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Originally Posted by Chris T
Does your respect of world religions extend to respecting the fact that many people want there to be a religious dimension to their children's education that can't be obtained in a secular school?
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No. I see no reason why schools should be divided according to religious belief. For me there can be a religious dimension without a school following a single religious doctrine - we teach them about various belief systems. There's enough division in society. If parents wish to teach and inculcate their religious beliefs then that is entirely different.
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[Pholosophically speaking, it is an essentially Greek notion that the material and the spiritual life can/should be kept separate. It certainly isn't the view in Islamic, Jewish or Christian philosophy, which is firmly of the view that there is no such dichotomy.
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But why the need for single faith schools? Surely the teaching of faith can be kept outside of an education system? I accept there may be some conflicts - the whole creationsim vs evolution debate for example - but why not teach evolution and teach that there are creationists that challenge that orthodoxy?
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By the way, I feel compelled to point out once more that without Church intervention in schooling, education in this country would be a wholly different ball game today, and a whole lot more kids would have died down mines and up chimneys.
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Well there's a whole cuts both ways debate there too. Religion and war are inextricably linked in world history - it is a viewpoint that better understanding and respect of different belief systems could reduce conflict and it is debatable whether single faith schools can deliver the understanding necessary.