To think some Catholics don't understand their own faith

[zombiegames]

Okay I admit a thread about a couple of other threads.

I was brought up Catholic, but am not one now - but I do understand how the way you are brought up as a Catholic gets under your skin. But it does make me angry that other people here who say they are catholics, appear to have so little understanding of their own faith.

The pope is not just someone whose opinion you can dismiss if you are a catholic. He is christs representative on earth and he is infallible - that means he can't be wrong. This is an absolute key part of the one true faith. It is not a side belief that can be conveniently ignored.

So when the pope says for example that gay marriage or using condoms is wrong, that is a belief of the catholic faith and can't just be dismissed. If you say this is wrong, you are saying that the pope is not infallible and thus you are questioning an absolute key part of catholicism.

Why does this anger me? Because a lot of people who are not and have never been catholics don't really understand catholicism as can be seen on here when non catholic parents who send dcs to catholic schools froth on here about what their dcs are being taught. Posters who post about being catholic and non homophobic, are misrepresenting catholicism to those who don't understand it. If the pope says something, then that is part of the catholic faith and is what catholics should believe.

And sorry I probably ABU as I know this is a bit of a rant, even though it is true.

I don't think that it has, bamboo. It has made more resources available to other schools by finding at least 10% of its funding itself, and providing its own land and buildings. So there is more in the pot for the other schools.

No they haven't. Children of all faiths and none are entitled to an education. No child loses their entitlement to an education because of the existence of faith schools.

What justification does your LEA give for it's usage of faith schools?

Some CoE land was catholic land taken by Henry VIII after the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1500's and then with they've acquired since with legacy donations etc. And faith based schools should be able to choose who they educate so long as it is not race discrimination unless they take state money. If they accept state money then it should follow national curriculum with their own special classes a s opt in extras for learning their own superstitions.

"I don't think that it has, bamboo. It has made more resources available to other schools by finding at least 10% of its funding itself, and providing its own land and buildings. So there is more in the pot for the other schools."

But you can't (and they won't) build a non-faith school in the immediate vicinity with the 10% that they have saved. If the faith school shut down then the govt would be forced to build new schools, but of course they won't in the meantime because they don't have to. The churches are very happy with the system as it encourages bums on pews, and possible converts. So the historical and completely outdated status quo remains.

Dione - I haven't complained to my LEA because the non-faith provision in my area is actually very good. I am outraged (in a Christian way ) on behalf of those who aren't so lucky.

And I suspect if I did complain to an LEA they would say something along the lines of what I just did in my last post. Well they would if they could be honest about it.

oh dear that last should have been a !!

You won't know until you try Bamboo, and there is nothing stopping you from hooking up with those in areas where this is a problem to fight what you see as injust.

Make like a Catholic, don't just accept it: challenge it and com

Posted too soon.

Ask questions and challenge what you see is unjust. Complain to your LEA, your MP and anyone else who will listen. Campaign for change.

Well, you could raise taxes to have more money in the education budget. That would enable you to build more schools. Or you could divert money from eg highways or health. Why does the government not think it worth its while to do that?

Northey - while the state subsidises faith schools so heavily, it wouldn't make financial sense to build new non-faith schools just so that people could have a choice (and not be discriminated against). You'd end up with lots of half-empty schools.

You could join forces with others to raise money and use it to build and fund a school in areas where faith schools are a problem.

Bamboo you are important, you can make a difference, get out there and make yourself heard.

Didn't they teach you that at school?

A good first step towards fairness would be for faith schools to do the right thing, and stop operating discriminatory (ie on the basis of faith) admissions policies.

Basically, it's just not worth their while tampering with the current system. It would be expensive and meet a lot of opposition, and you would never be able to guarantee that you wouldn't end up with another situation where people wanted to get into one school and not another.

Faith schools do not discriminate. Any colour or sex is welcome.

Yes they do- they discriminate against people who aren't of that faith!

Not necessarily. Last year DS's school accepted all the children who applied to go there, regardless of faith.

Well that's good. But that was one year!

I am constantly amazed at the way people of faith blithely expect and accept special privileges and seem completely blind to the unfairness it creates!

What do you do to challenge this unfairness Seeker?

"Last year DS's school accepted all the children who applied to go there, regardless of faith."

Presumably because it had enough space?

Faith schools that can pick and choose do so - look at some of the criteria! It can come down to how quickly a child is baptised FGS.

Every school has a list of admission priorities. It's not some special quirk of faith schools to do so. They simply have one additional possible level of selection. Every school that can pick and choose can do so.

What are you doing, Dione?

I volunteer at DS's faith school. I am happy to invest my time and energy because I believe in it.

So, given your levels of dissatisfaction regarding faith schools, what are you doing to bring about the change you desire Seeker?

It's a faith school so it's being selective nor discriminatory. Its their school for their faith. The rest of the country has to deal with the established religion in their education. Faith schools opt out of that and into their own faith.

At the taxpayers expense.

The only state primary schools that can use discriminatory admissions criteria are faith schools. They are funded by the tax payer, but not open to all tax payer. How is that right?