201. The simple falsehood at the heart of Expelled

Comment #161185 by Vaal on April 15, 2008 at 2:32 am

David Robertson has heard all these arguments before, he just suffers from head in the sand syndrome.

Honestly guys, it is not worth responding. He only comes on here to wind you up.

202. Richard Dawkins' secular army must be stopped. God is behind some of our greatest art

Comment #161169 by Vaal on April 15, 2008 at 1:59 am

Kintaro_crab

Do you know I had exactly the same experience as you. I had to go to church three times a Sunday as a youngster, and hated every second of it. Vicars boring me to death, Sunday school teachers with no answers and blank looks, being told that I was going to Hell unless I believed. Praying to nobody.

It felt ridiculous from the very beginning. I never felt any divine presence in the church or anywhere and the whole concept of worshipping a God, any God, just struck me as childish, anachronistic and simplistic. Maybe I was just contrary, but, like you, I regarded it as a dreadful waste of time, when I could have been out playing with my friends or studying ANYTHING else.

As I became older, I developed a great interest in Astronomy, even building my own telescope. However, looking at the history of Astronomy it infuriated me that Religion always reared its ugly head trying to subvert the search for knowledge, as it still does now. Once I saw the scale of the Universe, and how small the Earth and humanity is, it really gives you a correct sense of perspective.

Developing an interest in human origins, geology, natural history and science in general was the final nail in the coffin for such antiquated superstitious world views.

My father was trying to do the right thing for us, and I have no resentment towards him, but if I had my time over again, I would absolutely refuse to go to Church. Unfortunately I now have as good a knowledge of the bible as the unfortunate David Robertson, so it is easier to confute the inanity spouted by the religiously indoctrinated.

203. For sale: 13-year-old virgin

Comment #160927 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 2:47 pm

46. Comment #160903 by Artful_Dodger

If there is no God we are only animals

Why are you so afraid of being called an animal? I am proud of my ancient heritage. That is exactly what you are, a bipedal hominid, a mammal, or perhaps you are just a plank of wood or a bit of plastic?

And yes, you are right. There is no God.

204. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #160862 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 1:44 pm

So Steve, did your partner start calling you "Cobber" when he came back from Oz? :-)

Suspect I may be dude as I have been a bit cross at some of the inanity today, must be a Monday thing.

205. Religious education as a part of literary culture

Comment #160797 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 11:51 am

Richard, does it not infuriate you the way you are constantly misrepresented? It is bad enough from apologists such as David Robertson, but from articles in the Guardian, and other mainstream newspapers.

I admire your restraint.

206. For sale: 13-year-old virgin

Comment #160790 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 11:48 am

Man, some people should NEVER be allowed to be parents. Have they got some mental disorder?

Al, does it really say that? How do the apologists get away with that filth?

207. For sale: 13-year-old virgin

Comment #160754 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 11:16 am

2. Comment #160693 by al-rawandi

An 8 year old in Yemen just sought a divorce from her husband, who beat her and forced her to have sex

Al, Surely he was only following the example of his prophet?

208. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #160752 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 11:10 am

1407. Comment #160679 by sschaller

The Scientific community has two options:
1. Silence Opponents -
Shut out all debate on the subject, just as Galileo was silenced when suggesting radically different ideas to the standard accepted theories

Let's see, Galileo was threatened with death and had to spend the rest of his life under house arrest, and couldn't publish his work until after his death. There was no theory behind the Church's claim, it was no more than religous dogma based on ancient text. The clergy were appalled that the Earth and humanity were toppled from the pedestal of being at the centre of the Universe, and were prepared to murder in the vilest manner possible to stifle anything that contradicted their word view, as occurred to the unfortunate Giordano Bruno, who was burnt alive at the stake. The age of ignorance had finally had a breach in the Dyke, all those millenniums wasted, particularly since the Greeks knew over 2000 years before, that the Earth revolved around the sun. What I find just as disgraceful is that it took till 1992 before the Church finally admitted it was wrong. Not exactly a hot line to God, is it?

ID is no more than Biblical Creationism reinvented. It is not science, it is religion. Where we do get upset, and quite rightly, is when this is portrayed in the invidious language of "Expelled" as anti freedom of speech. The appalling record of pseudo-science, propaganda, disinformation, snide trickery and outright lies as a policy of the ID'iots is a disgrace. Until they show evidence of Intelligent design, instead of "God did it", and "God of the gaps" then they will be accorded the contempt they deserve. To give them a level playing field to the works of Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Darwin and other great scientists, is to compare modern science to flat Earthism. They would take us from the Space shuttle back to the wooden wheel. Ludicrous.

Personally, I had no problem with people believing that they wanted, but in the light of a majority of people in the States actually believing the world is 6000 years old based on archaic plagiarized Babylonian creation myth, then yes, it has be fought tooth and nail, otherwise the age of darkness and ignorance will overtake us again, and that cannot be allowed to happen. I will fight tooth and nail to ensure my children are not taught this anachronistic nonsense as fact in school. I have no problem to it being taught in Religious education, just as all other Creation myths.

Now, when they have some facts and are able to demonstrate their views with a scientific method, then that will be when we look up and listen. However, given their current tactics, I suspect they know that that will never happen.

209. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #160662 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 9:06 am

Who's inner voice in particular? Hannibal Lector, Tony Blair, Mohamed Atta, Darth Ratzinger?

How many rantings from an "inner voice" have left people in a straitjacket in an asylum? Accrediting that inner voice to a non existent deity is particularly ingenuous and dangerous, as demonstrated tragically by the likes of the Reverend Jim Jones and David Koresh.

210. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #160640 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 8:50 am

Holy Spirit is a concept that hints at the connection between consciousness and physics

Holy Spirit is a concept that hints at the connection between bread and cheese. Adding words together like that make just as much sense, and are as completely worthless as much as "I believe yada yada yada". I am sure the Aztec's believed just as devoutly when they were cutting the heart out of some young victim of their religiously inspired stupidity.

Come on, knock us out with some evidence and an actual argument, not this inane non stop twaddle.

211. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #160611 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 8:27 am

I'm sorry, but the avalanche of "I believe this" and "I believe that" and "quit believing in evolution and it would cease to exist" is the most vacuous piffle I have heard in ages.

You guys are very patient but you might as well argue with a brick wall. I am afraid in this case, the most cogent reply is left to Irate..

212. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #160570 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 7:54 am

Ah, the red herring of morals arose from religion..

We had a good rebuttal of this and the usual straw man theist arguments some time ago..

http://richarddawkins.net/articleComments,1780,You-cant-be-moral-without-God,RichardDawkinsnet,page1#comments

No point going through it all again every time some new theist comes on line.

Josh, can we have a permanent link to these rebuttals on the front page?

213. British schools are falling for the pseudoscience of Brain Gym. Why fill kids' heads with nonsense?

Comment #160490 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 6:48 am

Not any dafter than faith schools.

214. Richard Dawkins' secular army must be stopped. God is behind some of our greatest art

Comment #160419 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 4:21 am

76. Comment #160417 by Christopher Davis

Do you know that one of the girls in my Bible class actually justified the genocide of the people who lived in these cities as they were "Heathens". She said it with a straight face as well.

Not to mention poor old Lot's wife turned to salt, because of curiosity. God really is a bast*d! The extinction of all other humans on the Earth except Noah. Always wondered how Noah got koala's and Kangaroo's on the Ark? Did they fly there?

All the first born in Egypt being killed by God. I presume that these children were God's children as well, so doesn't that also make him guilty of infanticide. What a complete git!

Yep, I am afraid I found most of the Biblical stories a disgrace.

215. Richard Dawkins' secular army must be stopped. God is behind some of our greatest art

Comment #160402 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 3:23 am

I loved biblical stories more than any other children's literature

Give me Enid Blighton any day, or JK Rowling. I found most Biblical stories quite shocking, such as the arrival of the Jews to the "promised land", which God forget to let them know actually had people already living there. They then went on a genocidal rampage, sacking cities and callously murdering all male prisoners, and women who "had known men", then taking all the rest into slavery.

I didn't find that inspirational at all. I found it perverse and disgusting, and was always astonished that people in our Bible class just turned a blind eye to such blatant genocide. As I reminded them, just how would the UN react to that today?

216. A New Flea

Comment #160385 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 2:36 am

Paula. Another one for you to review, or have you had enough?

Let me guess, ad-hominem attacks, enough straw men to make the south of England abound in crop circles, all amounting to the same tedious inane arguments, and zero evidence.

I am still waiting for the knock out blow from the theists books, but it all amounts to the same smokes and mirrors, and as Irate said not so long ago, still no evidence of the emperors clothes, or even the emperor himself?

Do you ever think these authors are just jumping on the bandwagon to make themselves some easy money, as I am sure these books will end up on the religiously infected bookshelves. Maybe I should write one myself as a spoof?

217. Richard Dawkins' secular army must be stopped. God is behind some of our greatest art

Comment #160377 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 2:15 am

stop the Dawkins army from denying us the possibility of drawing inspiration from faith to create the art of the future

What? Do these guys have nothing else to do on a Sunday but make up pseudo-intellectual drivel? Perhaps he should actually read Dr Dawkins views on art, before subscribing such flaccid nonsense.

Which faith is he referring to then? I am partial to Egyptian Art, yet wasn't it early Christian's who, in true Religious barbarism, chiselled off hieroglyphics from Egyptian monuments.

Wasn't it the legions of the ignorant from Islam who destroyed a 1000 year old Buddhist statue in Afghanistan, a legacy to the whole of mankind. Perhaps in his article he should address the threat of Islamic fundamentalists who would be more than happy to destroy art galleries and throw priceless art onto bonfires with glee.

There is plenty of inspiration for artists, religious or otherwise, although I see little impressive art these days reflected in the Turner prize, and certainly next to none inspired by religion.

218. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #159734 by Vaal on April 13, 2008 at 2:33 am

Quetzalcoatl

DR said it is very confused and muddled thinking which seems to be largely driven by emotion and feeling

Man! I nearly spat into my coffee reading that. You have just made my Sunday morning. :-)

Something about removing the plank from your own eye comes to mind.

219. Inadequate, private and late apology with grotesquely inadequate excuse

Comment #159209 by Vaal on April 11, 2008 at 4:30 pm

Comment #159206 by ebugogo

This might be slightly off topic, but did she still not achieve her original objective of throwing the heat off his asking her about misappropriating a million dollars to a church? Every one is concerned about her intolerance, not her stealing for jesus.

Do you think so? I had never heard of her till last week, now the entire world is aware of her alleged misappropriation of public funds to subside a Baptist church.

220. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158956 by Vaal on April 11, 2008 at 8:32 am

That was another thing when raised in Sunday school was subject to blank looks. If it was pro-ordained that Judas was to betray Jesus, then he had no free will, so he was not responsible for his own actions. So, poor Judas was turned into a scapegoat and a hate figure for millennia, for something that was predicated before he was born. Hardly seems fair, does it?

Wasn't there a Gospel of Judas? Anyone know what he says in that to redeem himself?

221. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158940 by Vaal on April 11, 2008 at 7:52 am

He was also very fond of cheesemakers..

222. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158925 by Vaal on April 11, 2008 at 7:14 am

The Jesus as presented in the NT has his good moments, it's true, but he's also moody, incredibly opaque in some of his answers, petulant, unpredictable, and incredibly undiplomatic

Oh my Thor.... it's David Roberston!

223. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158919 by Vaal on April 11, 2008 at 7:06 am

918. Comment #158905 by Paula Kirby

I don't see how anyone encountering the story for the first time without any prior knowledge or indoctrination whatsoever, and without someone standing over them to shape their reactions, could possibly come to the conclusion that this was a man so perfect he had to be God

On a serious note, it is self evident from the Bible that Jesus himself had no idea that he was the son of God. It took 40 days and 40 nights fasting in the desert to convince himself. I think that after 40 days and 40 nights fasting I might believe that I was a hobgoblin.

Again, if he believed that he really was the son of God himself then that would be very persuasive to his disciples, who Jesus freely admitted were simple and superstitious fishermen.

224. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158909 by Vaal on April 11, 2008 at 6:55 am

Still, Paula, in his defence, he could turn water into wine, so he is welcome in my house any day.

225. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158873 by Vaal on April 11, 2008 at 6:17 am

Anyone for cat coffee?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7340005.stm

226. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158852 by Vaal on April 11, 2008 at 5:54 am

Bonzai

Veronique is arriving over here in the middle of this month. I think she still reads our threads, and chuckles. I suspect she will be changing over to tea or cocoa rather than wine when she gets to Scotland, bit colder up there than Oz!

227. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158836 by Vaal on April 11, 2008 at 5:17 am

I am always telling my Christian friends when I visit them, that they should wash my feet in oil. In actual fact, the wife of a good friend went off to hunt for some cooking oil. :-))

See, some Christians do have a sense of humour, just not the ones that come here!

228. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158831 by Vaal on April 11, 2008 at 5:12 am

887. Comment #158817 by Philip1978

I think that is a great starting line when confronting any future frother on the site, is to ask very politely if Jesus would be impressed with this behaviour or did He tell them to do this!

Phillip

Even though I have a great admiration for Jesus (if he existed) as he was a great philosopher, a charismatic and forgiving man way beyond his era, and, unlike Mohammed, didn't murder anyone in the establishment of his religion, he did have his moments. He did his biscuit lid when there was a market in the temple, he wasn't particularly respectful to his mother, and he did introduce the concept of everlasting hell, I believe?

I wonder how he would respond to "unbelievers". What would he say on this forum? Was there any context in the bible where he referred to atheists, or was the concept of atheism regarded in much the same way as Islam considers it now?

229. Did pre-big bang universe leave its mark on the sky?

Comment #158743 by Vaal on April 11, 2008 at 2:05 am

Steve, I did see an article some time ago about some Quantum physicists who claimed they were close to proving the existence of a Multiverse through Quantum mechanics. It probably died a death, as I can't seem to find it, however it would be interesting to know how they would prove it?

Still, as you say, I am looking forward to new insights from the Cern facility, providing they don't create a black hole and suck us all up. :-)

230. Did pre-big bang universe leave its mark on the sky?

Comment #158732 by Vaal on April 11, 2008 at 1:43 am

Interesting article. If physical evidence of a parent Universe can be found in our Universe, then it would indicate that there are many Universes. I have leaned toward the Multiverse theory for some time now, as logically as our Universe exists, why shouldn't there be many Universes?

Of course, this is only speculation, and I am the first to admit that quantum physics is way beyond me, even though I have tried to understand it. Perhaps somebody more qualified than myself, being only a layman, on this board can see the fallacies more clearly.

However, it is an interesting time. I wonder how much the new Cern site will show us about the early Universe, or indicate the existence of a Multiverse?

231. Rep. Davis: The Worst Person in the World

Comment #158342 by Vaal on April 10, 2008 at 11:16 am

Well, well

Strange it took so long to apologize, and the apology was a bit on the tepid side. The cynic in me might say it was ONLY because of the strong criticism she received. Concerned about her job, perchance?

Still, it just shows how effective well placed criticism and blogs can be. Hopefully, legislators in the States might think twice before unleashing a torrent of religious bigotry on a citizen who doesn't subscribe to their particular archaic belief system. Listening, Mr Bush?

232. Expelled producers accused of copyright infringement

Comment #158266 by Vaal on April 10, 2008 at 9:13 am

Expelled 2?

233. Rep. Davis: The Worst Person in the World

Comment #158264 by Vaal on April 10, 2008 at 9:11 am

And people accuse of us of being joyless :-)

234. Rep. Davis: The Worst Person in the World

Comment #158253 by Vaal on April 10, 2008 at 8:59 am

Come on Irate .. we're waiting.

235. Rep. Davis: The Worst Person in the World

Comment #158191 by Vaal on April 10, 2008 at 7:36 am

#158182 by kjmastaw

Irate, shall I leave it to you?

236. Expelled producers accused of copyright infringement

Comment #158146 by Vaal on April 10, 2008 at 6:14 am

PZ has added to his blog a letter from Peter Irons (Attorney at Law) to the expelled producers. Guess they may be changing the date of their release... April 18th 2009? I would LOVE to be in their office to see all those headless chickens ;-))

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/04/peter_irons_drafts_a_letter.php#more

They should make another film .. how NOT to make a movie!

237. Fleabytes

Comment #158126 by Vaal on April 10, 2008 at 5:21 am

Banning Jerusalem!! That's from one of my favourite films "Chariots of Fire". Infidels!!!

238. Reviews of Expelled

Comment #158059 by Vaal on April 10, 2008 at 3:17 am

Thanks rod-the-farmer

I have bookmarked that. Looks like "expelled" is getting the reviews it deserves, although as already mentioned, it is only aimed at a target audience.

However, it has taken such a battering that it may actually be the greatest own goal that the IDiots have ever undertaken, and will be the butt of jokes for years.

Hopefully Ben Stein will be remorselessly ribbed. I am looking forward to him appearing in South Park, and other irreverent comedies.

239. Fleabytes

Comment #158050 by Vaal on April 10, 2008 at 3:03 am

Not entirely unpredictable that the self serving DR should try to make as much capital as possible out of poor Richard Morgan's loneliness.

Who knows perhaps your gift of music will one day be used to worship God

So, self evidently your smarmy concern for RM is revealed as nothing more than an attempt to proselytize him. What a cockroach!

240. Rep. Davis: The Worst Person in the World

Comment #158017 by Vaal on April 10, 2008 at 1:37 am

Quine

That is quite encouraging. She is getting a real slating from the vast majority of comments. Perhaps the Zeitgeist is changing in America, and the nonsense of right wing Christian evangelism is coming home to roost. Most of our American cousins aren't as daft as they are portrayed in the media.

241. Fleabytes

Comment #157483 by Vaal on April 9, 2008 at 6:52 am

There is always a sting in the tail with a relationship with these cults. I have a lodger who is/was a Jehovah's Witness, and her church friends always seemed a happy, cheerful group. However, once she got a boyfriend who was not a fellow JW, then suddenly all her friends turned their back on her, like a leper, including her best friend whom she had shared a flat with for ages. This distressed her considerably, but it is a mechanism of control by the cult.

I would rather have an honest friendship, warts and all, than have somebody be a friend only because I am part of their cult. It is nothing more than religious apartheid, and it shows how shallow they really are when it comes to callously expelling their former friend who had invested a lot of time and effort to their group.

I am not quite sure what RM expects to get from the carnivorous and duplicitous opaquethinker. He will just hover over him like a vulture over its prey, waiting to get the maximum propaganda over such a coup, licking his lips at the thought of writing it up in his next attack on the "evil" atheists in his next book. Sad.

242. Rep. Davis: The Worst Person in the World

Comment #157453 by Vaal on April 9, 2008 at 5:49 am

Excellent article Windweaver.

243. Discussion between Richard Dawkins and Paula Kirby

Comment #157172 by Vaal on April 8, 2008 at 3:51 pm

Very good Paula. I know how difficult public speaking is, and you didn't seem nervous at all, and came across as very relaxed and fair. I did expect you to have a Scottish accent, as my nieces are English and have lived in Elgin for years now, and I can scarcely understand them. Your voice carried very well and was clear and pleasant.

Good to hear Richard explaining so clearly, nice to hear him reading from his book and coming across as so reasonable and concise. I was pleased to see the reaction from the audience.. however, still going through the questions... so, catch up later..

244. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #156969 by Vaal on April 8, 2008 at 12:49 pm

That devil. He is a fantastic scapegoat!

245. The Atheist Next Door

Comment #156895 by Vaal on April 8, 2008 at 11:22 am

Where do I place my trust and my hope?

NOT in a despotic desert God who will fry me for eternity for not groveling in worship. In crisis, as we all do, just get through it with the help of friends and family, and understand that life does have some nasty elements we all have to face, as well as good, without obeisance to a non existent supernatural entity.

246. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #156862 by Vaal on April 8, 2008 at 10:41 am

Wow! Is that sycophantic tirade on David Robinson's site REALLY Richard Morgan? I am amazed, especially with his musical tributes to many on this site, and his warm approval of Paula's fleabytes article.

Yes, we can be a bit joyless, but that is hardly surprising considering how exasperating the articles are that we address. However, I have laughed so hard on this site, I have nearly fallen off my chair, with Cartomancers brilliant compositions, Diacanu's brilliant put downs and Irate's concise demolition of the witless, and others.

Personally, I have quite a dark sense of humour, but not all atheists are the same of course, despite Mr Robinson's assertion of an "Atheist creed". However, I have never harmed anybody (except on a rugby field) or wished harm on anybody but can, like others here, laugh at the ridiculous.

I hope RM, if you are reading this, that you don't let yourself be used as a propaganda tool by Opaquethinker, as he will twist it to suit his own agenda, as well demonstrated by the comments he has made on this site.

I haven't agreed with everything you have said, but wish you the best. Don't take things so seriously. As Brian said "We ARE all different!"

247. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #156688 by Vaal on April 8, 2008 at 6:32 am

#156675 by epeeist

And how about ice dating from the Antartic Ice cores showing ice layering to some 160,000 years? Let me guess, deposited by the flood?

Plate technoics? Radiation half-life? What a sad small Universe the young Earthers inhabit, and all based on Bronze age creation myths. It is almost pitiful.

248. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #156670 by Vaal on April 8, 2008 at 6:02 am

Phil, not to mention the scale of the Universe. Is the Universe also 6000 years old? What are Galaxies then? How far are the nearest stars? Are Astronomical measurements so far out? How do they address that? I would have said that that would be the biggest death knell to the Young Earth crowd.

249. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #156662 by Vaal on April 8, 2008 at 5:47 am

Dawkins has said quite unequivocally that his book would never change the minds of dedicated religites, as our friend Mr Robinson has shown to be a prime example, but he has said quite correctly that Religion has had a free pass for too long, and should be vigorously addressed in this era of aggressive Religious fundamentalism, particularly the insidious attack on science by duplicitous Creationists.

As Paula showed in her review of the fleas, the language coming from the fleas who have had their feathers flustered consists of ad-hominum attacks, atheist fundamentalism, atheism in your face, aggressive atheism, atheism as a faith, Darwinism as a social philosophy, the usual rant of Hitler/Stalin, not understanding theology. One would hardly think they had read the book at all.

None of it actually comes to anything and there hasn't yet been a single plausible criticism of the God Delusion. In fact, I think most people here, and Dawkins, would like to hear a good defense of theism, but it hasn't been forthcoming.

It is good that these beliefs should be challenged, and the zeitgeist raised. The more ridiculous the defense of the irrational, the better the case is for people who are sitting on the fence to see it for what it really is.

250. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #156325 by Vaal on April 7, 2008 at 10:39 am

It is a worrying trend. I did go to a religious school in Ireland, but it was a very good school, and they kept religion to RE classes, and science to science. However, they did teach you to question and never tried to proselytize. It was the same school that Alistair McGrath came from, I am sorry to say, but I have never met anyone quite as woolly headed as him (until opaquethinker). My physics teacher was infectiously enthusiastic and LOVED to teach, and the pupils were inspired by him. I would say the awe and scale of the Universe is the best antidote to a small-minded, parochial and petty Abrahamic desert God.

Now parents want to send their children to faith based schools because, on the whole, they do get a good education, and the schools are not run by the children, unlike some of the horror stories of the government run schools.

Unfortunately, in particular Muslim faith schools, discipline is very good, but at the COST of truth, and an enquiring mind. The State should be seeking to properly cultivate young minds with rational enquiry, not allowing schools to inculcate Religious dogma as truth.

I lived in Australia for several years and never considered it at all religious, most people are extremely irreverent, and I can't say I heard many people even discuss religion, so I am quite surprised that ID is getting a foothold there. I suspect that it is a very small vocal minority.

Teach religion as truth at school should be banned, just as in Sweden, and accepting the pupil's right to question the curriculum based on cultural relativism and/or religion is absurd. There should be one curriculum for all. If teachers are teaching Creationism as Science then they are NOT science teachers and should be dismissed.