Church schools in Britain

[Tiberius]

Adrian: Perhaps you should approach a few schools and ask if you can give a talk about atheism, secularism and how we are in fact actually very nice people who just want to keep an open mind about the nature of reality.

Interesting idea. We could call it the "Atheism in Schools Project" or something.

[butterfingersbeck]

Don't think we should allow faith schools..period.

The Blair "faith schools" thing is only one of several events to have got me hot under the collar over the past 20 years or so - anyone remember the "decade of evangelism"? President Bush's "crusade against terrorism"? The Christian mindset seems to include an assumption that Christians have a monopoly in charity, morality and happiness. This view needs to be addressed - the "There probably is no God" campaign, while an admirable starting point, still leaves atheists open to the customary accusations of selfishness and hedonism. We need to show people of faith that our morality, while borne purely of human nature is equal to their "divinely inspired" behaviour.

There should be a humanitarian charity called "Humanist Aid" which helps people of any background who are in need of food, water, medical supplies or educational resources with NO STRINGS ATTACHED. "It already exists: The International Red Cross". Perhaps, but we need to wear our collective heart on our sleeve here. A self-professed Humanist charity would not only raise the profile of atheism and agnosticism but would also refute the claims of those who believe that charity can only be associated with religious faith.

[Kyuuketsuki]

Don't think we should allow faith schools..period.

I agree that the UK should have no faith schools, not because I dislike religions (which obviously I do) but because I consider them insular & divisive, because I value an open-minded tolerant societies and that a school is faith-based not only contributes nothing to that idea it more often seems to militate against it.

I also think it's time by which I mean it was all well and good to have a nice cosy relationship between our schools and the Anglican Church which was really rather laid back (a bit like tea and cakes in the garden on a Sunday afternoon) but in our current "rights-based" society not only does everyone and his dog figure they've got the right to have their own faith school but the Anglican Church is being progressively influenced by fundamentalists who have absolutely no business being near childfren of any kind.

Kyu