Children as young as four to be educated in atheism & humanism - Daily Mail

School pupils aged just four are to be taught atheism in a move schools hope will equip them to be 'citizens of the world'.

Education bosses in Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire, have radically restructured the RE syllabus to accommodate non-religious beliefs.

Youngsters will continue to learn about the six major faiths - Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism - but they will also be taught humanism, the belief that there is no God or Gods, and that moral values are founded on human nature and experience.

Read more: Daily Mail and Lancashire Telegraph and Richard Dawkins.net

Update: 31st March 2011, Dorset RE Syllabus will include 'Secular worldviews' such as Humanism / Atheism which MUST be studied at KS3.

Sunday, R4 discuss the crisis of RE in schools

The teaching of Religious Edcuation in schools in crisis. It has been omitted from the new English Baccaluareate and a recent survey found that a third of all secondary schools will cut it from their curriculum. Professor Trevor Cooling, Reverend Jan Ainley and Dr Phillip Barnes discuss.

What is the role of secularism and humanism in RE?

Listen via iPlayer (from 33- 45 minutes)

BHA meets with schools minister Nick Gibb MP

FEB182011

BHA Chief Executive Andrew Copson and Head of Public Affairs Naomi Phillips met with the schools minister Nick Gibb MP at the Department for Education. Mr Copson explained the BHA’s long history in education, campaigning for inclusive schools since the early 1900s and on RE since the 1950s.

Mr Copson raised the BHA’s concerns about religious discrimination in the state school system and the funding of ‘faith’ schools. Mr Gibb replied that the government did not agree with the BHA’s position on ‘faith’ schools.

We raised the issue of compulsory worship, informing the minister that it was one of the most frequent reasons why parents got in touch with us, worried about their children being forced to worship and equally not wanting to withdraw them from whole class or school activities. Mr Gibb stated that he felt there was already enough flexibility in the system, with schools being able to apply for “determinations” so that they do not have to have mainly Christian content in the worship.

We raised the issue of evolution in the curriculum, asking for the government’s position on including evolution as a core part of the primary science curriculum. Mr Gibb said that he agreed that the teaching of evolution should be compulsory at secondary level. Mr Gibb also said that he and his department were robust in their response to requests from religious groups wanting the inclusion of creationism and “intelligent design” in science lessons, stating that creationism has no basis in science and should not be taught as such.

The topic of Religious Education was discussed, with particular reference to the inefficiency of RE curriculums being locally determined and the deleterious effect on the subject because of that. The BHA argued that RE should be included in the current review of the curriculum being carried out by Mr Gibb’s department.

British Religion in Numbers (BRIN)

source: Dave E, thanks
http://www.brin.ac.uk/

• 2.2 Religion in Britain, 2001: tables.
• No Religion map

a rationalist/fideist paradox

reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fideism#In_culture (accessed 5th February 2011)

Douglas Adams, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, uses his Babel fish to demonstrate a rationalist/fideist paradox:

"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."

"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves that You exist, and so therefore, by Your own arguments, You don't. Q.E.D."

"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

"Oh, that was easy," says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.

Majority of people in Britain now say they are non-religious - British Attitudes Survey

reposted from: http://www.humanism.org.uk/news/view/723 - 4th January 2011

comments by crabsallover in blue. Thanks to Dave E (Dorset Humanists & HASSNERS member) for bringing this report to my notice. 


The British Social Attitudes survey asked 'Do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion? If YES which?' In 2009 50.7% answered 'No Religion'.

2010 was a year in which the new government heavily emphasised its pro-Christian credentials. As the new year begins, the British Humanist Association (BHA) has welcomed the findings of latest British Social Attitudes survey showing that, for the first time, the majority of people in Britain now say they are non-religious, and expressed hopes that the results will cause government to take a fairer and more measured approach.

The latest survey, just published but conducted in 2009, shows only 43.7% of people claiming to be Christian while 50.7% say they are non-religious.  Just 5% belong to non-Christian religions, almost half of these Muslim.

This marks a huge change since BSA first asked the question in 1985, when Christians totalled 63% and the non-religious 34%.  Since then there has been an unsteady progress: the previous highest figure was 46.1% in 2006 but in 2008 it was only 43.4%.

Click on image below for larger view.

A growing non-religious trend over 25 years in the UK

The survey also asked about religious upbringing.  The answers show that more than 4 in 10 of those who had a Christian upbringing have abandoned the religion, while barely 1 in 3 of today’s non-religious had a non-religious upbringing. (Figures for non-Christian religions show very little difference between current religion and family religion.)

Commenting on the findings, Andrew Copson, BHA Chief Executive, said: ‘The trend in Britain is clearly still one of increasing non-religious self-identity and hopefully we will see some reflection of this in this year’s decennial Census. Unfortunately, The leading question 'What is your religion?' meant that lots of people ticked the ‘Christian’ or another religious box even though they do not worship or believe. We are encouraging those with only a cultural connection to Christianity but no actual religious belief to answer ‘No religion’ in the Census in March. In the meantime, figures such as those provided by the British Social Attitudes Survey are a necessary counter to unreliable census figures, which have been persistently misused to justify funding of religious organisations and exempting them from non-discrimination laws in the last few years.’

Naomi Phillips, BHA Head of Public Affairs commented, ‘It is time the Government took note of the growing number of people, now apparently the majority, who have no religion.  It should stop favouring religious organisations and religious schools with opt-outs and exemptions from the law.’

Notes

Find out more about the BHA's Census Campaign.

Read the BSA findings.

The British Humanist Association is the national charity representing and supporting the interests of ethically concerned, non-religious people in the UK. It is the largest organisation in the UK campaigning for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief, and for a secular state.

Dorset Humanists are affiliated to the British Humanist Association. 

See page 70 on Religion in the British Social Attitudes Survey below. Click on both questions for a larger view.

and

Agreed Syllabus Conference ASC

Agreed Syllabus Conference can be found in the Education Act 1996 Part V, Chapter 3, section 375 and Schedule 31 of the same Act.


I am now attending the Dorset ASC which will revise the Dorset RE Syllabus for 2010-2015.