Cathy Byrne is wrong about education must be secular
State school students have come home from religious instruction classes believing they would “ burn in hell ” or be “eaten by the devil”, according to a new book on secular education in Australia . The author, Cathy Byrne, a Southern Cross University research program manager, argues Queensland now has the least secular education system in Australia , in contrast with 19th-century state regulations restricting restricting religious instruction to before or after school hours. Byrne by using the words "19th-century state regulations" is seeking to do what many southerners did in the Daylight saving debate; namely turn back your clocks and lives as you enter Queensland. In a chapter on her research on Queensland, Byrne says six children from five schools reported “burn in hell” comments. One parent she interviewed about religious instruction classes said: “My child believed everything he was being told, including that he would burn in hell.” Six children out of a total of 10