'Muslim Plot' To Take Over Schools Investigated
 

This is going to put the cat amongst the pigeons

If this is proved correct then there needs to be an urgent investigation to stop it.

http://news.sky.com/story/1242295/mu...s-investigated

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If this is proved correct when are we going to say ENOUGH of this nonsense, what about the pupils that were not Muslim? Just wrong teaching this way.

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Surely the other way around? An investigation to find out if it's true? They're just allegations only at the moment but if they do turn out to be correct then this could be massive.

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And they would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for those meddling chi...I mean parents. :D

---------- Post added at 14:46 ---------- Previous post was at 14:45 ----------

We are saying ENOUGH. That's why there is an urgent investigation. This is not on and is being treated as a serious matter.

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I don't see anything wrong with a school that is run in the terms of a particular faith - unfortunately I went to a Catholic secondary school - including in Islam as long as it adheres to all the laws and regulations of other schools. So on that basis I see little wrong with a Muslim school wanting to be run and governed by those within the faith.

However if there are indeed underhanded and illegal tactics going on - and I'm pretty sure even just the mention of these allegations will have some people already making their minds up - then not only will there be repercussions for our education systems but also in the perpetual notion that some Muslims are trying to 'take over' the country. I've always disbelieved that suggestion and if these allegations turn out to be false or exaggerated hopefully it'll help put it to bed once and for all. Or at least for a while.....

---------- Post added at 15:01 ---------- Previous post was at 14:57 ----------

Actually I just heard something on the radio about this - it seems some are presenting the story as if those allegedly being 'forced out' are white/British/non-Muslim etc whereas this appears not to be true. Sketchy suggestions are that some being named as being part of the faith, just not 'Muslim enough' or whatever.

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In my opinion, no school paid for by the state should be run by any faith organisation (be it Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu or Pastafarian).

If said faiths want their own schools, then they should pay for them and be required to at least cover the national curriculum (even the bits they don't exactly like).

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I hope I corrected that for you? A lot of faith schools (including the ones I went to) aren't 'run' or 'owned' by any particular religion. They just use that faith system as the school 'ethos'. Put it this way, there were a lot of 'sinners' at my school, none bar only the most out-of-control and dangerous/violent pupils were removed or banned.

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I have no doubt it's correct - there have by now been hundreds of complaints to Birmingham City Council, many of them from moderate Muslim families who have no desire to have their kids educated by hardline Islamists, but thanks to a reluctance to treat the Muslim community with the same rigour as would be applied anywhere else, officialdom has been slow to act.

A lot of unpleasant stories are about to come crawling out of the woodwork in Birmingham.

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Pastafarian is the name given to followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (and his noodly appendage): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster


My issue is that religion has no place in a state funded education system. A few weeks ago a Jewish state funded school was caught opening and checking GCSE science exam papers and removing any questions that didn't fit in with the school's religious ethos.

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"religion" has a place in State funded education because "religion" was running schools long before the State realised that educating children rather than forcing them down mines or up chimneys was probably a good idea.

The State, thankfully, is still tolerant of the idea that religious morality creates, on the whole, a positive environment in which to educate children. And the State, thankfully, intervenes when extremists tamper with exam papers, as was the case at the Jewish school the other week.

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You can bet this will fuel the knuckle dragger's in to reacting. :mad:

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A positive environment where accepted scientific concepts such as evolution aren't mentioned because the school's preferred big book of magic stuff disagrees with it?

If the religious want religious schools then they can pay for them out of their own funds. The CofE/Judaism/Catholocism etc. aren't short of a bob or two.

And I'm willing to bet that the biggest bonus of "faith" status for a school isn't its "positive environment", more the "positive vetting" it can then apply in its admissions policy.

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I think you may have difficulty backing that somewhat prejudicial post with facts ...

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The problem comes from the amount of Muslims in Birmingham, I was speaking a Muslim at work awhile ago and he said to me he loves the fact how many Muslims live in Birmingham as this means Islam can spread through schools, although saying that I know of a few Muslims family that send their kids to a Islam school which is after their normal school day, I think if a Muslim family want to send their kids to a school that is ran in a Islamic way then they should do it separately and it should be paid for by them.

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I can't believe that some Muslims would want to take over non Muslim schools. and force their ways on non Muslim people. in a non Muslim country,

well when I say non Muslim country..

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I think that's a bit of an exaggeration ,evolution is taught as part of the national curriculum in both faith schools and state schools .

---------- Post added at 16:28 ---------- Previous post was at 16:23 ----------

I think this is more about radical Muslims trying to force a more strict form of Islam on those moderate Muslims rather than forcing infidels into Islam

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And their own people have grassed them up. and foiled their plans.

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Any school attempting to do that has been told in no uncertain terms not to do it

---------- Post added at 16:33 ---------- Previous post was at 16:32 ----------

Which speaks volumes imo.

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Only after being caught and it being made public.

The state, and those things operated and funded by it, should not get involved in religion, as this leads to one faith or a select few faiths being given special privilege over other faiths, or those who have no faith.

I have nothing against independent religious schooling or home religious schooling, but state education must be separate from this.

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Why was I taught about science and evolution in school?

---------- Post added at 17:34 ---------- Previous post was at 17:33 ----------

The fact there is so much religious ignorance in the world indicates the education of it is paramount.

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Your generalised prejudice isn't supported by a single specific news report whose facts aren't in dispute. ;) - even in Birmingham, where there is clearly an endemic problem.

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http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storyCode=6078734

Is that enough evidence? Or is a Bishop of the Church of England not credible?

---------- Post added at 18:14 ---------- Previous post was at 18:12 ----------

I've nothing against teaching children about other religions than their own (indeed, as you say, it's pretty vital), but if the school's one with a "religious" ethos, are the pupils really going to get to see a balanced view?

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Always, the atheists think that their belief in the non-existence of a deity is the only balanced one ... the lack of self-awareness is hilarious.

I must say your faith in the words of a bishop of the Church of England are touching, if naive. That said, I'm not sure how his words support your generalised prejudice against religious schools, as places where "accepted scientific concepts such as evolution aren't mentioned because the school's preferred big book of magic stuff disagrees with it"?

My contention is that schools that teach equivalence between the ideas of intelligent design and evolution are rare in the UK, schools that elevate ID above evolution still rarer, those that don't mention evolution at all - well, you have your one example, and as I said, the facts in that case are not in doubt. Beyond that, if you have evidence to back your assertion, let's have it. Otherwise let's just accept that you have a baseless prejudice against schools with a religious input because you disagree with their beliefs, and leave it at that.

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Erm...I did, and this was in the late 80s to early 90s. I'm getting the impression your views are based on conjecture.

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On BBC News there was something about the plot not being real or the document not being authentic but the investigation was being continued because of concerns expressed after this story was made public.

So let's be careful here. It's a bit up in the air.

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Oddly enough, those who have been blogging and drawing attention to this for months were amongst the first to predict that the BBC would try to play it down, now that the story has risen high enough up the news agenda they can't simply go on ignoring it - it really doesn't chime with the approved multi-culti agenda down at New Broadcasting House. If you're playing "buzzword bingo" with the news this evening, make sure you have the phrase "isolated incidents" on your card. ;)

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That it has no place except to study religion as a whole subject in a subject based lesson and that students study comparative religious education.I don't think the ethos of one religion only should be allowed in any school..I think education should remain secular.

Morality however should definitely be on the curriculum..

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The State does not own children, nor does it have legal guardianship of them. That is the parents' responsibility and privilege. If parents wish their children's education to take place in an environment whose ethos is informed, for example, by Roman Catholic belief and practice, then that is their absolute right and it would be chilling to think that anybody in a liberal democracy such as ours might attempt to push for anything else.

Beyond the absolute right of the parents to choose the manner of their children's upbringing, they have the right to State assistance in that, via the State funding of Aided schools, which recognises both the place religion had in pushing for universal education in the UK and also recognises the high cost of education due largely to the extensive nature of education to the age of 16 or 18.

Aside from that, it is asinine to believe that a "secular" school is capable of mixing and balancing the ethos of multiple religions, or even none at all, in attempting to set the tone against which living and learning in that environment will take place, or that whatever ethos a secular school devises must by definition be superior.

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Well you are entitled to that view point Chris but as an educator of 30+ years I have to disagree.

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Maggy, there are "educators" of equal experience to your own in Catholic and C of E schools all over this country - and they would disagree with you. The length of your experience working in schools is, frankly, besides the point. As an educator (is "teacher" out of fashion now?) you fulfil an obligation that is placed on the parents, not on yourself directly. And the parents have a right to choose the context for their children's upbringing, education being part of that.

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Everyone else is also reporting it as an unsigned letter. Also the BBC didn't play it down but stated that concerns were raised about the credibility of the unsigned plan but that it had led to a surge of complaints after the letter had been received. Sky News is reporting the same: http://news.sky.com/story/1242295/mu...s-investigated

We need to be careful about the faith we have in this document and I trust the BBC more than I trust bloggers.

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I see what you did there Damien. Nice one.

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Ah this is what the guy said on the BBC:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education...5-schools.html

Not that the following on allegations are without merit nor that this letter is a hoax but there are still concerns over the letter and it's not the BBC but the council who are raising concerns.

---------- Post added at 20:47 ---------- Previous post was at 20:47 ----------

I don't see what I did. :confused: The faith bit? Unintentional if so....

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Incidentally, accusations of a "witch hunt", specifically of the "islamophobic" variety, was another of the predictions made here this morning:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/an...eligious-bias/

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Could we be witnessing a modern day "Revelations"?

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I've always thought Damien's presence on this forum was an Omen of doom, personally ... :D

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So? People can make predictions all they want. The case is still being investigated and until something is proven then the BBC and The Telegraph are perfectly correct in reporting both the concerns of the authenticity of the letter and the counter-claims made by those in the Muslim community.

The predictions of a "witch hunt" weren't especially prescient since it would happen whether this story is true or false. The fact that you can predict that someone will claim innocence of the bad behaviour you're accusing them off doesn't reflect upon their guilt or innocence - you just predicted the obvious. At worst it's a cynical attempt to bias the coverage by ascribing anterior motives to what is actually just balanced reporting.

I mean it wouldn't the be first time a unsigned document purported to be an sinister plot from a group of religious zealots turned out to be fake now would it?

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spoken like a true Atheist.

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Maggie has never hidden the fact she's an atheist.

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And?

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I know


Atheists love to try and restrict everybody else to their way of thinking .Maggie wants a secular education system completely forgetting that education started with religion ,she also forgets that it is the parents who decide how their children are educated and as an 'educator' she should really know better than to try and stifle peoples rights with their children.There is room for both types of education ,secular and faith based ,no need at all for one party to try to usurp the other

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We don't hold it against you that you're an atheist. No, the issue is more that you're from North Wales ;)

---------- Post added at 21:46 ---------- Previous post was at 21:45 ----------

Fixed that for you.

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quite right :tu:

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Wanting a secular education system doesn't mean you want to stifle peoples right it just means you don't think it's the state's job to get involved with the teaching of religion.

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The problem as I see it is many people seem to believe that 'teaching about religion' is just an alternative method of evangelism.

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The teaching of Islam outside of a school environment isn't that great either, so it won't solve anything.

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What he said..:kiss:

Especially when religion interferes in the teaching of science.

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I don't hate religion.I have a RE O-level. I respect religion,I respect the Christian Church and Christians.I have never been one for Christian or religion bashing.
Music,art,literature,medicine all owe so much to the Christian church.

However when religion is dragged into how we teach science and dogma takes over in education then I will say that it's time for religion to leave the school grounds and head for the church grounds and into the homes of those who wish to raise their children in whatever religion of their choice.I'm not saying parents shouldn't bring their children up in their own faith.Just that religion isn't the state's business. Education is too important to be held hostage by any one faith.

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And religion is too important in the world to be swept under the carpet of atheism.

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Are you really saying that the teaching of science is the main problem.:shocked:

Outside of religion there are different sets of beliefs eg climate change, vegetarianism. Are you saying that those should be banned as well?

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Makes you wonder if we could function without religion.
we base our lives around religion. we make our decisions around religion.
yet we may die to find out that we're staying in the ground afterall.

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Control what people think and believe? Good luck with that one.

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Indeed all you are after this is worm food or grit for an icy path :D

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Climate chance is a science as is nutrition..of course they should be taught as science.

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You know better Russ.I have no problem with people following the belief of their choice.I just want a level playing field when it comes to education.No one religion should be taught in state schools.

Now if you are talking multi-faith schools I'm fine with that..but that's not what the topic of this thread is about..

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Alas, it was all for nothing :)

yet had we not have based our lives and decisions in hope. then we may have reaped lifes present rewards. (Dave and bedroom tax excluded)

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Do you think schools that teach about one religion-only are common?

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If you think that's what happens in a C of E or RC school, you are very much mistaken. RE classes in those schools take place just as everywhere else. The difference is, the foundation of the ethos of such a school is, explicitly, the way of life set out in the New Testament and upheld by their denomination of the Christian Church.

Again, you seem to believe that absence of religious belief is a neutral position, and therefore preferable. It is not.

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There does seem to be a very strong misconception that Religious Education in faith-based schools is just an opportunity for extra evangelism for that particular belief.

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No one religion should be taught in any school... Better still no religion at all in my own personal view, but each to their own.

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As this has become a more generic religion thread this is an interesting piece of work.

I don't have a major problem with state faith schools however I expect them to have fully inclusive admissions criteria.

---------- Post added at 09:43 ---------- Previous post was at 09:42 ----------

Religion has shaped a lot of social attitudes and has framed a lot of the events of our past. A balanced religious education is essential in schools to understand our history and sociology properly.

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NOT what I said at all..I just don't think any one faith should have precedence in education.I certainly think religious education should be on the curriculum but that all religions should be studied.

I'm really not attacking religion at all but if you choose to view it that way then that's your problem not mine.:shrug:

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I was responding to Chris, not you....

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Reading the research piece I posted there does appear to be a view that selective admissions faith schools in middle class suburbs present a growth opportunity for the church.

Whether this is official policy I don't know, though it seems quite churlish the implication that state funded schools represent a potential recruitment avenue for the Anglican church and is, I'd hope, not the official view.

Incidentally that kind of view is exactly why I am more bothered by admissions being inclusive. The phrase 'On your knees to avoid the fees.' is really quite offensive to those secular, atheistic, and of faith.

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I think, Gary, none of us will die to find out we're staying in the ground or indeed anything else. I have no more fear of death than someone who's devoutly religious, just the dying part I don't fancy :)

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In principle is that much different from a parish requiring you to be part of that church in order to get married there?

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Yes - that is purely between you and the parish, it doesn't involve a resource that is 100% ongoing and 90% capital funded by the state, which is likely to be oversubscribed.

Do you not find the idea of parents pretending to have faith to get their children into school, or that potentially they may push out children of parents who do genuinely have faith or even push out children who are far closer to the school but whose parents do also not have genuine faith distasteful?

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Religion has also caused/causing more division and started wars as well. Getting back to Muslim only controlled schools in the UK must be wrong. We are open but are they.

Today the schools tomorrow the world!!!

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....I said 'in principle'....

---------- Post added at 10:43 ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 ----------

A perfect example of why religious education is important these days. Religion has not caused wars. The wrongful use of it has been the catalyst and excuse but the same could be said about politics, greed, money, weapons, drugs etc.

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You can't fix the mistakes if you ignore them.

Islam is certainly a religion founded on many of the wrong things, however most of its followers in this country are moderate and way more liberal than the core religion would suggest.

Sadly there are also a number who are fundamentalists and wish for an Islamic state. They have integrated poorly if at all, and the city with the largest Islamic population in Western Europe also has the distinction of being known as the most dangerous.

Unfortunately people who happen to be Muslim came from the third world and, rather than seek a better life, brought that world with them. The interpretation of their religion they brought with them is incompatible with the society they moved to, so they set about creating their own.

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I am hoping for me it will be bang gone in a second sort of thing. A long protracted illness in pain is something i hope i don't experience.

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It means those parents who want their children educated in a religious surrounding can't so i think it does stifle parental rights in what is still very much in my opinion a Christian society

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It doesn't ,not in schools obliged to teach the national curriculum anyway ,which would include faith schools ,but i'm sure you know that


I don't think that is or has been much of a problem Maggie ,sure there have been some exceptions but not many .It is perfectly possible for faith schools to teach modern science .

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****If any parent feels that concerned then they can always be home schooled.

It's the exceptions that worry me..

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It's just as well that society is somewhat less illiberal than this.

As a teacher educator you have undoubted expertise in the practice of teaching educating children whatever subject you're qualified in. You do not, however, have a monopoly on ideas when it comes to deciding the environment in which children should spend so many of their formative days.

Thankfully the British State has historically recognised this, and continues to do so. It recognises that the obligation it places on parents to have their children educated is beyond the means of most parents to fulfil by themselves, and therefore provides schools. It recognises also that in effectively requiring children so spend so many hours apart from their parents, it should not thereby acquire the parents' right to decide the environment in which that education takes place.

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as can Atheist children if their parents are that worried about little jonny coming into contact with religion


Not me, i don't think there are enough exceptions to worry about ,of course if you know different please elaborate

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You mean if they choose to sent their children to a religious based school? I think they will have already sorted that one out in their minds. ;)

As for proving the exceptions well you brought that up..and I'm waiting to see just what this investigation throws up.

By the way I was taught in a school where religion featured very heavily..and I got an RE O-level and the RE prize..and I was an atheist by the time I left.;)

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They've sent in an anti terrorist person to investigate what the Muslims are up to.

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I see there's 'outrage' about the appointment of Peter Clarke to investigate this matter. Apparently some folks are objecting to his previous association with terrorism investigations and reckon the 'community' will get the wrong message. Tough I reckon. Who are these people who speak for 'the community'? Even the Chief Constable is concerned about the appointment fearing it will offend 'the community' and result in 'unwarranted conclusions'. If he's got the right skills to do the job who the hell are they to object on the basis of a previous post?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ngham-27031941

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Turning a blind eye to FGM and Muslim peado gangs, i don't trust the police to handle this, an anti terrorist investigator is a better choice imo.

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Well it's clear that the good ole folks running Brum haven't had their eye on the ball. Maybe they've been spending too much time worrying about matters PC and trying not to offend the 'community'.

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It would be the association with terrorism linked with Muslims that causes them concern. As far as I am aware none of the allegations refer to extremism in terms of terrorism but rather than of a hard-line version of Islam where women are segregated and so on. They're just worried about the terrorist conflation even though that may not be what was intended in his appointment.

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I know and my answer is 'tough' as I stated above! He's not in an anti terrorist role now, has been appointed and by all accounts he's very good at his job. If the 'community' don't like it well hard luck but I'm still waiting for someone to tell me who this 'community' is, where they've made their feelings on this topic known en masse and why they should have the right to dictate who the govt. does or doesn't appoint. I reckon it's the usual PC brigade and self appointed 'community leaders' who're whining and maybe if they'd done their jobs better this enquiry wouldn't have been needed. Appeasing so called 'community leaders' is what allowed the likes of Abu Hamza to openly preach hatred and for the authorities to turn a blind eye to numerous cases of abuse.

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:tu:

Since when do we have to confirm with a community under investigation if they are happy with the investigator. Next they will want someone from the group under investigation to do the investigation :erm:

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I know. I am answering why they feel concerned. They feel there is an inference
to appointing a anti-terror investigator. Unintentional or not.

Well I don't think they're suggesting they have a right to make the decision, they do have a right to question it and that's what they're doing.

Well it's the chief constable of the police force. Also we don't know if they've done their jobs correctly or not as the investigation into the allegations are still ongoing. Maybe this is why he is expressing concerns as well? After all the calvary is being sent in while the police and the council are still working on verifying the inital claims and the unsigned plan. It appears the investigation has taking on a high degree of speed to the extent that it's skipped the part where we find out if anything needs further investigation.


Moving on my one personal feeling is that the letter seems rather dubious but the amount of claims in it's aftermath lend credibility to the idea that something unacceptable is happening. However we do not know this for sure and, if it is true, we do not know if it's part of a coordinated plan, a single incident, or a series of incidents.

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You don't but you're free to express your displeasure with an investigation or a public appointment to the degree to which you're permitted to by law.

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This is going to be a PR nightmare however you look at it. Whereas it's probable that any intended Muslim 'take over' would be more to do with strict Islamic practises than terrorism, the media (and clearly a lot of the public) won't see a difference between the two. Any Muslim attitudes beyond moderate are often automatically regarded as terrorist-based.

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Yes we know that but 'their' feelings shouldn't really enter into it. We still don't even know who 'they' are - the usual PC brigade and the self appointed who claim to speak for 'the community'. So this guy was once an anti-terrorist officer - so what! I don't see hordes of angry people protesting in the streets - I see the usual suspects trying to influence how an important investigation is carried out.

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They would be protesting in the streets if they thought that being offended would make the British leave them alone and let them get on with it.
but maybe that's the thing. we're not going to back off anymore just because someone says you're offending us. now turn around so we can get on with it.

send another anti terrorist investigator in to work alongside the other one. so one can see what the other one is being distracted from :)

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Yeah as a general rule a teacher reportedly doing what basically came down to 'Death to the West' propaganda speeches in school tends to provoke such reactions.

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...whereas 'death to Gove' speeches seem to be almost encouraged ;)

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Try living with a secondary teacher. Political death to Gove is a quite popular view, physical death not yet although another parliamentary term of more of the same may change that. :erm:

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I don't know Gary, there's some solace to be taken knowing that you helped someone in a wheelchair gain some traction or stopped someone slipping over, less solace in providing dinner for a hungry worm though admittedly.

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Wasn't a total waste of time and effort then :)

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'You don't need religion to have morals. If you can't determine right from wrong, you lack empathy, not religion.' - Not my saying, but pretty much fits my opinion on the topic.

I agree absolutely that schools, especially state funded, should remain secular. As for the schools referred to in the OP, from my own POV, now living in a muslim country, it's dangerous to allow it to go on if the concerns are proved to be true.

---------- Post added at 01:25 ---------- Previous post was at 01:08 ----------

In your opinion.....

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Again, religious education is not religious enforcement.

Re: 'Muslim Plot' To Take Over Schools Investigated
 

It is in Islam Russ. Believe me. What you think is fundamentalist or extreme here is pretty standard in KSA.

Re: 'Muslim Plot' To Take Over Schools Investigated
 

:LOL:

---------- Post added at 08:19 ---------- Previous post was at 08:13 ----------

It was in my school, i was forced to attend RE classes and were forced to attend the morning prayers in the hall. When i was in the forces we were forced to do church parade. Since then i only attend churches ether to see the architecture because it interests me and is something i did whilst in Malta or if its a funeral, wedding or christening. It was that forced in your face attitude when i was younger that made me decide not to have anything to do with it.

Re: 'Muslim Plot' To Take Over Schools Investigated
 

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wa...hristi-6991546

No, there's no religious enforcement in RC schools...

How is this different to Muslim faith schools requiring non muslim female teachers to wear headscarves? And how can it still be legal to disbar someone from a job because of their marital status?

Re: 'Muslim Plot' To Take Over Schools Investigated
 

True in some areas of Islam it can be. The thing is we don't often hear enough for the more moderate areas.

I can't comment on the forces as I know little-to-nothing about it but as this is about schools, being 'forced' to attend RE classes doesn't sound as bad when you consider the fact kids are 'forced' to attend all lessons surely? If part of a school's attendance requirement is to be part of an assembly then that would be something all parents would be aware of.

I'll stress this again - religious education does not equate to religious enforcement. Some humanists, secularists (sp?), atheists, anti-religionists etc feel that willing participation in anything connected to religion makes them somehow 'validate' it. Not so.

I went to a Catholic primary and secondary school, in fact the only one in my areas for about 15 miles so they pretty much had a 'monopoly' on it. It was considered a fairly prestigious school to get in to as a result. We had a number of non-Catholics attending, even some from atheist backgrounds. It was part of the school's requirement that all pupils attend assembly but that's all it was. Nobody was forced to sing, pray or anything.

Naturally we had RE. At no point was it ever enforced on us that THIS IS WHAT YOU MUST BELIEVE!!!. We were taught about all religions. Neither were we told "Ok this is Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism etc but never mind their rubbish, concentrate on the Bible". We had the conventional science classes (Physics, Biology, Chemistry) too.

If there are schools that put their own faith in place of others in lessons then I cannot see how they'd make up anywhere near a significant number. I'm sure this may well have occurred in the past however we are living in times where secularism and indeed other faiths are more widespread and schools would be adjusting to reflect this.

As for keeping any aspect of religion out of schools, I'm sure even the most ardent New Atheist would agree that's a step too far and smacks of double standards. Religion plays far too big a role in the world today (and indeed history) for it to be ignored. There is a LOT of religious misunderstanding and ignorance (I mean that in terms of 'lack of awareness') today and learning about it - which does not mean agreeing with or accepting it - will benefit both atheists and religious types together.

---------- Post added at 08:42 ---------- Previous post was at 08:39 ----------

Of course, you're going to want to wait to know the full facts about that before making up your mind right? ;)

If a school has a particular ethos, surely it would make sense for those in authority to be setting an example. We don't know what these 'reasons' were but if a headteacher of a Catholic school was seen to be living in a manner that was contrary to to what the school teaches then I'm sure people would be queuing up to call him/her a hypocrite.

Re: 'Muslim Plot' To Take Over Schools Investigated
 

Why have prayers at assembly if its just to announce school events and awards ?. As for this investigation it will be a wait and see situation.

Re: 'Muslim Plot' To Take Over Schools Investigated
 

You're asking why religious-based schools would have prayers?

Re: 'Muslim Plot' To Take Over Schools Investigated
 

In theory a state school is not permitted to use religion as a criteria when selecting at very least teaching staff. The interviewer is not permitted to ask the interviewee what, if any, religion they adhere to.

Unsure if this applies to private schools also, I would presume it does as employment law remains the same.

Re: 'Muslim Plot' To Take Over Schools Investigated
 

I was always of the opinion that schools are there to educate so why have prayers at assembly what is the point of prayers at assembly ?