Faith.

I just caught the last bit of the Q&A Faith special (polly free!) - must find the repeat somewhere and watch it in full. And I also watched tonight's episode of Can of Worms. Oh, and I also watched Masterchef :) I swear, they're setting it up to make it look like Ellie and Hayden seriously have something going on - whether that's the case or no I'm in the dark as much as you are.

Anyway, so the two main arguments from Q&A concerned Children and Religion and Women and Islam - two very controversial topics.

I am an advocate of secular education and I believe that religious education is completely inappropriate for government-funded, supposedly secular multicultural public schools. I also think that school prayers, etc. are completely out of whack too - and I speak from personal experience. Private schools here offer sex-segregated, religious-based education, and that's fine - because, after all, that is what a private school is and is marketed to be. But as an atheist, a second-generation immigrant and, particularly, a non-Christian, I was offended by the religious (Christian and televangical) undertones of my school. Religious people have no right to preach their religion to anyone, especially the young impressionable minds of children that are so easily indoctrinated, brainwashed and intimidated.

Children do not understand religion, and I believe it is unfair that children are expected to blindly follow whatever religion that they are born into via the family and the community. Religion, or the lack of it, is a choice; a choice that must be made when the time is right. Religion is dangerous when misunderstood or followed blindly; and the innocence/ignorance of childhood cannot mix properly with the complexity of spirituality. There have been things in my life that has persuaded me to turn my back on religion entirely, and I have absolutely no qualms doing so - religious freedom, like so many other things, is a right that I deserve to have. I've grown up in a largely Christian Anglo-Saxon community, but I reserve my right to be an atheist. My family is Asian and non-religious Buddhists, but I still reserve my right to be an atheist. Even though I am underaged and living in this community, living in this family. Because despite our membership and our allegiance to our kin and to society as a whole, we are all individuals regardless of who we are and how old we are. Whilst it is impossible to remove family impact on religion and religious choices, parents should always keep in mind that at all stages of childhood and adulthood, your child is an independent human being and the most precious gift you can give them is choice.

As for the other matter, perhaps it is more complex. Islam has garnered a reputation for misogyny and the suppression of women's rights, and I believe that this reputation is not wholly deserved or undeserved. The nature of Islam certainly has the potential to lead to the mistreatment of women (and humans in general) and this is certainly the case during the Taliban regime and other times and places; but then, this holds true for almost all religions. During my short life I have not known many Muslims, but the girls I do/have know/n are perfectly normal and aren't mistreated at all - so it is a very foolish assumption that all Islamic women are treated badly, especially here in Australia. As for the wearing of headgear and facial covering for religious reasons, I don't agree with it, but I understand the logic behind it and I respect everybody's right to wear whatever they want for whatever reason. As for the Islamic headscarf in particular, as a feminist I don't think that wearing it purely so that God will love you or others will love you or you think that people will only think well of you if you wear it is right, and I certainly don't agree with the wearing of any religious gear being forced upon anyone, especially onto women by men. If women feel obliged to cover up because of the sexualisation of society and the increasingly lewd behaviour of men, well, that's a sad reflection on the world, isn't it? But if any garments, religious or otherwise, are worn as a free and independent choice then, as a feminist and as a person, why not?

I have pretty strong religious opinions...actually, I have pretty strong opinions about everything. But above everything I am a humanist, and I believe human rights should be respected above everything. And so, I believe that everyone is allowed to do anything they want, as long as they do not impinge on the rights and freedoms of others.