Atheists could set up their own schools in England under the government's education reforms, Education Secretary Michael Gove has said.

BBC article below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-10791997

Personally I think this is to try and distract people from the fact that the majority of schools will ram theology down childrens necks.

Honestly how many atheists want to 'indoctrinate' children compared with how many theists.

Sounds like a good idea to me. I'm fine with faith schools as long as they aren't government sponsored, so I'm also fine with atheist schools so long as the same standard of secularism is applied.

I wouldn't be up for calling them atheist schools, personally. That seems to infer that we'd be trying to impose our "lack of belief" on them and that's not right. Why not just instead focus on the education that all children are getting and propose critical thinking classes, more math/science-based field trips, maybe even some very basic philosophical/logic as well?

If you build a new house next to a condemned house, you really didn't do much for the neighborhood.

An "atheist school". Would that not be called a "school"?

(July 28, 2010 at 2:14 pm)downbeatplumb Wrote: Atheists could set up their own schools in England under the government's education reforms, Education Secretary Michael Gove has said.

This sounds like something that needs to be done in a few particular US states.
(I'm looking at you, texas, kansas, and probably the virginias.)

Gove has the right idea but I think he probably misunderstands what atheists stand for .. a fundamental belief of most atheists (i would think) is that people should grow up with the freedom to choose their own faith or lack of faith. Having atheism shoved down your throat isn't any better than having some belief system shoved down your throat.

Any *intellectual* atheist won't sit there (unprovoked) and preach to you about your stupidity for believing that a man in the sky is controlling your actions.

Why not just remove faith schools or make them secular?

(July 28, 2010 at 5:33 pm)darkwolf176 Wrote: Why not just remove faith schools or make them secular?

WHAT?!?!? Ridiculous. How dare you undermine religious education!

*sarcasm*

That's a good idea. Time for the atheists to stand up for what we (don't) believe in! I wish I lived in England...

I'm of the opinion that their should be secular schools that have critical thinking classes. (It is a required class at Plymouth State University and when I took it I thought it was dumb, everyone should be able to do that easy. I was proven wrong. I don't know why I thought that.) Also, it shouldn't be called an atheist school, either.