'Faith' schools

And now the news headlines:

BONG!  Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram have kidnapped more people!

BONG! Militants attack Karachi airport.

BONG! Cameron supports calls for 'British values' in schools.

BONG! More militants seize Iraq's third biggest city.

BONG! Five US troops killed in Afghanistan.

There was an 'and finally' story on BBC Radio Five Live - the continued reaction to the death of the brilliant Rik Mayall - but it was mainly stories about islam and bad news stories at that.

And we're used to stories about the religion of peace, aren't we?

To be fair, it's not always about islam.  Sometimes there are horror stories about catholic priests abusing boys and sikhs kicking off in Birmingham about a play they don't like.  And now and again, a bomb goes off in Northern Ireland, or someone is shot, usually in the name of god.

Where does it all start?   Well, it starts at home and it carries on at school.

Have you noticed how almost all children who believe in god have the same religion as their parents?  I think it would be an incredible coincidence if a child grew up in, say, a catholic family but chose the Church of Latter Day Saints as their religion of choice.

In fact, there is no such thing as a jewish child, a christian child or a muslim child, only children of jews, christians and muslims. You do not have monetarist children or anarcho-synidicalist children either.

We have lots  of 'faith' schools too where parents send their children, presumably in order to firm up their religious beliefs (although a lot of people do pretend to be catholics in order to get places in top schools.  I wonder what god would think of that, in the unlikely event he exists at all?).

For decades, we've stood by and seen more and more schools run by religious folk, even at a time when attendance in churches is plunging.  It's a good way of getting the numbers back up.

The islamic schools are now concentrating our minds, especially with the 'Trojan horse' episode in Birmingham, but you either have religious schools or you don't.

In my world, you wouldn't have any 'faith' schools at all.

Sure you learn about religion in history lessons because even if none of it is true it has been a part of our existence. But school is not about, or rather should not be about,  proselytising. 

For too long we have turned a blind eye to 'faith' schools, on the 
grounds, presumably that they were A Good Thing.  But now others  from less 'traditional' religions want their 'faith' schools too, paid for like all the other 'faith' schools by you and me.

I don't believe there is a politician in the land with the courage to say they will make all schools secular so we will continue the relentless drive towards separation and religious differences which haven't exactly fared to well in much of the rest of the world.