Christians Booked Banned by an Australian State Educational Department

In Australia, the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities, has banned Special Religious Education (SRE) classes from using three particular books. Those books are:

You: An Introduction by Michael Jensen
A Sneaking Suspicion by John Dickson
Teen Sex by the Book by Patricia Weerakoon

The story was broken by the Aussie Bible Society news outlet Eternity, you can read an interview with John Dickson by TGC-Australia, and watch an SBS news report on the banning.

The ban has been prompted by the lobby group Fairness In Religions in Schools which has protested against the continuation of SRE and against any content that is not deemed acceptable to the public scruples.

John Dickson and Michael Jensen are both PhDs, published authors, Anglican ministers, and sensible commentators when it comes to religion in the public square. So I’m surprised and a little miffed that their books have been banned.

The problem as I see it is that Christian SRE is meant to teach “Christianity,” not a sanitized version that is acceptable or approved by public opinion. Otherwise you could end up telling Christians that they are not allowed to teach that Jesus died so we could be forgiven or that Jesus is Lord.

Hopefully sanity will prevail!