You Are Aware We Can Hear You, Yes?

The Churches have reacted angrily to the proposal that ethics classes should be offered to students as an alternative to scripture classes in NSW schools.

They (Church Leaders) argue that holding the classes at the same time as scripture classes would disadvantage scripture students, who would not be able to attend. 
SMH. 20-10-10, P1.

In religion’s overweening struggle for relevancy and as a buttress to why they think they have any moral authority at all, the Church keeps saying that morals and ethics flow from scripture. But here, by their own admission, the student is at a disadvantage in the scripture class. 

I couldn’t agree more (unless the lesson was for atheists and called “Know Thine Enemy”) but it’s nice to hear the Church come out and say it for me.

In the statement, the Church blithely throws out, “…students, who would not be able to attend”. 

Why can’t the student attend? Weren’t they allowed to change to something they felt was more enlightened? Could this type of dictatorial meddling in the mind of a young adult be ethical at all? Never mind - it’s the church! It has the authority handed down to it from these here old books called scripture… that don’t really say very much conclusive or sensible about anything… so you’re just going to have to apply your own personal set of morals to them to try and sort out anything of value. Oh, you didn’t go to that lesson? Ahem.

So, as some kids go back to their scripture classes to be earbashed about the impossible requirements from a fictional sadist in the sky, and the other kids go back to classes on the nature of personhood and how to navigate a way to moral outcomes in an ethical way - that must really set up a tension. It gets even worse as they toddle off to their next lessons - evolutionary biology for one lot, and “Why the heliocentric view of the solar system is a godless lie” for the others.