did anybody else see that Rod Liddle documentary where he looked at a few faith schools in northeast England that were being bankrolled by a local tycoon, and also a man of faith?
it was quite disturbing, in shining a light on these particular schools they were getting up to all sorts that was well out of order, and down entirely to their happy-clappy Christian bent. just one anecdote, of course.
when Craner and i saw Shalom Lappin talk at the Euston manifesto conference at SOAS a few summers ago, Lappin used the example of the Amish in the midwest/mid-Atlantic USA as a minority community group whose specific educational needs and contributions to their wider society were on the whole more benign than malign. (though we all know Amish kids go off the hook when they hit the big city, and the background to that blah blah.)
again just another anecdote.
i've got as much love for private churches as the next queasy agnostic but i don't think, with respect to m_b, you should make direct comparisons between them and faith schools; sure private churches are going to have a lot of kids dragged into it by parents, relatives or carers, i'm sure, but a faith school is something where a kid literally doesn't have a choice, it is their world whilst they are at school and quite consuming; they are, for the most part, getting shuttled in at the behest of a faithful adult. (i'm sure there's a few devout little ten year olds who can't wait to get to faith school and start learning those hadiths but i would bet such kids are a minority.)
all that said, a very good mate of mine was forced to go to Koranic school on Saturday mornings for a bit by his old man when younger, but he wriggled out of it after a spell as he couldn't stand it.
Saturday mornings are for cricket and football after all.
that said, i would like it if we didn't have faith schools in Britain, and i'm pretty sure i used to be in favour of just banning them, but i don't think that should happen now.
i think.
can you tell i'm a bit of a fence-sitter on most matters?
looking forward to what comelately has to say!