Im lost for words, i really am. How can this be allowed? The headteacher is totally clueless, how do people like him become teachers, teachers of young minds? its an outrage! [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn1UsDJBYkA&feature=channel_page"]YouTube - Creation Science UK[/ame]
Good job Tony Blair! And Hirjoi I wouldn't despair too much or at least if you want to see some positive responses take a look here: http://www.humanism.org.uk/campaigns/religion-and-schools/countering-creationism http://www.humanism.org.uk/campaigns/religion-and-schools
Very sad stuff. My son has a great aunt who's a fundie and occasionally tries to push her religious view onto him. We let her. Partly because we don't believe in censorship and partly because we believe it's up to him to make his own mind up. Both his mum and I make a point, however, of teaching him to listen to all sides of an argument, not to jump to conclusions and most of all to question everything. It's what my parents did with me and one of the best things they ever did for me.
It doesn't bother me that much. What annoys me is that all private schools get charity status and it wouldn't suprise me if they get some government funding.
I agree Cosmic, and thanks for the links Ckava! Id find it funny if it wasnt for the fact that it involves children. Our minds are formed by the things we learn, and a certain level of 'indictrinatio' is always going to have a impact on who we become, but this is just one step beyond...and them some. These people are adults, they should know better, what is wrong with these people?
Unbelievable. On a lighter note I found something for Southpaw in the links on that video [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x45EOzMJA5o&feature=related"]YouTube - Resisting The Urge: A Guide For Christian Boys[/ame]
If you want my honest opinion, yes. I genuinely feel that we need to ensure that the children of our society are given the best available education, and that means real maths, real science, real English language, real history, etc. If we don't teach the genuine and verified facts to children, they will grow up disadvantaged compared to their peers. I don't feel that the parents' religious beliefs should be allowed to deny a child a good education in school, and I don't think that any school should be allowed to get away with teaching the texts of a religion as pure science. Seeing that teenage-ish girl stating that the moon is 6000 years old because she'd been taught that in school was just horrible, and hearing the headteacher claim that they were equally valid claims just showed how little he knew about what his school was teaching. Just to add, I went to a Church of England private school and was forced to go to religious ceremonies 3 times a week as part of it. Hated that part of my school life, and really wish that I could have opted out. Not an option though.
There is no doubt about it in my mind. Faith schools and the people who support them are creating divisions and segregation for our children that will have to be delt with for generations to come. dont get me wrong, schools have always been places of segregation, but why add to in ten fold? big mistake.
I'd agree. Keep religeon for family time or for an insight into all the faiths like it's done now(ish) Aside from maybe 1 module in biology how much would the education of these kids be different?
Well, if they're basing all of their teaching on the literal interpretation of the bible, then the following subjects contain information that contradicts that interpretation: Biology Chemistry Physics Maths History Geography Anthropology/Linguistics Comparative religions Ethics and morality Logical reasoning Literal biblical interpretation has consequences which go way beyond simply disagreeing with evolution. In order to maintain their beliefs, they must also argue, for example, that the physics behind radiometric dating is incorrect. This is one of the fundamental aspects of physics, that radioactive decay can be accurately modelled by either differential equations or stochastic modelling. Changing that model would require changing the fundamental rules of how atoms hold themselves together, which would also require a changing speed of light in the universe. All of these are problems with far-reaching implications to physics. Follow it further and you have the idea that the maths behind all this is incorrect. Radioactive decay is modelled using simple first order differential equations, which must also be wrong for creationism to be correct. All in all there are excellent reasons for not allowing schools to base their curriculum on antiquated interpretations of religious texts.
Well, if I was being particularly picky I could point out that the bible claims that Pi is exactly 3. However, even if we consider that as an approximation, we have a population model issue going on too. According to the bible, the entire population of earth, humans and animals alike, was rebuilt following a mass extinction roughly 4500 years ago if you accept literal interpretation and Usher's estimate of the age of the Earth. If you set up a population loading model and work out the rate at which people would have to multiply, you find that at the time where Egypt was the most advanced civilisation on the planet, the population would have been about 90% children compared to 10% providers, and that the population of the country would have been about 5000 or so. Mathematically this makes no sense at all based on the evidence we actually see.
