British Faith Schools Looking Shaky

Andrew Copson, the chief executive of the BHA has written a thoughtful piece in the Guardian about recent Church announcements over British faith schools. It may seem obvious to many of us without much thought why faith schools are such a bad idea. Copson’s article reaffirms this stance and provides the evidence to back it up.

After making it clear that most of us don’t actually want publicly funded religiously selective education anyway, Copson goes on to reveal their truly divisive social nature. Middle class parents simply can afford to play the system to get their children where they want them. Copson writes:

Repeated studies have shown that where there is religious selection in church-run state schools there is also social selection. A report by academics at the LSE in 2009 reaffirmed that the range of admissions criteria allowed scope for school "discretion", but social selection need not even be deliberate on the part of church-run state schools. Even the most socially progressive school will find, if its admissions criteria allow for religious selection, that it is middle-class parents with the time and the means to play the system whose children will end up attending the school. The pupils admitted to religiously selective schools are more academically able and less likely to be on free school meals than others in the area. They show all the attributes of socially selected children.

It shouldn’t be forgotten either, that the basic principle that the religious, purely because of their faith, are therefore qualified to educate the youth is wrong. Of course, one does not follow the other. Neither should we ignore that faith schools provide the perfect place for subtle indoctrination.

The Bishop of Oxford has admitted that now at least 90% of schools shouldn’t be religiously selective. As Copson says the Bishop’s “statement can certainly be given at least 90% of one cheer for going further than any of his predecessors.” It’s certainly a start at the very least.

If you’re 21 or under and perhaps have had experience of faith schools first hand, you may wish to write in to us about this issue so we can publish your views. The address is still youngfreethought@googlemail.com

The Catholic Church Fights Justice Once More

Yesterday we witnessed the Vatican’s flagrant disregard for justice in full regalia and pomp. The late Pope John Paul II, now the Blessed, was one of the most popular in history. He has now been beatified which is, in essence, the penultimate step on the road to sainthood. Yesterday there was a one million strong crowd filling St Peter’s Basilica rejoicing that their favourite pontiff was now safely in Heaven. By all accounts the crowd was jubilant with a carnival atmosphere as many young people took to dancing and cheering.

So what’s the problem? John Paul II ruled over an institution which regularly raped children in almost every country where you can find a priest, he knew about the scandal and refused to do anything to stop it, the Vatican did not refer cases to the appropriate authorities, priests were not tried in criminal courts, children were  made to feel guilty about their abuse and all parties involved were ordered to keep their mouths firmly shut. Not to mention how John Paul II prevented contraceptive use in the developing nations causing the spread of HIV where it is most deadly, and preached the usual Catholic bile over women, homosexuals and abortion. There is an ever increasing mountain of documents to back this up. Denying it is now a ludicrous thing to do. All those who came out in celebration yesterday were either knowledgeable of this and therefore either morally condemnable or in denial, or they knew nothing of the Church’s role in the scandal and their ignorance is inexcusable as Catholics. That is the problem. Nothing will get done about this and the old cretin will surely be declared to have been a saint in the near future. Our governments have already proven themselves too weak and unwilling to do anything about these rapists and pederasts and their masters who hide behind the walls of the Vatican.

To add insult to those who value justice, the Vatican invited none other than Robert Mugabe to the ceremony yesterday. The President of Zimbabwe is currently under an EU travel ban for crimes against humanity and electoral fraud, but this was waived by the cowardly Italian state to allow Mugabe to land at Rome Airport and travel to the Vatican, which is by all practical measures, apparently above international law anyway. 

War Criminal Mugabe shaking hands with Vatican officials

All of this should come as no surprise, but how these villains get away with all this is genuinely astounding. Overseeing the beatification process was Ratzinger, the man who personally ordered the cover-up of all these abuse cases. John Paul II is required to have performed a miracle in order to be beatified. The miracle in question has so far not been independently verified (not that a miracle ever can or will be), and reports that the supposed cured subject has fallen ill again have met deaf ears.  The only good story regarding the Church at the moment is that a court in Kentucky has recently demanded that the current Pope appear to answer questions under oath over an abuse scandal. Whether this will happen is uncertain.

That we live in an age that can celebrate the lives of such men so openly, that we can disregard justice and that we can ignore the voices of those who have been raped by people meant to protect and guide them makes me greatly uneasy and ashamed. The overwhelming feeling that justice will never be delivered is one of the saddest thoughts there is.