When that shark bites
December 07, 2008 By: Cartledge Category: Religion, Rights
A five-year-old girl’s father has reportedly taken action in the Queensland (Australia) Anti-Discrimination Commission, claiming his daughter was taught about Noah’s Ark at her state school. It is believed she took part in making a replica of the ark during class.
This dad strikes me as off the planet as the hard line creationist/intelligent design whackos. I personally have issues with evangelical teaching, but to deny reference to something so basic to many cultures is as potentially damaging as force feeding dubious truths.
Even just understanding basic Aussie culture becomes problematic without context. An essentially coastal culture we are also given to humorous rhyming slang. For example the ubiquitous shark is often referred to as a noah’s ark.
Well, you sort of lose the humour if you don’t understand the root. More to the point, a child’s potential is reduced if they have never been exposed to the broad diversity underpinning our cultures.
December 8th, 2008 at 4:53 am
Basic commonsense and its madness not to know anything about such stories. It’s interesting to note the hostility of many to reading or learning about those stories (not history or factual accounts) about the Old Testament which deny that learning perspective. If your interested in finding out something about poetry?- but have never read any of the Old Testament, you’re simply denying a unique important source for reflection!
Best wishes
December 8th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Certainly doesn’t rise to the level of what we here in the states get all uppity about, ’state sponsorship of religion’.
I’m all for taking God completely out of the schools, but fortunately, at least to my thinking, many Old Testament stories fall right in there with Gilgamesh and Hercules, myths. And as such, might as well teach them.
December 8th, 2008 at 9:28 am
You can teach my admittedly non-existent children the story of the arc when you start teaching sex education again.
December 8th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Billabong O’Reilly is gonna be pissed.
December 8th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Lindsay, I’m pleased you caught up with this. As a proclaimed confessor it is instructive to have a counterpoint to the infidels [not intended as a pejorative] who generally comment here. I note, like Kvatch, you don’t claim these stories as religious as much as cultural.
Kvatch, we have a PM who makes no apology for his religious affiliation, but shrinks from any thoughts of ’state sponsorship of religion’. I expect it would be political suicide here, but he also reflects the dominant feeling here about the place of religion in wider affairs.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Frogette, “start teaching sex education again”? What country do you come from? Oh, that’s right… I’m sure Lindsay would assert basic commonsense on your issue as well. The whole point being; how can we produce the future citizens we need without suitably informing them in formative years? Given the language out of the mouths of primary school kids it would be madness to deny them some understanding of proper context.
WINS, I love obscure reference, but Billabong O’Reilly?