Ethics classes in schools are not safe yet. In a backroom deal between the O'Farrell government and the Christian Democrats, the fate of the classes may lie with a Legislative Council committee weighted with right-wing Christians.

The government has given the committee the task of examining the objectives, curriculum, implementation and effectiveness of the ethics classes, and recommending whether they should be abolished.

Here is an alternative idea: let's abolish scripture classes instead. And, after that, let's abolish ethics classes.

Australia needs a properly constituted national curriculum in comparative religions and ethics to be taught from kindergarten to year 10 by professional teachers.

This is what happens in other comparable developed countries. Scripture in public schools is a hangover from another century. Many countries have moved on to teach comparative religion and ethics in a reflective way that broadens children's horizons and understanding of the world's faiths and of alternative world views. We should, too.

Yes, scripture has been taught in NSW state schools since 1880 but, really, it has no place in a secular institution.

Indoctrination in a faith should take place at home; in a church, mosque, synagogue, temple; at Sunday school, or in religious schools. Children should not be segregated in public schools to be instructed by volunteers in a particular religion; to be taught the Bible as historical fact, for instance, or that they will burn in hell, or that ''Hindus are cows'' - as a non-Christian religious instructor was heard telling his class.

It is more important than ever for children to see the commonalities underlying various religious beliefs and ethical codes, as well as the differences. We are a multicultural, multi-faith society and we need to understand each other better.

That some people kill over religious differences is well-known. What is less well-known is the common thread between the great faiths and ethical codes: don't steal; respect your elders; do unto others …; don't make babies with your sister.

These are teachings not confined to Christianity. These same ideas can be found in Buddhism, Islam and Judaism; in the Chinese Tao; in indigenous spiritualities and in nature religions. Humanists and atheists also follow these codes of ethics.

I confess I did not know this - at least about the Chinese Tao and nature religions - from personal study. I was one of those sitting on school verandahs doing ''non'' scripture for years. Attendance at religious instruction, in any case, would not have enhanced my understanding of other faiths and philosophies.

I know about the common thread thanks to PhD student Cathy Byrne, of Macquarie University, whose thesis is on religious education in schools.

ln ignorance of all but a few Old Testament stories, I found myself a tourist in Venice, gazing incomprehensibly at religious art. Who was that man with his head on a platter? I didn't have a clue. I was 30 before I realised how much Judaism and Islam have in common: the quick burial of the dead, for instance; the segregation of men and women at worship.

Aboriginal spiritual beliefs were picked up through the story books I bought my children - hardly an appropriate grounding.

I didn't mind being ''non'', and felt no compunction later to become a spiritual seeker, but the hours on the windswept verandah could have been better spent grappling with ethical, philosophical and religious ideas that are intrinsically interesting, and perhaps gleaning something of religious art and architecture along the way.

Sweden has had compulsory ''knowledge about religion'' courses since 1962 that now cover six world religions, plus indigenous and secular ideologies. Although 80 per cent of Swedes are Lutherans, at school children are encouraged to reflectively develop their own opinions. Norway has a similar compulsory course.

In England and Wales religious instruction was reworked in 1988 to include six major religions and, in some school areas, secular ideologies as well. Quebec introduced a compulsory ethics and religious culture course in 2007 that includes indigenous spirituality. Some German states offer comparative religion/ethics courses and, outside school hours, religious instruction.

It is a challenge to develop a compulsory K-10 curriculum bold enough to hold children's attention. The temptation to be safe means big ideas about life, death and morality might be reduced to a boring set of facts about different religions and philosophies.

It does not have to be that way. As with other humanities subjects, the starting point has to be that children take a reflective and critical approach. This is education about - not instruction in - religion and ethics, and the distinction must be understood.

How should we treat each other, why an action is good or bad, how do we live a good life, whether there is a creator or not? What light religious teachings and ethical philosophies can shed on these fundamental questions are matters that children would find interesting.

As Byrne has discovered from her research in schools, children enjoy conversations about these difficult questions. Most children are philosophical creatures but we try to dumb them down with simplistic answers like ''be good because God is watching''.

In developing a national curriculum, Australia can learn from a wealth of international experience. It is time for 19th century scripture classes to go. But if they remain intact and unexamined, taking up valuable time in a crowded school schedule, ethics classes must remain as the alternative. The religious lobby cannot have it both ways.

Ethics Tussle Beggars Belief