http://www.humanistlife.org.uk/2010/07/accord-welcomes-re-review/ Humanist perspectives on the here and now Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:47:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.humanistlife.org.uk/2010/07/accord-welcomes-re-review/comment-page-1/#comment-3291 Edwin Salter Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:28:45 +0000 http://www.humanistlife.org.uk/?p=3530#comment-3291 Teaching in a balanced and critical way about the variety of human beliefs past and present is surely an educational necessity. Pragmatically, without it (and USA, Turkey & India are hardly encouraging examples) children are at the mercy of family prejudices and the divisive absolutisms of faith. But SACREs (mine here comprises about 25 people from 4 groups - Cof E, all other religious, teachers, local authority) exist precisely to provide an RE syllabus linked to religious power. These baggy self-serving bureaucracies enable faults such as automatic enrolment in examinations where the only comparative element required is within Christianity, and the favouring of a covert evangelism. The beliefs and morality of ordinary life and the right of children to grow toward independent belief should be recognised, otherwise "if it's not our faith it doesn't count". Better perhaps to stand apart from such nonsense than to legitimise it by seeking token admission. Teaching in a balanced and critical way about the variety of human beliefs past and present is surely an educational necessity. Pragmatically, without it (and USA, Turkey & India are hardly encouraging examples) children are at the mercy of family prejudices and the divisive absolutisms of faith.
But SACREs (mine here comprises about 25 people from 4 groups – Cof E, all other religious, teachers, local authority) exist precisely to provide an RE syllabus linked to religious power. These baggy self-serving bureaucracies enable faults such as automatic enrolment in examinations where the only comparative element required is within Christianity, and the favouring of a covert evangelism.
The beliefs and morality of ordinary life and the right of children to grow toward independent belief should be recognised, otherwise “if it’s not our faith it doesn’t count”. Better perhaps to stand apart from such nonsense than to legitimise it by seeking token admission.

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