In 2nd June a letter from a multi-faith group called for the eradication of both forms of “discrimination”. Their argument, which has been welcomed by the Humanist Society, is that this type of exclusive approach is religiously offensive and a breach of human rights.
The debate has sparked many an angry response on various blogs and on-line media as well as the letter pages of the broadsheets and we would welcome your thoughts on this as you, the teachers in our faith Schools are on the front line. You experience the reality of life in your schools every day and discuss a child’s development with your pupils and their parents, face to face, not on the pages of newspapers or in chat rooms.
A key issues which the debate throws up is whether, in the interests of an increasingly secular agenda, the teaching of our children in a school with a Christian ethos and values should be watered down to appease those who do not share those values. Again, it is Christianity which seems to taking the brunt of the increasingly vitriolic comments from the anti-religious lobby. Perhaps it’s because Christianity is an easy target in this country. In many way the Bill will have a far greater impact on Christian values, not least because Christianity still remains the largest religious group in the UK but also, because of this, it suffers from the politically correct who worry so about causing offence to religious minorities that crucifixes have been banned in some places of work.
What makes Christian schools so popular is not just the Christian ethos but its teachers. We do not presume that Christian schools are always the best academically but it would appear that parents seek out the Christian schools that have a strong spiritual and moral foundation as well as academic excellence. It is this unique combination that is under threat from the Bill and those that wish to see the end of faith schools as well as religious and particularly Christian distinctiveness.

Andrew Summersgill, general secretary of the RC Bishops’ Conference commented: “The practical consequences of this are that a Catholic care home, for example, may have crucifixes and holy pictures on the walls which reflect and support the beliefs of the residents,”. “If a cleaner found the crucifixes offensive, there would be no defence in law against a charge of harassment.”

Shouldn’t we be all looking at this in a different way. Surely modern Britain is beacon of multi-culturalism in the world today because we all celebrate our differences. Britain has always been a melting pot of races and faiths; in fact its economic and cultural success has been built on this very foundation. By watering down these differences from some misguided fear of indoctrination or of offending a particular group, our society will become a bland facsimile of the vibrant culture we have today.

It is no accident that many parents of other faiths want to enrol their children into Christian schools. Would they be more inclined to do so if the Christian ethos were not there? The Government is pro-choice for parents. By taking away what is distinctive about Christian schools, the choice no longer becomes relevant and would be reduced purely to meaningless league tables that created an even greater divide in our communities.