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REACHING OUT
St. AUGUSTINE'S CHURCH NEWSLETTER
Autumn 2006 NO 63
RIGHT AND WRONG
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The recent headline that schools will no longer
be 'required to teach children
the difference between right and wrong' along
with the exciting news that they would be taught
how to change and bath a baby, received little
ecitorial comment; perhaps the issue raises so
many questions, its easier to go on about the
war against terror or the conflict in
Afghanistan!
Set against a background of the upsurge in
teenage drinking and drug taking, anti-social
behaviour, vandalism, petty crime and disruption
in schools, along with a waning in the influence
of religion on people's lives and a general
disrespect for authority one wonders what is
going on and where it is all going to end!
In a world of relative, rather than absolute
values, is it enough to encourage pupils to
develop their own 'secure values and beliefs',
which basically seems to mean, in our
supermarket culture, always choosing to do what
they want and never mind anyone else.
Human nature being what it is, no, this is not
enough. As we grapple with all the
problems facing the society we live in at
present some of us would argue for a greater
emphasis on teaching our youngsters to
distinguish right from wrong. This is not
just an issue about schools and our young
people, its an issue for society as a whole; we
can't nurture moral values, respect for
authority, respect for self and others, if, we
have forgotten, for so it seems, what these
things are.
So where do we, in a multi-cultural, multi-faith
society, find our common core values that will
somehow create a more integrated society?
Here the home and the family are just as, if
not, more important that the school.
Everything that happens in the home, and
especially how we behave as parents, effects the
development and future behaviour of our citizens
of tomorrow.
There is too the wider responsibility of society
as a whole, not just the government, but all of
us. Perhaps we all need to grasp hold of
the reality of what is wrong with present day
society and the communities in which we live,
and realise that without rules, without setting
standards and boundaries for what constitutes
acceptable behaviour, then things can only get
worse, however many CCTV's or ASBO's we have!
What's right and what's wrong, how should we
behave? It was Jesus who said 'Love your
neighbour as yourself', in which case, perhaps
teaching youngsters to change a nappy or bath a
baby is not such a bad way to begin after all!
Your friend and priest
Father Keith
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