For Christ’s Sake: Taxpayers to fund Priests in Schools

• Abbott splurges taxpayers’ funds on pedlars of religious indoctrination!
• No money for education or health but $820 million for religious freaks!
• Religion in schools – you do know you’re paying for it…?

*****ANOTHER STUNNING GUTTER TRASH EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION!!!*****

Taxpayers will pay for the “training” of priests and other religious “workers” for the first time under Tony Abbott’s new so-called “higher education reforms.”

Under the plan, religious teaching, training and vocational institutes can apply for their share of a whopping $820 million in Commonwealth funding for “religious” training over the next three years.

Institutes such as the Sydney College of Divinity, Brisbane’s Christian Heritage College and the Perth Bible College will be eligible to receive a taxpayer funded grant of around $4000 per student for each year of study under the reforms.

The John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne, which offers course units including “Theology and Practice of Natural Family Planning” and “Marriage in the Catholic Tradition”, will also eligible for the taxpayer funded financial support.

The institute says on its website its mission is “promote marriage and the family for the good of the whole Church and the wider community”.

The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne requires all trainee priests to receive theological training at Ridley College or the Trinity College Theological School, both of which will be eligible to offer “”Commonwealth Supported Places”” under the government’s changes.

“”FOR THE LOVE OF GOD””

On its core values page on its website the Perth Bible College says::

“We believe in the urgent need to reach our broken world with the gospel of Jesus Christ and to train men and women to be effective servants for God.”

And now, its god given right to do so will be funded by you, the taxpayer.

Family First Senator Bob Day said, in a letter to a member of the general public, that [under current the arrangements] it is unfair that public universities receive federal funding but religious colleges and other private providers do not.

“The Government’s proposals … reduce the subsidies given to universities, while for the first time addressing inequity by providing significant subsidies for non-universities (but still less than universities),” he wrote. “Some of these non-universities that will receive funding for the first time – if this Bill passes – are faith-based training, teaching, theological and vocational institutions.”

Labor and the Greens attacked the policy, saying it breaches the separation of Church and State. Earlier this year the government controversially announced it would provide $244 million for a new school chaplaincy scheme but would remove the option for schools to hire secular welfare workers.

Labor higher education spokesman Kim Carr said:

“This raises serious questions about relationship between Church and State. The Church has traditionally funded the training of its own personnel.”

Mr Carr said there was a difference between federal funding for theoretically-focused religious studies courses and courses designed to prepare graduates for the priesthood.

Greens higher education spokeswoman Lee Rhiannon said:

“Mr Pyne has gone one step further than robbing Peter to pay Paul – he is attempting to rob Australia’s public and secular university system to pay private, religious colleges.

“Courses that Mr Pyne wants to extend funding to include those teaching prescriptive Christian ideology on sexuality and marriage – is this really the best use of the higher education budget?”