A group of humanists are demanding that faith schools should be open to all children, regardless of their parents’ religion.
The Fair Admissions Campaign wants all state-funded schools in England and Wales to be open equally to all children, without regard to religion or belief.
The Church of England’s website says: ‘
Latest available statistics indicate one in four primary schools and one in 16 secondary schools in England are Church of England schools. Approaching one million pupils are educated in more than 4,700 Church of England schools.’
The Fair Admissions Campaign claims that it is ‘widely supported’, by those at its meetings perhaps. In the real world, according the Church of England:
‘Seven in ten (72%) of the population agree that Church of England schools help young people to grow into responsible members of society and 8 in 10 (80%) agree that they promote good behaviour and positive attitudes.’
Reporting on the story for the Huffington Post, Simon Goulden said:
‘I think that it is quite clear that faith schools tend to have a strong ethos emphasising respect for authority, the virtues of hard work, discipline and a sense of duty rather than just rights, a commitment to high ideals, a willingness to learn and a sense of social responsibility. Their ethos also gives a preference for earned self-respect rather than unearned self-esteem and the idea of an objective moral order transcending subjective personal preferences.’
The Campaign is being supported by most of the usual secularist suspects including the Accord Coalition, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the British Humanist Association, British Muslims for Secular Democracy, Professor Ted Cantle CBE and the iCoCo Foundation, the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, the anti-Christian think tank Ekklesia, the Hindu Academy, the Liberal Democrat Education Association, Liberal Youth, Richmond Inclusive Schools Campaign, the Runnymede Trust, the Socialist Educational Association (affiliated to the Labour Party), and the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.
In a glimpse into the arcane and incestuous nature of secularism, the Accord Coaltion is itself an amalgamation of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the British Humanist Association, British Muslims for Secular Democracy, the Campaign for State Education, Ekklesia, the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the Hindu Academy, the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, Liberal Youth, the National Union of Teachers, the Socialist Education Association, the Runnymede Trust and Women Against Fundamentalism
Professor Ted Cantle, named as a leading figure behind the campaign, is anti-multicultural to the extent that he would ban the Government from giving any funding to church-run soup kitchens, on the grounds that ‘they fuel separation in communities’.
There is no evidence whatsoever that faith-based schools, by which we mean mainly Church of England schools, are divisive or that they are turning out suicide bombers or young men eager to knife soldiers on the streets of Greenwich. There is no evidence that church-run soup kitchens, homeless shelters, drop-ins and other Christian contributions to the ‘big society’ fuel separation in any way at all.
But that will not stop the relentless assault on our Christian Heritage from those who hate the Lord Jesus Christ.
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“There is no evidence whatsoever that faith-based schools, by which we mean mainly Church of England schools, are divisive ”
Surely the religious schools which most come to mind are Roman Catholic schools ? Many Church of England schools are barely different from state schools, and many have a large Muslim contingent.
But Roman Catholic schools are divisive, especially in Northern Ireland, and they bring children up firmly within the power of their church, as Jesuits have always been aware. Those run by the Christian Brothers have quite a reputation of their own.
To be honest, the main news here, “Humanists want the church out of schools” is hardly news, and not much of a surprise.
But they haven’t picked on the Roman Catholic Schools in Northern Ireland alone, have they? At least not in this present campaign. Of course the fact that humanists want the church out of schools is not news. Its their new campaign that is news.
The headline “Humanists want the church out of schools” is yours, and the wording “faith-based schools, by which we mean mainly Church of England schools” is yours too.
It would be difficult for a humanist to pick and choose between Christian denominations without seeming to favour some of them against others, and there are Muslim, Jewish and even Hindu schools too. I don’t think even Christian Voice comes down in favour of one protestant denomination against another,does it ? There are Quaker schools, Methodist schools, and increasingly creationist schools of various kinds which you would obviously expect humanists to be strongly against.
This could be a tell that humanists see Christian faith schools as performing better, more discipline and better results.