This is the Richard Dawkins documentary about the faith schools in Britain. It’s about 50 min long, but I haven’t seen it anywhere on American TV, so…
Faith School Menace? from Lucas Cantor on Vimeo.
Notes from the Vimeo site:
The number of faith schools in Britain is rising. Around 7,000 publicly-funded schools – one in three – now has a religious affiliation.
As the coalition government paves the way for more faith-based education by promoting ‘free schools’, the renowned atheist and evolutionary biologist Professor Richard Dawkins says enough is enough.
In this passionately argued film, Dawkins calls on us to reconsider the consequences of faith education, which, he argues, bamboozles parents and indoctrinates and divides children.
The film features robust exchanges with former Secretary of State for Education Charles Clarke, Head of the Church of England Education Service Reverend Janina Ainsworth, and the Chair of the Association of Muslim Schools, Dr Mohammed Mukadam.
It also features insights from child psychologists and key players in faith education as well as insights from both parents and pupils.
Dawkins also draws on his own personal history as a father, arguing that the government must stop funding new faith schools, and urges society to respect a child’s right to freedom of belief.
My cousin works at a faith academy teaching IT – and he’s a Creatard. IT drives me mad that he gets to teach a science/engineering subject in an institution which teaches that evolution in a lie of satan…
Do you know if these faith schools are required to follow the educational standards of your National Curriculum?
Yes, for everything except religious education, but that isn’t difficult to get around – all they do is be careful when Ofsted are doing their inspections.
I sometimes feel like he is putting too much energy into atheism. I’m not against that at all, but I like scientist Dawkins better than atheist Dawkins. He is more efficient as a scientist; don’t you think?
I should have said “biologist.” I just like him better when he talks about memes, evolution, and etc.
I actually think he’s pretty good at both, and there’s definitely a huge overlap. I do see your point, I guess, but I personally find Dawkins to be one of the best atheist commentators on religion, secularism, and the interaction of science and faith.
I do indeed wish the mantle of defender of atheism would pass on to someone else. Dawkins’ time is better spent in research.
He’s spent the best part of 50 years doing research! He’s contributed to the field immensely and is now 70 years old. If he wants to travel the world talking about stuff that interests him why shouldn’t he? He only has the profile to do so because of years of laborious work in his younger days. We’re lucky he’s doing anything at all and hasn’t just retired. I certainly hope to by the time I’m his age.
Apparently the Qu’ran taught that the Earth was round, there were mountains, and rivers were separate from the ocean.
Are they really suggesting these things weren’t known in the seventh century?
The thing about the rivers and ocean is actually a ridiculous mistake in the Qu’ran. In the documentary Dawkins is talking to children who have been taught that rivers are separate from the ocean ALWAYS. That means according to the Qu’ran, fresh water and salt water never mix anywhere on the planet, ever. They genuinely believe that and find Dawkins’ insistence that they can and do mix to be utterly mad.
I am shocked to see what is being taught in faith schools. I completely agree with Richard Dawkins. If you need to have faith… go on then but do not do not stupidify your own children. This muslim girl is never going to be a doctor… she does not even understand the basics of our planet. Maybe she should go to a rivers mouth and see how it flows into the ocean… hoiw does she explain that then? Oh yes, the almighty prehistoric Quran will have the answer?
It’s going to be very hard to fight this, since they have a state religion. I don’t suppose there’s a chance in hell Prince Charles would “cut loose” the Anglican Church.
The establishment of the CoE is not really relevant to faith schools. The church is kind of tolerated because of tradition, but it has as much actual impact as the monarchy.
Agreed – a state religion does not necessitate that all aspects of the state be religious. And I find the Catholic Church has had far more of a say in keeping the faith in faith schools, especially up in Scotland.
I went to a Catholic school where the staff were proud of the ‘ethos’ that their faith brought to the place, claiming just the virtue of being Catholic made it a better school and a more nurturing environment. In reality this meant that homosexual students, students who dressed as Goths and students who asked questions were bullied mercilessly while the staff turned a blind eye (or sometimes by the staff themselves), thinking they deserved it for not being Catholic enough. Faith, as much as people love to believe is a good thing, is an excuse to treat other people inhumanely because it somehow overrides the conscience and convinces the mind that whatever cruelty one inflicts is kosher with the sky daddy. It is the complete opposite of what we should be teaching young people.
I used to live in the UK, and both of my boys went to CofE elementary schools, and never once were taught that the OT myths were anything but that, and never taught any creationist bullshit. I regarded them as secular schools with a very slight, watered-down version of universalist christianity. Not too much harm in that.
What is sad, both in the UK and the US, is that when children attend the REAL faith schools, they are taught NOT to be curious about the natural world, not to question authority, and that real science is not to be trusted. It’s a self-perpetuating ignorance which most of them will never grow out of, and in turn pass on to their children.
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