Blaming faith for ’style over substance’ misses the point

Andrea Brooks of the Sydney Morning Herald writes a fairly scathing post about Australia’s new Family Relationships Centres.

She makes some good points which at first reading make sense:

• people often end up in FRCs when things have gone badly wrong.
• couples will have already tried counselling.
• two main reasons for couples splitting up are financial strain, and ignorance about raising children.

However, she then attacks this ‘faith-based policy’ as if all faith-based activity is wrong.

Perhaps this policy is not the best use of money, but she argues instead for “expanding financial planning services and early childhood community-based nursing programs which would help alleviate the problems of marriages under pressure”.

These two areas are often strongly supported and managed by faith groups, but Andrea’s atheistic article fails to mention this.

“Policy built on faith rather than reality”

Well, that’s your opinion, Andrea, which you’re welcome to, but if you are saying that the Government is wrong for putting the family first, I suggest you take a swipe at many major Westernised governments.