September 5, 2007
Source: The Age
UNIVERSITIES have been urged to abandon their long-held commitment to secularism and incorporate a better understanding of religions in their teaching programs.
Gary Bouma, a professor of sociology at Monash University, told a Muslim students' conference that the secularist stance of universities was no longer appropriate at a time when religion played a more important role in public life. He said secularism was not a neutral stance but was itself an ideology that was inimical to religions.
"Religious diversity is on the increase and religion is back in the public space," he said. "Secularists have a right to have a voice in universities but not a voice to denigrate or relegate religions to a non-space."