I wrote about SRE here. It's opt-out by law, though some school may choose it to be opt-in. (Your location may vary.) Schools are not permitted to offer any programmed educational activities to opted-out students during SRE time. And parents and humanist societies who wish to offer a secular ethics option instead have been refused on the grounds that they were not offering an approved religious persuasion.
WA's State Education Department has no idea how many students have been opted out or what religions are being taught in their own State schools. They don't collect that data, and can't answer the question.
On the swearing on a Bible: it matters not to me that politicians can "swear on whatever they wish". I think they _shouldn't_ be swearing on any religious text when taking public office. If they must swear on a wodge of paper (which I find a bizarre concept in itself), how about the Constitution?
Claiming we have no State religion doesn't really ring true to me while the Lord's Prayer is routinely said in Parliament and State schools routinely teach Christianity.
I'm not going to dignify the "if you don't like it, move to China" with a reply. I don't want a government that's "anti-religion"; I want one that's religion-neutral, and that considers religion - all religion, whatever flavour - to be a private matter with no business in State institutions.
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WA's State Education Department has no idea how many students have been opted out or what religions are being taught in their own State schools. They don't collect that data, and can't answer the question.
On the swearing on a Bible: it matters not to me that politicians can "swear on whatever they wish". I think they _shouldn't_ be swearing on any religious text when taking public office. If they must swear on a wodge of paper (which I find a bizarre concept in itself), how about the Constitution?
Claiming we have no State religion doesn't really ring true to me while the Lord's Prayer is routinely said in Parliament and State schools routinely teach Christianity.
I'm not going to dignify the "if you don't like it, move to China" with a reply. I don't want a government that's "anti-religion"; I want one that's religion-neutral, and that considers religion - all religion, whatever flavour - to be a private matter with no business in State institutions.