The Rationalist Society argues the Victorian Department of Education's implementation of the 2006 Education Act is inconsistent with the long standing principle, reiterated in the Act, that education in Victorian government schools should be secular. Further, the Department's implementation of the Act is out of step with contemporary community attitudes.
It is important to understand in this context what we mean by 'secular'.
A truly secular society is equally advantageous to religious believers and to those for whom religious belief is irrelevant. A secular state upholds universal human rights such as freedom of belief and freedom of expression. A secular state does not forbid religious believers from promoting their views and values in the public sphere; but neither does it allow religious views and values to claim any greater 'truth' or any greater value in the political sphere. A secular state also reminds those who strongly object to religious belief that those very same human rights and democratic freedoms properly extend to those who hold beliefs in the supernatural, however irrational they may seem to be.
Some people authentically object to a truly secular society: these are people who believe that 'truth' is derived directly from their deity or their sacred text and that nothing less than a unilateral imposition of this 'truth' on all members of society is politically acceptable. Of course, such people are usually called religious fundamentalists and their views and values should not be legitimised in a modern democratic society, despite any commitment to diversity. The first and foundational freedom of a modern democratic society is the freedom to defend itself against those who would annihilate it.
Given the benefits of a truly secular society to both believers and non-believers in a genuinely pluralist democratic society, the Rationalist Society urges the Victorian Government to ensure the education provided in government schools does remain genuinely secular. As our submission clearly points out, we do not believe this is presently the case.
