The New South Wales Labor government is proposing, for families not wanting their children to attend Religion classes, to provide classes in Ethics.

During 2010 a trial of such classes was conducted in ten schools.

They were taught by staff from the “St James Ethics Centre”, a crowd describing itself as offering a “non-judgemental forum”.

Dr Sue Knight of the University of South Australia, employed by the government to assess the trial, reported that the teaching given imparted a belief that there is literally no difference between right and wrong.

One instructor was quoted as saying, “The most difficult thing was actually encouraging the children that there was no right or wrong answer.”

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NSW Labor seems likely to lose power at the forthcoming March 2011 state election.

These ethics classes are an attempt to recapture left-wing ex-Labor supporters who have in recent times tended to drift into the clutches of the Greens.

School principals at the schools where the trial classes were conducted were, however, unimpressed, complaining that the children were receiving no “moral compass”.

50,000 members of the public have signed a petition opposing the classes.

The state Oppositon Party has now eventually made up its mind to reject the classes.

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Children are instinctively aware that there is a difference between right and wrong – and they are aware that God exists.

Classes 4 to 6 are an important stage when our children are impressionable and idealistic.

Trying to force moral relativism down their throats in the name of secularisation is a kind of child abuse.

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But this kind of thing is not new . . . .

Australian education pioneer, Saint Mary MacKillop, was confronted by secularism in her day.

In the 1860s and 70s, the notorious Henry Parkes was busy “secularising” schools. He had, in fact, predicted in hopeful fashion that his secularisation bill would “be death to the calling of the priesthood of Rome”.

Mary MacKillop opposed secularism. She wanted all education to be based on God, i.e. to be Roman Catholic.

She was, she said, “daily more and more convinced of the evils to their faith to which Australian children are exposed on account of the wicked secular education that is now general.”

She would say the same today.