Media Release
Why the Hagley Community College mosque should not have been built
05.03.04
Schools are for education, not religion: providing places of worship is not a school's responsibility.
The education budget should be spent on education, not on building places of worship.
The public school system was designed to be secular: students should leave their religious differences at the school
gate.
Religions are divisive and religious differences can cause tensions among students.
Muslim students in other schools will have good reason to demand similar facilities.
Everyone will want one: students from other religions could demand their own places of worship at schools.
The whole school should benefit from the school's facilities, not a minority: the Muslim students at Hagley are less
than 10% of the school roll.
We should not assume that people from overseas want to practice the religious traditions of their home countries in New
Zealand.
Like most religions, Islam discriminates against women and girls, which is not a good model for school life.
Religion is a private matter: places of worship should be financed by their adherents on their own property.
Allowing religions to assume official status will exacerbate racial differences.
The New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists is the country's oldest and largest organisation representing
people without religious beliefs.
Its principal objectives are to advocate a rational, humane and secular view of life without reference to supernatural
agencies and which is compatible with scientific method; to promote a tolerant, responsible and open society; to
encourage open-minded enquiry into matters relevant to human co-existence and well-being.
Media Contacts:
Paul Litterick, Secretary
ENDS