The Role of Religion in Public Life

What would a Secular Humanist propose the role of religion should play in public life?

Christian belief is personal and should play no part in public life

Approximately how many schools in the UK are faith schools?

1/3

Which Scholar directly criticises faith based education?

Dawkins

Why is Dawkins against faith schools?

faith schools are unable to give children a proper unbiased education in science

What happened when Dawkins went to an Islamic faith school?

• student challenged Dawkins perspective on evolution (if people came from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?)

• Dawkins decided to ask the biology teacher at the faith school what her answer to the challenge was (both humans and monkeys evolve from a common ancestor)

• the teacher was unable to answer

Is it true that faith schools inadequately teach science?

no - many religions (e.g. Catholicism) universally accept the theories of evolution and the big bang

What is Dawkins quote on how religion should be taught?

“comparative way according to a national curriculum, not indoctrination”

Why does Dawkins claim that bringing up a child into a certain religion was child abuse?

prevented their development of critical thinking - absurd to call a child a communist or right-winged

• thinks it should be seen as similarly absurd to say “Christian child” or “Muslim child”

How does McGrath support Dawkins when describing how parents indoctrinate their children?

religious belief (like all beliefs) should be subject to evidence-based reasoning and that blind faith is not true Christianity

How does McGrath criticise Dawkins for getting lost in the ‘noise of the hyped-up rhetoric’?

claiming that raising a child religious is ‘child abuse’ and claiming we need to break the cycle in order to end religion itself

• assumes that religion is only kept going due to indoctrination, not evidence or argument

What are arguments FOR faith schools?

• only 1/3 of schools are faith schools

• people should be allowed to reflect their religion in their educational choices

• all schools have mission statements and value systems - faith schools are no different

• reflects diversity and tolerance from fundamental British values

• pupils in faith schools are as diverse as the societies they exist in

What are arguments AGAINST faith schools?

• labels children from a young age

• teaching in some areas subject to bias (fundamentalist schools - risk of radicalisation)

• children in faith schools will be unfamiliar with secular society outside

• faith schools only reflect some narrow views

• faith should only be taught by parents and religious communities