If this is true, it’s worrying…
Evangelical Christian groups intent on converting pupils are being allowed into state schools claims a report.
We’ve been regaled with stories recently about the decline in RE in schools. Frankly, I don’t see this as a bad thing. It’s one thing to be aware of all the superstitious codswallop that people choose to believe (preferably so that we can steer clear of it), it is another to use it to peddle that codswallop as happened when I was at school. My RE lessons consisted of preaching Christianity and that was about it.
Not that it worked very well. Although I made an effort, my rational and inquisitive nature simply asked those awkward questions about things such as immaculate conception and how come no one ever sees angels these days, let alone gets to have sex with them…
So, no, the brainwashing didn’t take.
That said, the brainwashing shouldn’t have been attempted in the first instance and if it is happening now, then it is a disgrace. That is not what school should be for. So, yeah, teach RE in the same way as we teach History or Geography, but allowing these creeps into the classroom to proselytize, absolutely not.
Not entirely in agreement for once, LR.
Despite being agnostic – well, not given the matter sufficient consideration to espouse any definitive view – I opted for my son (now 28, then 4) to receive RE lessons on the grounds that the 10 commandments weren’t basically a bad set of moral standards to learn.
Obviously, despite – or even because of – being a divorced Dad, I made sure I was a big part of his learning and upbringing, and brought him up with the same morals as a guide.
He’s now a well adjusted young man – never had any yobbish tendencies. He’s not a perfect angel, but I’m proud of him and full of respect for the kind, considerate & caring human being he’s matured into.
+1
All we need to know about this story is that it is being led by the offence-seeking and aggressive secular society. No-one else seems to be able to find these evangelical types infiltrating schools. I know there have been none where my teen kids go, and I would say even if they were there, it is vastly preferable to the almost religious lefty nonsense about climate change, PC and lifestyles which has crept into the national curriculum since around 2000.
There is no “preferable” here. All religion is bad. Here, I am with the French – no religion in state schools. They are a place for learning, not proselytising.
I am aware of the downsides to the NSS and I did qualify my comments accordingly in the original post. However, their core aims are sound – a riposte to overt religious propaganda. That, whoever it comes from, is a good thing.
Make up your tiny apology for a mind what you are ranting against, please?
“Aggressive secular society”?
What & where is this, & can I join it, please?
I side with Ted Treen in this argument, though you do have a point about the many superstitions involved. One of the problems of religion is that it is actually a man-made concept, usually for the benefit of those in charge of the religion (see Richard Dorkins [sic] or Climate Change [even siccer] for good examples of modern religions in that mould).
The Bible is an extraordinarily complex mix of myth, analogy and fact, and merely reading through it will rarely help you appreciate its depth. More profound study, particularly of the New Testament, will show how much of it is still relevant, even today. As a basis for a sound moral and ethical life, the Judeo-Christian principles are the best we have, so rejection of them should never be taken lightly.
People demand the scientific proof of God, yet many Christians insist that the proof of God is all around us, it is just that there are those who will not see. I find the attitude that there is no proof therefore there is no God puzzling; there is so much about the universe that we do not – and may never – understand, yet we dismiss the existence of God as we cannot see the proof. The same scientific mind-set that dismisses God as He cannot be seen, heard, felt, smelt, or detected in any way known to us convinces us of the existence of dark matter – that cannot be seen, heard, felt, smelt, or detected in any way known to us. One of the main problems is that we can only see the universe in human terms; as we cannot perceive the universe through the mind of a dog, why should we be puzzled by our lack of understanding the mind of God?
BOLLOCKS
If any BigSkyFairy exists, then he/she/it/they will be detectable. { Directly or indirectly or as an emergent pehnomenon ]
Religious believers all claim $BigSkyFairy exists … ok – SHOW – put up or SHUT UP (Please?)
It’s very odd, that as our detection systems & apparatus & understanding of the universe improves, we see less of any BigSkyFairy – don’t we?
Now bloody grow up!
I think both of you have missed my point here. I have no problem with RE being taught in the same way as history for example – that is, a factual account of the various belief systems that plague the world. What I object to is any attempt whatsoever to impose belief on impressionable young minds. This is why I vigorously oppose acts of worship in schools and did not take part when I was at school.
As for understanding the mind of God – show him to me and i might decide the effort is worth the while. Until then, I’ll take exactly the same approach to the God of the Israelites as I do with every other god man has invented.
The ten commandments? Oh, yeah, right. Four of them are nothing more than commands relating to the Israelites’ relationship with their god. Then there are the commands not to covet, which, frankly, amount to thought crime. So we are left with don’t steal and don’t murder, which every civilised society has managed to work out perfectly well for itself without any gods being involved. I don’t steal or murder, not because of organised religion, which is one of the greatest curses to plague mankind, frankly – but because I am capable of differentiating right from wrong. I don’t need some daft old man in a frock talking to the sky to tell me that one, ta very much.
Of course there is much we do not understand. The rational and scientific mind is perfectly able to recognise “we don’t understand” without resorting to the superstitious as a consequence. That we do not know does not mean “God did it”.