Good news in the fight for religious equality in Australia —
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has applied to the Victorian Department of Education and Training for approval to “spread the word” in schools through the Special Religious Instruction program.
Department spokesman Stuart Teather confirmed correspondence had been received and it “will be considered”.
Read the full article at the Herald Sun here
I think this is great. The Victorian Department of Education deserves a lot of credit for taking the request seriously.
Cynics might see this all as a way to make a point that religion has no place in schools, that having Pastafarians Spread the Word while dressed in Pirate Regalia to a bunch of kids will be such a ridiculous sight as to make administrators re-think the policy of allowing religious teaching in schools … but I am confident that the kids are going to get some quality information from us. At the very least we’ll be able to counter some misinformation in the secular curriculum. Such as:
* that pirates were unruly criminals
* that the world is older than 10k years despite the “evidence” to the contrary
What should we cover on our lessons? I feel like maybe we should tone down any teaching about Beer Volcano and Stripper Factory, as these are impressionable youths we’re educating.
Now I’m curious what has been allowed previously in this Special Religious Instruction program.