I believe in the complete separation of church (mosque, synagogue, chapel, temple or whatever) and state; everyone should be free to practise their faith, but we shouldn’t allow the shared open spaces of our society be invaded by those who would push their own beliefs to the exclusion of others.
Following on from that, logically, I believe that the education system of any democracy should be completely faith-free, with kids of all religions and none studying together in a completely secular environment. You still want your children brought up in the Free Presbyterian/Roman Catholic/Muslim/Moonie etc faith? Fine. You and your religious mentors do the work yourselves away from the school room, education is education, religion is religion and in a healthy grown-up society ne’er the two should mix.
Unfortunately in both N.Ireland and Scotland they do and unfortunately, in both N.Ireland and Scotland, the segregation of education along sectarian lines has, in my opinion, contributed towards the ongoing division of society along those self-same religious fault-lines. And unfortunately none of the parties in either country’s "parliament" is courageous enough to stand up to the religious establishment in either country and let rip with a few home truths. Thinking about it, the DUP are a part of the religious establishment now in NI, so there’s even less chance of them having a pop at themselves.
Anyway, this collective cowardice makes me very nervous about this news, relating to the possible inclusion of "intelligent design" on the science curriculum in Scottish schools. "Intelligent design", in my opinion, is not a scientific theory, the Vatican’s chief scientist apparently agrees, although for very different reasons.
But there is enough support generally amongst the Christian churches for ID to ensure that this is an issue which isn’t going to disappear. The battle in many of the US States has shown how divisive the battle can be and divisive battles in the courtroom do not lead to good educational practice. Not only that, but if this particular battle is lost in N.Ireland and Scotland, then I fear for the future of our school system; once good scientific practice has been sacrificed on the alter of religious dogma, then we are on the steady downward road to a Theocracy; next thing you know we’ll be having religious fundamentalists as our President, laws against homosexuality, restrictions on the right to abortion....
3 comments:
“You still want your children brought up in the Free Presbyterian/Roman Catholic/Muslim/Moonie etc faith? Fine. You and your religious mentors do the work yourselves away from the school room, education is education, religion is religion and in a healthy grown-up society ne’er the two should mix.”
If someone wants their child educated in a Free Presbyterian school they have to pay for the privilege. The government do not fund their schools and they have every right in a free society to send their child to such a school if they so desire. They also pay for the education of other people’s children in their taxes.
“Thinking about it, the DUP are a part of the religious establishment now in NI”
Excuse me? The “religious establishment”?!?! The DUP have no Christian values upon which they are not prepared to sacrifice on the altar of political expediency. This is seen in their willingness to share power with murderers, lie and fund homosexual events – all of which flies in the face of God’s Word.
“"Intelligent design", in my opinion, is not a scientific theory, the Vatican’s chief scientist apparently agrees, although for very different reasons.”
Yes, in your opinion. Evolution “works” on the principle that a large number of mutations over time will result in the development of new/better species. Can you cite a few examples of when mutations have resulted in the creation of additional genetic material – not its loss. If evolution is a continual process there should be millions so I’m sure you won’t have a problem finding a dozen or so examples. Or will you?
“next thing you know we’ll be having religious fundamentalists as our President, laws against homosexuality, restrictions on the right to abortion....”
No laws will be passed against homosexuality in Northern Ireland.
Hanson,
I'm a bit snowed under at the minute, so I'll answer your comment in a bit more depth later.
If someone wants their child educated in a Free Presbyterian school they have to pay for the privilege. The government do not fund their schools and they have every right in a free society to send their child to such a school if they so desire.
In a modern, western democracy, I believe it is solely the responsibility of the state to provide for the standard education of children 9 to 4 Monday to Friday. This education should be 100% secular and actually, in the vast majority of subjects, that won’t make any difference to what is actually taught. If children are to live in a diverse society, then I really don’t think this educational segregation on religious ground is healthy for the long term future of that society. But I don’t think we are not going to find common ground on this one.
Excuse me? The “religious establishment”?!?! The DUP have no Christian values upon which they are not prepared to sacrifice on the altar of political expediency.
“Prepared to sacrifice their values on the grounds of political expediency”
That’s a pretty good definition of most “religious establishment”s
Evolution “works” on the principle that a large number of mutations over time will result in the development of new/better species. Can you cite a few examples of when mutations have resulted in the creation of additional genetic material – not its loss. If evolution is a continual process there should be millions so I’m sure you won’t have a problem finding a dozen or so examples. Or will you?
I’m not sure I agree with your contention that evolution states that the mutation (or adaption or specialisation- much nicer words) necessarily results in the creation of additional genetic material. Natural selection, using size, shape and colour to survive -- that arises not because of additional genetic material but by selecting the best option presently available to the species? I’m not an expert by any means and I think in this area of science, we must look at “best science” because it is very difficult to prove anything on the basis of observable data. However, compared to the alternatives I think evolution is the “best science”.
I read this some where about Intelligent design, I think it sums up pretty well my feelings on it:
The religion isn't in the claims of intelligent design themselves. Rather, the religion is in the motivation for pushing a poor account of the natural world into the science curriculum
No laws will be passed against homosexuality in Northern Ireland.
I was putting up (I hope) a hypothetical situation, having said that, there is constantly a battle for funding of such things as Gay Pride.
I can understand (but not agree with)your opposition to such things and accept fully your right to protest, but in the end (and this follows the logic from your freedom of choice argument regarding schooling), homosexuals are also taxpayers and citizens of our country. They should have exactly the same rights as any other taxpayer or citizen.
Post a Comment