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October 3, 2006

UK: Christian Schools May Reject Christian Pupils

News from the Telegraph, the Times and the BBC reports that the Anglican church in Britain has promised that its Christian faith schools will keep 25% of their places reserved for those who are not Christian.

The Bishop of Portsmouth, the Right Rev Kenneth Stevenson, is chairman of the Church of England's education board. He wrote to the Education Secretary, Alan Johnson: "The places would not be left empty if they were not filled by such children, so this would, technically, not be a 'quota' but a 'proportion'. This commitment relates explicitly to new Church of England schools."

Stevenson stated that he did not expect this commitment from faith schools of other faiths.

The Church of England has quoted statistics which says that 22 of its newly opened secondary schools (for children over 11) are situated within "disadvantaged" communities, and have "inclusive" policies which take children on the basis of where they live, i.e. locally, rather than on the basis of their faith.

Within the "state school" system there are 4,646 Church of England Faith schools in Britain, most of which are primary schools (children aged 4/5 to 8). The Catholic Church has 2,041 such schools, there are 37 Jewish faith schools, 8 Muslim faith schools and 2 Sikh. Faith schools represent a third of the schools within the state system.

The pledge of "inclusion" dates back to 2001 and its so-called "race riots" of Bradford, Oldham and Burnley, and a subsequent report on "community cohesion" by the Church of England. This report recommended that schools of one dominant race or faith should offer at least 25% of their places to children of other backgrounds.

Earlier in the year, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said there was a necessity for a "clear commitment" to integration of children of all faiths, and to guarantee school places for children from school's localities.

The current move coincides with moves going through parliament to introduce an "admission code". This proposed legislation will ban interviewing of pupils prior to admission to faith schools, and demands that faith schools be transparent about what criteria are used to measure a child's commitment to religion.

Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary said the pledge by the Church of England was a step forward for cohesion. He said: "A good education is one of the best ways of building understanding of the many issues that unite us as opposed to the views that divide. We want to preserve the special contribution faith schools make to raising educational standards and offering choice."

"Church of England schools have an excellent record of providing high quality education and serving disadvantaged communities and Catholic schools are among the most ethnically and socially diverse in the country."

The Telegraph suggests that the allocation of a quarter of places for "non-Christian" pupils could see Christian children being rejected at application.

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But there is far worse news on the horizon for the Church of England. The Anglican church is already under threat of being ripped in two by a schism from African members, who object to the church's previous tolerance of homosexual priests, policies from which it has now drawn back.

The latest lunacy from the Church involves the condemnation of the words of the marriage vow, where a woman promises to obey the husband. This of itself is not lunacy, as it demeans woman, who are legally equal in society and should be legally equal in marriage.

The lunacy involves not the vow, but the reasoning behind the vow, as reported by the Times, the Daily Mail and the Telegraph.

A report by members of the Church of England, and approved by the Archbishop of Canterbury, suggests that the terms of the vow have encouraged domestic abuse, failed to challenge abusers, intensified the suffering of domestic abuse victims, often through "misguided" or distorted versions of Christian belief.

It states: "Over the centuries questionable assumptions about the relation between men and women, which were supposed to reflect the will of God, have influenced the Church’s interpretation of the Bible, its moral teaching and pastoral practice."

"It is a tragic fact that bad theology, in this case a faulty understanding of God and human beings in relationship, can have the effect - whether intended or not - of betraying victims of domestic abuse and encouraging the actions of perpetrators."

The church already offers an alternative marriage pledge, in which the woman does not have to say she will "obey" her husband.

The report, written by a panel set up by the Archbishops' Council, is entitled "Responding to Domestic Abuse, Guidelines for Pastoral Responsibility" and advises that clergy should stress to couples before their marriages that women are of equal value.

But the report goes further, blaming "uncritical use of masculine imagery" for encouraging male violence. The Daily Mail states: "they (the report's authors) also warned that clergy must reconsider the language they use in sermons and check the hymns they sing to remove signs of male oppression."

The report further goes on to question a fundamental tenet of Christianity, the self-denial and redemptive suffering of Christ. It states that this has "undermined people's recognition of the evils being done to them and implanted masochistic attitudes of acceptance, or even celebration, of their afflictions".

Rod Thomas, a Plymouth vicar who is spokesman for the envangelical Reform movement said: "There is a danger that this document has veered too much towards political correctness. The Bible says God has both female and male characteristics but it does not feel inhibited about referring to God as male."

Domestic abuse is domestic abuse. An abuser does not need any justification from church terminology to justify his abuse. A woman putting on makeup or being late home is often all the justification he needs to act like a monster. Domestic abuse should be tackled, and fathers who abuse their spouses in front of their children do more to perpetuate the cycles of abuse than referring to God as a "he". But to emasculate central tenets of Church faith in some misguided sense of "mea culpa" responsibility is not going to solve the problem of male violence.

It is pandering to the politically correct notions that all males are violent (for the late Andrea Dworkin they are all rapists) and is, of itself, sexist and discriminatory against men. This report, though trying to be well-intentioned, undermines Christian fundamentals of faith.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 3, 2006 8:11 AM

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Posted by: sound boy at October 3, 2006 7:29 PM

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