Premier Ed Stelmach told reporters last week that the provision could be used to pull students out of classes dealing with evolution if parents preferred their kids be taught what's in the Bible instead.
Followed by the following from Minister Blackett today:
"This is opt-out on religious instruction not on grounds of religious beliefs. So the thought that somebody can get out of evolution using the fact that it's against their religious beliefs is not correct," he said. "Evolution is not a part of religious studies, it's part of science curriculum, and there is nothing that will change that going forward."
This is more or less what I read when the legislation was tabled.
2 comments:
I'm interested to know what the explanation will be from Blackett and Stelmach, then. Did they simply not bother to read the legislation when they were sounding off before?
And honestly, what were they expecting? You're right in your reading of the legislation - or at least that's what I'm reading now, too. So what did they think was going to happen?
It is very possible that this is just one of several back door maneuvers designed to get evolution and I.D. equal positioning.
The more immediate problem with this, is the potential for religious bigots to use this to launch lawsuits against people involved in the educational system.
SB
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