s this evolutionary imperative that is taken advantage of by the purveyors of this nonsense.
So given that any necklaces have the potential to cause great harm to an infant, that there is no evidence at all that these necklaces do what they are claimed to do, given that strangulation and choking are infinitely more harmful than teething, given that teething IS a natural process while bejeweling our young is not, AND given that a baby would have to have a temperature approaching 200 degrees Celsius for the amber to release anything, it’s safe to say that Baltic Amber jewellery is nothing more than the latest in a long, long line of scam products targeting vulnerable parents with nothing but the best interests of their children at heart.
Jayson D Cooke
Girl did and didn’t make up abduction story, depending where you read
Posted by jaysondcooke in Media mishaps, Weird on December 6, 2011
I’m both shocked and relieved to find out that yesterday’s story of an attempted child abduction in my hometown turned out to be a hoax.
However I did a double take reading the following halfway down the page:
“The apparent attempted abduction is the latest in a spate of attacks targeting young children and comes days after the Gold Coast was named the state’s abduction capital.
The mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her daughter, said the girl came home hysterical, shaking, crying and was white as a “ghost”.
The girl said the man asked her where the nearest petrol station was before grabbing her arm and and (sic) trying to pull her in the car.
The incident happened about 4.10pm as the girl walked home from Labrador State School along Government Rd, Labrador.”
So the incident which didn’t happen happened at about 4.10pm?
Weird.
Australian father of five in Saudi prison on charges of blasphemy
Posted by jaysondcooke in Activism, Discrimination, Equality, Free speech, Human Rights, Humanism, News, Reason Australia, Religious instrusion, Secularism on December 2, 2011
Imagine you are on the other side of the world from your family, your community, and your home.
You have been imprisoned for the past three weeks without legal representation and without hope of receiving any.
The manager of your prison will not admit officials from your country, while the city itself is off limits to all but followers of Islamic faith.
You don’t realise at the time but the Directorate of Prisons in the district has also refused access to officials.
You suffer from diabetes and heart problems, yet the Doctor arranged by your embassy has also been denied access to you.
What charge could possibly have put you in this position?
Blasphemy.
Shepparton man and father of five, Mansor Almaribe, 45, is living this nightmare right now.
Undertaking the Haj pilgrimage he was arrested by religious police while reading and praying in a group according to Mr Almaribe’s eldest son, Jamal.
Mr Almaribe is expected to face court tomorrow, where his sentence will be handed down.
Read more here.
Time for Australian Labor to be on the right side of history
Posted by jaysondcooke in Activism, Discrimination, Education, Equality, Human Rights, Politics on November 15, 2011
The Australian Rainbow Labor Network is calling on Labor national conference delegates to be on the right side of history and support a change to Labor’s national platform that will deliver marriage equality.
Rainbow Labor spokespersons, WA Senator Louise Pratt and ACT Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr said, “Rainbow Labor believes there needs to be a positive change for marriage equality in Labor’s national platform and we will continue our campaign for this change.”
“Rainbow Labor remains firmly of the view that matters of equality should not be the subject of a conscience vote,” Mr Barr said.
Labor has historically only permitted conscience votes on questions of life and death such as abortion and euthanasia.
“Marriage Equality will lead to progress and equality for all Australians and is clearly not an issue of life and death. It is positive reform that will enable all Australians adults the opportunity to marry the person they love,” Senator Pratt said.
Rainbow Labor believes that a positive change to the platform is critical and consistent with both the wishes of ALP members as well as the broader Australian public.
“The Labor Party is at its best when we campaign for positive social reform and win the support of mainstream Australia,” Mr Barr said.
“In 1975 we established the Racial Discrimination Act, in 1984 the Sex Discrimination Act, in 1992 the Disability Discrimination Act and again, in 2008, 85 Commonwealth laws were amended to remove discrimination against gay and lesbian Australians.
“In 2011 the question is whether our party has what it takes to once again stand up in this great tradition and build on our foundations of social progress, equality and fairness for all Australians so as to effect marriage equality into Australian law, for all Australians.
“This is about drawing a line in the sand. It is about standing up for Labor principles. The final test on marriage equality is not: are you on the right side of the politics of the week or the right side of the retail union. The final test is this: are you on the right side of history?”, Mr Barr concluded.
