Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Fide Defensor!
Ask yourself a question. When was the last time you read in the papers or heard on the news that an Evangelical member of the Church of England launched a suicide attack on innocent civilians?
The fact is that 99% of mainstream Christians the world over are not driven or drawn to acts of random violence against strangers, irrespective of their denomination. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule such as the more deranged anti-abortionists in the US and the protagonists of the Protestant/Catholic divide in Northern Ireland. In the former case the link between religion and violence is tenuous, in the latter it is about generations old hatreds between communities based in the politics of settlement. Remove the religious aspect of the Northern Ireland divide and you would still have an indigenous population that for centuries has resented the political power excerted over them by settlers from elsewhere so the matter of whether their bishop or elder takes his thological instruction from a bishop in Rome or Canterbury is only a part of the bigger picture.
To read the mainstream press this week you would think that the Christian Faith schools of this country are hotbeds of murderous intent bent on subverting our youth into irrational self-segregation that will ultimately lead to the downfall of social cohesion as we know it. Utter rubbish!
I want to deal with a couple of issues on this matter. The first is that the press are jumping on the bandwagon of establishing fear in order to stir up some mild histeria in order to sell copy. Nothing new there you might quietly ponder. The press have suggested that the seed-bed of terrorism is the madrassa, or Islamic faith school, and by extension they are arguing that a madrassa being a faith school it is exclusive and therefore breeds a culture of segregation, that as a consequence segregation leads to isolation from the community, which can be manipulated into hostility, that then becomes a fertile ground for fundamentalism, that can easily be turned into active terrorism. The next logical leap for the press is that if Islamic faith schools are bad, that all faith schools have the same potential to segregate. Only the weakness in the argument, as I pointed out at the beginning is that the Church of England is not exactly known for producing violent extremists. So instead the argument is turned into one of educational Apartheid - faith schools produce motivated students and have higher standards of discipline, but because they are exclusive they are de facto creating a 2-tier education system of "haves" and "have nots" depending on faith... oh, and by the way they breed ignorance and... etc etc.
I want to debunk a few of these assertions.
Firstly, let's deal with Islamic schools. Yes there have been some horrendous incidents of violence in the past few years perpetrated by fundamentalists in the name os Islam (and note I say "in the name of" and not on behalf of because the vast majority of Muslims are as appalled by what is done in their name as the rest of us), but those acts of violence have been committed by men who are angry, impressionable, and looking to make their mark. They are subverted by manipulitive men who do great damage in the name of a cause. For many of these young terrorists they fit a psychological profile which would potentially see them behave in similar way for a cause they believe strongly in, and it is entirely possible that they would find a cause be it "animal liberation/anti-vivisection", political extremism, nationalism, anti-globalisation, or any cause that unites people in the desire to challenge authority and order with violence. The madrassa itself is not at fault, only the ideology of some of the people who teach their own (violent) interpretation of the Koran. It is incumbent on the Islamic community to ensure that such people are weeded out and kept away from impressionable young minds, and my experience is that great efforts are made to do this.
Of course the Government is happy to see such ideological prosecution of faith schools, it fits their intellectually "liberal" ideology, their latent anti-hierrachical tendencies, and their abhorrance of authoritative conservatism. Also, without the fear of terrorism any last strand of authenticity for the call to invade Iraq is gone. The paradox is, that it is the very reasonsing for the invasion that is the cause of the much of the terrorism in the first place.
The second issue is the false impression given that our faith schools are the cause of social division. in yesterday's Times the normally lucid Martin Samual opined in such a way as to quite literally go off the intellectual rails. He related the history of a Catholic priest and politician called Ludwig Haas who cut a deal with Hitler's National Socialist party to keep faith schools in Germany in return for Haas' support in the Reichstag for the Enabling Act that gave Hitler effectual dictatorship to the behaviour of the churches today in preventing the British education system being turned into some supposed eutopian model of diversity and engagement. Utter, utter nonensene.
The impression the reader is left with is that Faith schools are some secret club with secret incantations and rituals hidden from view where children are taught to be suspicious of their unGodly neighbour that ought to have their doors burst open to forced diversity to dilute them to an extent that they integrate into society. As an opinion piece it preys on the ignorance of many readers of what faith schools actually are.
I went to a Catholic school in Lancashire. I can tell you it was no different to the "state" secondary school less than 500 yards away. The funding for the Catholic school I attended was a 70/30 slpit between state and church. In return the church sets a broad admissions policy that does not exclude children from non-RC feeder schools, but which sets the tone for teaching in an environment that is conducive to Christan philosphy. The RE syllabus in the first 3 years follows the history of christianity and catholicism in Europe and England and touches upon philosophical thought and its influences. In the final (GCSE) years the study is centred around Mark's Gospel account (which of the 4 Gospel writers is the most chronological and therefore useful in a teaching sense) and the principles of the sacramental life of the church. In every other regard the syllabus is exactly the same as every non-religiously founded school in the country, save for a prayer at each assembly, and mass in the school chapel each Friday lunchtime.
The reason that RC and CofE schools are often seen as more disciplined has a lot to do with the Christian ethics that are taught. The family, in Christian theology, is a central plank of our faith and beliefs (just as it is in most others). The school is seen as one extended family, it is inclusive, and like any family it needs rules and self-discipline to survive. As much as the school is a "family" it is also part of that wider family, which is the church. A child who attends and RC, CofE, or other denominational school is much less likely to find themselves in a culture of "dog eat dog" or "every man for himself". In a world where individual rights have taken on the sacrosanct nature where a lack of values has left a void, this nuturing of a sense of community ought to be a vitue to be extolled, not castigated.
The fact is that Faith schools have a more inclusive admissions policy that you might think from reading the press coverage of late, so there really is no need to enforce arbitrary quotas, such as the 25% "non-faith" students that are being bandied about by commentators. By suggesting such things we really are doing faith foundation schools an injustice and a dis-service. We are damning by implication (and with that half-truths) schools that go out of their way to encourage positive citizenshipand tolerance. Remember the "Great Commission" of the Christian faith is "Love one another as I have loved you", a central tennant of the ethos, philosophy, aqnd culture of christan foundation scvhools the country over.
I wonder what effect such constant and oppressive negative press does to the morale of the wonderful teaching staff at Sherington CofE school who must feel as if they are under siege without the means of defence at their disposal that the national press has. Not only them, but also the teaching and support staff in the other faith schools of Milton Keynes. I'm yet to see our Lib Dem run council fighting their corner vociferously.
The fact is that 99% of mainstream Christians the world over are not driven or drawn to acts of random violence against strangers, irrespective of their denomination. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule such as the more deranged anti-abortionists in the US and the protagonists of the Protestant/Catholic divide in Northern Ireland. In the former case the link between religion and violence is tenuous, in the latter it is about generations old hatreds between communities based in the politics of settlement. Remove the religious aspect of the Northern Ireland divide and you would still have an indigenous population that for centuries has resented the political power excerted over them by settlers from elsewhere so the matter of whether their bishop or elder takes his thological instruction from a bishop in Rome or Canterbury is only a part of the bigger picture.
To read the mainstream press this week you would think that the Christian Faith schools of this country are hotbeds of murderous intent bent on subverting our youth into irrational self-segregation that will ultimately lead to the downfall of social cohesion as we know it. Utter rubbish!
I want to deal with a couple of issues on this matter. The first is that the press are jumping on the bandwagon of establishing fear in order to stir up some mild histeria in order to sell copy. Nothing new there you might quietly ponder. The press have suggested that the seed-bed of terrorism is the madrassa, or Islamic faith school, and by extension they are arguing that a madrassa being a faith school it is exclusive and therefore breeds a culture of segregation, that as a consequence segregation leads to isolation from the community, which can be manipulated into hostility, that then becomes a fertile ground for fundamentalism, that can easily be turned into active terrorism. The next logical leap for the press is that if Islamic faith schools are bad, that all faith schools have the same potential to segregate. Only the weakness in the argument, as I pointed out at the beginning is that the Church of England is not exactly known for producing violent extremists. So instead the argument is turned into one of educational Apartheid - faith schools produce motivated students and have higher standards of discipline, but because they are exclusive they are de facto creating a 2-tier education system of "haves" and "have nots" depending on faith... oh, and by the way they breed ignorance and... etc etc.
I want to debunk a few of these assertions.
Firstly, let's deal with Islamic schools. Yes there have been some horrendous incidents of violence in the past few years perpetrated by fundamentalists in the name os Islam (and note I say "in the name of" and not on behalf of because the vast majority of Muslims are as appalled by what is done in their name as the rest of us), but those acts of violence have been committed by men who are angry, impressionable, and looking to make their mark. They are subverted by manipulitive men who do great damage in the name of a cause. For many of these young terrorists they fit a psychological profile which would potentially see them behave in similar way for a cause they believe strongly in, and it is entirely possible that they would find a cause be it "animal liberation/anti-vivisection", political extremism, nationalism, anti-globalisation, or any cause that unites people in the desire to challenge authority and order with violence. The madrassa itself is not at fault, only the ideology of some of the people who teach their own (violent) interpretation of the Koran. It is incumbent on the Islamic community to ensure that such people are weeded out and kept away from impressionable young minds, and my experience is that great efforts are made to do this.
Of course the Government is happy to see such ideological prosecution of faith schools, it fits their intellectually "liberal" ideology, their latent anti-hierrachical tendencies, and their abhorrance of authoritative conservatism. Also, without the fear of terrorism any last strand of authenticity for the call to invade Iraq is gone. The paradox is, that it is the very reasonsing for the invasion that is the cause of the much of the terrorism in the first place.
The second issue is the false impression given that our faith schools are the cause of social division. in yesterday's Times the normally lucid Martin Samual opined in such a way as to quite literally go off the intellectual rails. He related the history of a Catholic priest and politician called Ludwig Haas who cut a deal with Hitler's National Socialist party to keep faith schools in Germany in return for Haas' support in the Reichstag for the Enabling Act that gave Hitler effectual dictatorship to the behaviour of the churches today in preventing the British education system being turned into some supposed eutopian model of diversity and engagement. Utter, utter nonensene.
The impression the reader is left with is that Faith schools are some secret club with secret incantations and rituals hidden from view where children are taught to be suspicious of their unGodly neighbour that ought to have their doors burst open to forced diversity to dilute them to an extent that they integrate into society. As an opinion piece it preys on the ignorance of many readers of what faith schools actually are.
I went to a Catholic school in Lancashire. I can tell you it was no different to the "state" secondary school less than 500 yards away. The funding for the Catholic school I attended was a 70/30 slpit between state and church. In return the church sets a broad admissions policy that does not exclude children from non-RC feeder schools, but which sets the tone for teaching in an environment that is conducive to Christan philosphy. The RE syllabus in the first 3 years follows the history of christianity and catholicism in Europe and England and touches upon philosophical thought and its influences. In the final (GCSE) years the study is centred around Mark's Gospel account (which of the 4 Gospel writers is the most chronological and therefore useful in a teaching sense) and the principles of the sacramental life of the church. In every other regard the syllabus is exactly the same as every non-religiously founded school in the country, save for a prayer at each assembly, and mass in the school chapel each Friday lunchtime.
The reason that RC and CofE schools are often seen as more disciplined has a lot to do with the Christian ethics that are taught. The family, in Christian theology, is a central plank of our faith and beliefs (just as it is in most others). The school is seen as one extended family, it is inclusive, and like any family it needs rules and self-discipline to survive. As much as the school is a "family" it is also part of that wider family, which is the church. A child who attends and RC, CofE, or other denominational school is much less likely to find themselves in a culture of "dog eat dog" or "every man for himself". In a world where individual rights have taken on the sacrosanct nature where a lack of values has left a void, this nuturing of a sense of community ought to be a vitue to be extolled, not castigated.
The fact is that Faith schools have a more inclusive admissions policy that you might think from reading the press coverage of late, so there really is no need to enforce arbitrary quotas, such as the 25% "non-faith" students that are being bandied about by commentators. By suggesting such things we really are doing faith foundation schools an injustice and a dis-service. We are damning by implication (and with that half-truths) schools that go out of their way to encourage positive citizenshipand tolerance. Remember the "Great Commission" of the Christian faith is "Love one another as I have loved you", a central tennant of the ethos, philosophy, aqnd culture of christan foundation scvhools the country over.
I wonder what effect such constant and oppressive negative press does to the morale of the wonderful teaching staff at Sherington CofE school who must feel as if they are under siege without the means of defence at their disposal that the national press has. Not only them, but also the teaching and support staff in the other faith schools of Milton Keynes. I'm yet to see our Lib Dem run council fighting their corner vociferously.
# posted by Sherington Tory @ 10:30 AM 
