Bay Times published on Friday, 24 November 2006.
Margaret Muirhead (Bay Times 31 October) ignores my objections to religion in schools. Instead she chooses to answer what was clearly a rhetorical question designed to highlight the diversity of opinion in this area. According to the 2001 census that diversity includes 30% of New Zealanders who profess to have no religion at all. Given that many Christian parents will choose to send their children to religious schools, one can assume that the non-religious make up an even greater proportion of the state school population. It is surely arrogant and intolerant for State School Chaplaincy to seek to impose their worldview on this group, who have already chosen to reject religion. In fact some non-religious parents may well share the view of Richard Dawkins when he recently described religious indoctrination as a form of child abuse.
Showing posts with label Muirhead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Muirhead. Show all posts
04 December 2006
18 October 2006
Which god for schools?
Bay of Plenty Times published this on 16 October 2006.
Margaret Muirhead’s sales pitch for religion in schools (Letters, 7 October) demands a response. The main problem with religion is that it closes children’s minds when they should be opened. It teaches as absolute truths ideas that are not believed by large numbers of people of different worldviews. These ideas can be irrational and in direct conflict with what children are being taught in other disciplines such as science. Religion is morally conservative, promoting the idea that the last word in ethics was written 2,000 years ago. It also encourages children to think of themselves as “chosen” while those of other faiths are not only wrong, but wicked.
Margaret does not tell us which god is needed in schools. The god of Islam or Al Qaeda? The god of Brian Tamaki or Graham Capill? The god of the Exclusive Brethren or the Latter Day Saints? The list of gods could go on. None of these gods or religions has the monopoly on virtue. In fact the news is full of stories about religious teachers who have been convicted of crimes of fraud, child abuse, etc. On the other hand there are many who live ethically without god or religion.
Margaret Muirhead’s sales pitch for religion in schools (Letters, 7 October) demands a response. The main problem with religion is that it closes children’s minds when they should be opened. It teaches as absolute truths ideas that are not believed by large numbers of people of different worldviews. These ideas can be irrational and in direct conflict with what children are being taught in other disciplines such as science. Religion is morally conservative, promoting the idea that the last word in ethics was written 2,000 years ago. It also encourages children to think of themselves as “chosen” while those of other faiths are not only wrong, but wicked.
Margaret does not tell us which god is needed in schools. The god of Islam or Al Qaeda? The god of Brian Tamaki or Graham Capill? The god of the Exclusive Brethren or the Latter Day Saints? The list of gods could go on. None of these gods or religions has the monopoly on virtue. In fact the news is full of stories about religious teachers who have been convicted of crimes of fraud, child abuse, etc. On the other hand there are many who live ethically without god or religion.
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