This is a talk I gave to the New Zealand Association of Philosophy Teachers annual conference at St Cutherberts College in September this year. Several people have asked me to make this talk available. I have broken my talk up into four parts. Part One introduces what philosophy of religion. In part two I will outline two […]
Entries Tagged as 'Education'
Contemporary Philosophy of Religion and NCEA Religious Studies: Part Four
October 23rd, 2017 Comments Off on Contemporary Philosophy of Religion and NCEA Religious Studies: Part Four
Tags: Graham Oppy · John Mackie · NCEA
Educating the Secular Education Network
October 6th, 2017 18 Comments
The Secular Education Network (SEN) has been in the news of late, complaining about religious education in schools. My view is that whether a religious education programme should exist at a given school is something individual schools should decide for themselves and parents should be free to choose whichever school they want to send their […]
Tags: Education · Religious Studies
AUSA, expelling pro life groups, and legal advice
October 5th, 2017 Comments Off on AUSA, expelling pro life groups, and legal advice
For those following the Auckland University Students Association (AUSA’s) recent decision to expel a pro-life group at Auckland University, it may interest you to know that the following press release was sent to me today: Media Release: ProLife Auckland Date: 5 October 2017 University Group Celebrates Victory Against Unjust Discrimination Auckland University Club ProLife Auckland celebrates […]
Tags: Abortion · AUSA · Rights and Freedoms
My Faith Journey
June 22nd, 2012 8 Comments
Like Jacob in the book of Genesis, my spiritual journey has been one of wrestling with God. Not physical wrestling, like that engaged in by Jacob, but wrestling intellectually with the questions and implications that have arisen from my realisation that God exists and Jesus Christ actually, in reality, rose from the grave. I was […]
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The End of State Education: Resistance is Futile
March 15th, 2011 29 Comments
The litany of the forces arrayed against quality state education systems is long. We believe these forces make state education’s decline inevitable. Without a thoroughgoing reformation of the fundaments of Western society itself, resistance is futile. The Borg is here. We know that in New Zealand roughly one third of all graduates from state schools […]
Tags: Alex Standish · Education · NCEA · Robert Whelan · State Education · State Schools · Stephen Hawking
Atheist Posters: University Intolerance is Suddenly News?
February 3rd, 2011 32 Comments
Last night I watched a section on TV3’s Campbell Live about the treatment of a campus atheist club at the University of Lincoln entitled “Atheist uni students’ posters torn down” (follow the link to view the video). This story went into detail about how the clubs posters have been regularly ripped down and defaced. The […]
Tags: Atheist Club · Campbell Live · Natasha Utting · University of Lincoln
A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages.
Goodbye NCEA, Farewell, Get lost, Good Riddance
September 21st, 2025 Comments Off on Goodbye NCEA, Farewell, Get lost, Good Riddance
Some readers of this blog will know that I work as a secondary school teacher. Recently, several people have asked my opinion on the government’s decision to ditch the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). My thoughts follow. When I was at teachers’ college, we were taught that New Zealand had the best curriculum in the […]
Tags: NCEA