The British Humanist Association recently published a statement saying that any child of ‘sufficient maturity, intelligence and understanding’ to be given the right to withdraw from compulsory religious worship in school, rather than the previous case where only sixth formers were allowed to withdraw themselves and younger children would need the backing of their parents. I'm not sure what the BHA is thinking here - their recommendation seems a bit wishy-washy. Surely the sensible situation should be that someone would have to show ‘sufficient maturity, intelligence and understanding’ before they could take part in voluntary worship.
Maybe this is a way for the BHA to highlight the 'compulsory' part. The phrase 'compulsory religious worship' makes me feel uneasy. Even some religious organisations have a similar opinion. Ekklesia, who are described as a religious think-tank (oh, the irony) say "Mandating common worship is inappropriate for public institutions made up of people from different world views and faith backgrounds. It is also a misrepresentation of what worship actually is. Worship is a freely offered act of faith arising from a believing community. It is not something that can be imposed or required of everybody." Couldn't have said it better myself.
Too bad kids can't withdraw from the public education system teaching the religion of evolution. My teachers tried to force it on me in school, and I had to take two semesters of biology in my college with the professors basically saying evolution was the truth. Whatever, at least now I can focus on my main Chemistry, Physics, and Calculus classes.
ReplyDeleteHi Aaron,
ReplyDeleteIn what way do you feel that the 'religion' of evolution was forced on you at school? When you say that your professors said evolution was the truth, do you mean they were making dogmatic statements specifically countering a religious view of creation? Or do you mean they were showing how the available evidence led to the scientific position? Were there any particular bits of the science that you disagreed with and did you question your professors on them? Do you approach your other subjects in the same way? I.e. Would you accept or question things that your Chemistry or Physics teacher put forward as science facts?
Simon