Championing the rights of the individual and relegating the authority of God has significant consequences for the way in which religious faith and the learning that derives from religion is viewed at large. Perhaps we can see this motif at work in the recent development of the English Baccalaureate by the new coalition government.
To a certain extent the government has sidelined the value of religious education in society by failing to include it with the essential components of the new educational qualification.
Failing to recognise RE amongst the humanities subjects being taught towards this new qualification, surely implies a judgment about what religious education can contribute towards the formation and education of the human person? Such a move declares that the influence of religion on contemporary British society and its structures of education are to be significantly underplayed. Our own Faith Leaders Group has made representations to the Government.
A secular one that thinks that religion is the opiate of the masses. After all who really needs to think about one’s worldview or what its implications might mean for society.
Sorry, if government sponsored religious education is anything like government sponsored sex education, I’ll pass.