From: "Ian Farquhar" <ianf@sydney.sgi.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 95 14:10:47 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Anti-porn conference in Manila
In-Reply-To: <Pine.3.89.9501222311.A9801-0100000@netcom19>
Message-ID: <9501240859.ZM18615@wiley.sydney.sgi.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


On Jan 23, 12:06am, James A. Donald wrote:
> Church of England in Australia was, and I believe still is, government
> funded by the Australian government.

Please substantiate.  I am aware of no government funding to the
Anglican Church in Australia.

> Furthermore when my kids went to government school in NSW, Australia,
> they were taught Church of England religion by my neighbor, Mrs Law,
> in school, in the classroom.

When I went to school (government school) the religion taught depended on
exactly who they could get to teach it.  If they could get COE, they got
COE.  If they could get Catholic, they got Catholic.  If they couldn't,
the rest of the kids got shoved into whichever group seemed most
appropriate, or allowed not to attend scripture at all.  This led to
some interesting mixes, and some interesting people to teach it
(my favorite was a guy who had been in the Belgian Resistance during
WWII, and had been war-wounded by a German soldier.  It took us the
whole term to get it out of him that he'd been shot in the butt.)

I'd also point out the funding to private religious schools does not
discriminate on the basis of religion.  Hardly indicative of a state
religion, surely.

> If it quacks like a duck ...

And if it doesn't, it's not a duck.

> I suspect that the government and the church are none to clear on it
> either.

Hmmm... try as I might, I cannot think of a recent decision which
received any specific denominational influence.  Even the Festival of
Light is becoming a political irrelevancy.

							Ian.