Faith based schools in UK
John M.
superstitions into the uninformed minds of children is a form of abuse
that ranks alongside paedophilia (both sexual and sadomasochistic).
Unhappily this former occurs in a greater or lesser extent in all
faith based schools. To avoid it, it is necessary to adopt the
draconian measure of closing down all such schools, as one finds
already in many enlightened countries.
An e-petition demanding this from the British government can be found
at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/faithschools/
and is already the second most widely signed of the current petitions
concerning education. I urge all reasonable persons to follow my
example and add their names to the list.
Allan Adler
> As most people are probably aware, deliberately putting religious
> superstitions into the uninformed minds of children is a form of abuse
> that ranks alongside paedophilia (both sexual and sadomasochistic).
"As most people are probably aware"? Most people are religious! When you
say "people", who are you talking about? At any rate, whether religious
indoctrination is a form of child abuse is a matter of *opinion*; your
formulation takes it to be a fact, like being aware that it is raining.
Of course, you and others are entitled to the opinion that it is a fact,
and to the preference to regard it as one, but that doesn't make it a fact.
This does raise an interesting question: how *does* any assertion about
child abuse acquire the status of being a fact? Is it with reference to
some community consensus (and, if so, what community?) or is it supposed
to have some scientific basis? An instance of the latter assertion would
be some peer-reviewed, scientific publications that demonstrate that children
are actually damaged by early religious training.
I submit that an inability to distinguish between one's own preferences and
objective facts is a more significant form of damage, and atheists are just
as vulnerable to that disability as everyone else.
> Unhappily this former occurs in a greater or lesser extent in all
> faith based schools. To avoid it, it is necessary to adopt the
> draconian measure of closing down all such schools, as one finds
> already in many enlightened countries.
If you favor the measure, why do you call it draconian? And, if you
do consider it draconian, why do you describe those who administer it
as enlightened?
Instead of giving us rhetoric about "enlightened countries", why not
enumerate the countries you are talking about and let us decide for
ourselves how enlightened they are?
> An e-petition demanding this from the British government can be found
> at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/faithschools/
> and is already the second most widely signed of the current petitions
> concerning education. I urge all reasonable persons to follow my
> example and add their names to the list.
Reasonable persons don't engage in hyperbole in support of reasonable
propositions. But let's put that aside and try to scale this matter down
to size.
You are talking about a school system in Great Britain. It has its own special
features. There has been some discussion of those features on this group, but
not nearly enough. At any rate, it is something for the people of Great
Britain to decide for themselves. You have, by posting in this forum, invited
anyone on the internet to sign this petition. So, we have to ask whether
that is appopriate.
It is not normally appropriate to intrude into the internal affairs of
a sovereign state. We make an exception in the case of human rights
violations and other extraordinary circumstances. Perhaps that explains
why you've chosen to present this as an instance of state-sponsored
child abuse.
Let me ask you this: what would you think of petitions from the vastly
larger population of religious humans on the planet urging the British
government to increase its religious indoctrination of children, to
punish heresy (as it still did only a few decades ago) and to display
other forms of intolerance and religious favoritism?
Maybe you should find a way to limit the constituencies you are appealing
to for your petition, such as all British subjects or, since there are some
conventions affecting the entire EU, all Europeans.
Or this: what is the position of human rights groups on the issue of
state supported religious education? Have any of them endorsed your
petition? If not, that tends to undercut your contention that the
schools in question are engaging in child abuse.
--
Allan Adler <a...@zurich.csail.mit.edu>
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.
Lee
news:1191268212....@r29g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
My daughter got caught up in theology at school to such an extent that she
went on to study it at university, after her first year she saw the light
and dropped it, now she is working up to chef qualifications in some pub.
Fuck faith schools its messed her life up as much as a year smoking rocks
would have done.
Allan Adler
> My daughter got caught up in theology at school to such an extent that she
> went on to study it at university, after her first year she saw the light
> and dropped it, now she is working up to chef qualifications in some pub.
> Fuck faith schools its messed her life up as much as a year smoking rocks
> would have done.
First, I'm not sure your daughter would describe her experience in exactly
the same way that you have. Second, much as I agree that there are better
things to study than theology, your daughter will at least have insight
in the future into the state of mind of someone who is religious. And that
is a very useful thing to have in dealing with people, both individuals
and masses, who are involved in religions. Third, there are some people
who move from one cult or belief system to another for their whole lives.
So, you're not necessarily out of the woods yet. For example, Rennie Davis,
one of the Chicago 7, later became a follower of Guru Maharaji, the 13 year
old perfect spiritual master, after talking to some of his followers on an
airplane. There is a book, The True Believer, which describes this kind of
phenomemon. Anyway, my point is that you have to think about what need your
daughter was trying to fill by pursuing theology, because she might still be
open to finding it in other strange places.
--
Ignorantly,
Lee
news:y93ve7v...@nestle.csail.mit.edu...
She seems to have settled into the split shift system at the moment and goes
to catering college one day a week, on her day off she is out with her
friends. While giving her a lift somewhere recently she expressed an
interest in philosophy perhaps that is because it is the subject her elder
brother took. Who knows though she is still young and may pick up in a
couple of years or so where she left off with a more useful subject that
will lead to a profession that is a little easier than catering.
Steve Kelley
with the caption "Career paths for philosophy majors."
--
Steve Kelley