Education report debunks secular neutrality myth
Secularism isn’t a neutral force in education and it attempts to exclude faith from the classroom risk of anti-religious indoctrination, according to a new report by a professor of education. Prof Trevor Cooling’s report, entitled Doing God in Education, also criticised opponents who claim that faith schools shouldn’t be able to consider religious criteria when selecting pupils. The report, published by the theology think-tank Theos, argues that all education is value driven and shaped by school leaders. It cautions: ‘The objection to so-called neutral approaches, then, is that they privilege secular worldviews and are in danger of implicit anti-religious indoctrination. ‘They are not, in other words, neutral.’ Commenting on the report Paul Woolley, the think-tank’s director, said: ‘The idea that education is religiously neutral or objective is indefensible. ‘Teaching is shaped by our understanding of which virtues we should practise, what qualities we should value, ultimately of what kind of people we should be.’
Pray: for the value of good religious education to be recognised and its place in the school curriculum to be ensured. (Ti.1:13)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/education-report-debunks-secular-neutrality-myth/
Only half of Britons say UK is Christian
Only half of British adults are confident that Britain can now be described as ‘a Christian country’, according to research. The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, has written to David Cameron urging him to review laws that have seen Christians forced to abandon their faith in public. He warned that reforms introduced under Labour promoted ‘tolerance, equality and fairness’ at a cost of eroding Christianity as the foundation of British culture and society. The warnings follow a series of court cases in which the beliefs of Christians have come into conflict with the state authorities. In the letter to the Prime Minister, Lord Carey said Christians were too often ‘ridiculed’ and dismissed as relics of ‘a bygone age’. ‘Notwithstanding its vast and varied contribution to our society, there appears to be a suspicion about the validity and value of the role that the Christian faith plays in our national life,’ he said.
Pray: for the Church to take up the challenge to be the light in the darkness. (1Th.5:5)
More: http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2010/12/27/only-half-of-britons-say-uk-is-a-christian-country/
Joseph as ideal male role model
Jesus and Mary are usually the centre of attention at the school Nativity play, but Iain Duncan Smith says society – and the church – would do well to pay more attention to Joseph. Writing in the Daily Mail last week, the Tory MP said Joseph was the ‘forgotten hero’ of the story of Christ’s birth. The example set by Joseph in standing by Mary and Jesus offered, he said, a ‘very clear message for our own time’ in which generations of young people are growing up without fathers. Mr Duncan Smith said society seemed to have forgotten the important role played by fathers, from providing shelter and placing food on the table, to nurturing and supporting their children. ‘It’s about providing the best male role model that a man can have,’ he said. Mr Duncan Smith pointed to the link between fatherlessness and family breakdown, high levels of truancy, anti-social behaviour, youth crime, street gangs and teenage pregnancy.
Pray: for all fathers to recognise their responsibility to be a good role model for their sons. (Pr.1:8)
Anti-Semitism on rise at British universities
Britain’s Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, has charged several of the UK’s most prestigious universities of ‘turning a blind eye and a deaf ear’ to the increasing number of speeches defaming and delegitimizing Israel being made on campuses all over Britain. He contrasted the conduct of universities with government officials of all political parties who take ‘an unequivocal and a firm stand against anti-Semitism.’ ‘Let me be blunt,’ Sacks said. ‘I believe that the inflammatory public speeches being allowed to take place on university campuses would, in any other context and directed against any other group, be prosecuted under the law forbidding incitement to racial and possibly religious hatred.’
Pray: against this trend in our education establishments by those whose values are distorted. (Pr.16:13)
More: http://www.icej.org/article/anti_semitism_on_rise_at_british_universities
