Why, when so many places in England ONLY have CoE state schools....

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...do so many posters get berated for questioning the level of worship and religous practice their children are expected to participate in?

Often a poster will explain that their only local state schools are CoE, only to be told 'what do you expect?' 'you signed up for it!' 'You chose to send your child toa faith school!'.

Many many people really do not have a choice. The ONLY state education on offer to them is in a faith school.

Why do they get shouted at?

And is it OK that this lack of choice be the case? Shouldn't state faith schools in this position be a bit sensitive to the fact?

Well I doagreewith you Pruners

Indeed iirc quiteafew of usreligioustypes do (from past debate), we just dont shout so loud I think

And Im guessing that maturity = going with the minority (as census states thats what you are) and get rid of state schools to please the few who find God offensive.
I think you have to accept that we have state and faith schools to please all and thats how it should be, Im not saying everyone should have faith, or believe what I believe but the choice is there for people to make

yes metella that is a problem and should be addressed by local councils

PRuners - I guess the next census may show different but in recent history (2001) the majority of people put themselves down as being Christians.............

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Yes FAQ isright about that I think, although Ib woulssuggestsome havea very loose definition ofwhat a Christian is.

I think when both alternativeare available there's nota hugeissue but its when, as you say, the village school are all faith its a problem; the one here is very faith (MC may know it?) and we did look at the next closest but we'd have to have got a letter from the LEA as w ewere deemed out of cattchment and wouldnt have been given it as the church school had offered a place; it'ssortaworked out for us (I think we've had a widening inclusion effect on re teacher- well we must haveas she's asked me to help her next year)

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Oh there's one good, very real reason I think:

'proper' faith schools have large injections f extra cash that allow (forexample) cheap music education, excellent (sometimes) facillities, a whole host of extra bits.

Thats funding the Government cant afford.

I might not agree with the faith bit can totally understand why someone would argue to continue a schol suystem that gives, in many cases, a more expensive style education.

As long as that continues, peoplewith a palce wont argue against it I suspect.

mosschops, would you be happy for your children to go to school and be taught every day as fact that there is no God, that anyone who says there is is wrong, and have lessons where various Bible stories were "debunked"? Along with daily assemblies where they sing songs along the line of "God doesn't exist, all religion is a load of tosh, falalalalalala"?

(Genuine question, by the way)

Ah by wide fadefinition I meant the hard drinking niht clubbing, pull a bird and then tick the box for Christian variant LOL, am a Quaker sort myself so don't go to Church at all often (only at the start of Quaker faith though)

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true LOL

I think eventually it will all go the way of the secularists anyway

how many of you who don't want your children indoctrinated by the CofE tiurn up for nativities, harvest festivals, buy Easter Eggs and celebrate Christmas?

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It's history and culture. The church was the only institution that cared about educating ordinary people for centuries and centuries. There was no 'state' to educate the masses until a hundred years ago.

And lots of us (including Trevor Phillips) don't want to live in a multicultural society, a system which seems to have little to recommend it and may be positively dangerous to women (who wants Sharia law?). On the other hand I'm delighted to live with people of different ethnic background, nationalities, religions and culture,

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Last year it was proposed that certain elements of Sharia law be 'enabled'. Ironically, I think it was the Archbishop of Canterbury who suggested it. Archbishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir- Al, England's first Asian archbishop, has resigned, I believe, because he now wants to defend persecuted Christians.

So I presume he agrees that the culture we already have in Britain is one most likely to defend the weak and those liable to be persecuted on the grounds of sexuality or religion.

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Is there any evidence that children are, in any way harmed by going to CofE schools when they come from a family that does not believe? My ds goes to a CofE school and we are non church goers. I think the fact the school is CofE gives it a lovely caring ethos. The school is at the heart of the community and it is very welcoming to all children. I think these values are so important to children as they grow up.

I do however object to selection on the basis of religion. That to me is just wrong as it is not objective and will often allow schools to cream off middle class pupils. Thankfully ds's school is undersubscribed so there are no problems with selection on the basis of religion.

Barbers were the only people who carried out surgery for centuries and centuries, but I don't expect my only state-provided option when I need my tonsils out to be the local branch of Curl Up And Dye.

Lots of things in school are not 'needed' but we still teach them

but mosschops - there is a difference between teaching about god - and making people pray to god and having things up on the wall saying god is great.

I was trying to explain that you dont need a god in school to teach morals or respect, you can still teach thoses things and have a lovely ethos and be a caring school at the center of the community without a god at the school.

I dont find teaching about any religion ofensive, but that can be all and then let people go to weekend church and learn about and take part in there religion outside of the education system.

I absolutely do not think my child would be 'harmed' by going to a CoE school, but I would like to be able to support somethng that is at the very heart of the beliefs and teachings of a school. If you are tempering something which is at the heart of the definition of a school (a belief in god and a will to worship that god) then rather than suppporting your child's education with supplementary thinking, you are countering - or at least offering an alternative - to the school's very foundation.

I am happy to explain if different ways something that has gone on in maths, to help teach times tables at home. Suppose I had to say 'I KNOW Miss X says that 4x is 15, but here at home, I believe it is 16'.

IF , Mosschops, you are keen to send your child to a faith school exactly because it is in tune with what goes on at home, re-inforced, enhanced, a coherent line of thought, and that that MATTERS to you, why can you not see that for non-religious parents having to do the opposite can be an issue?

Not a huge issue, perhaps, but it is an issue that people have a right to voice.

And as I say - this thread is about those who are told to be accountable for sending their children to a faith school, when in actual fact they had NO Other Choice.

But is this a Christian country? In the sense of most people actively believing in Christianity and practising their faith?

Surely not.

It is nominally a Christian culture for historical reasons, a lot of our culture is based on Christianity, but the majority of the population are not practising Christians.

So why do we have to keep pretending they are?

My children had a lovely caring ethos at their non-faith primary school and I am sure that would have been no different if the religious content of assembly had been abolished. We Christians don't have the monopoly on loving and caring.