Time to end prayers in Scottish schools?

The Scottish Secular Society has put forward a petition to the Scottish Parliament calling on the Scottish Government to issue official guidance, similar to that put forward in England, to bar the presentation in Scottish publicly funded schools of separate creation and of Young Earth doctrines as viable alternatives to the established science of evolution, common descent, and deep time.

While there has been the case of a teacher in Scotland who took early retirement for espousing such doctrines to pupils I think that we can generally trust the training and professionalism of teachers in Scotland and the guidance of the curriculum to ensure that unscientific ideas of this sort are not propagated in teaching time.

The root of the problem is the access that religious groups have to pupils in schools. Unscientific ideas such as the divinity of Jesus Christ and the virginity of his mother are central to the religious observance that the law, supported by the Scottish Parliament,  requires in schools, and the official Scottish Government guidance which facilitates the access of religious groups to pupils in our state schools for religious observance.

Religious and moral education in which pupils learn about the different religions of the world should be taught in schools in an objective way but as long as religious observance (prayers) are required in our schools unscientific ideas will be propagated by religious ministers and evangelical groups who are allowed into our schools by current Scottish Government policy. Why single out one set of highly improbable religious doctrines when others are actively encouraged?

The Scottish Secular Society petition can be inspected at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/gettinginvolved/petitions/creationismguidance

Edinburgh Council reluctantly grants Christian organisation the right to parade

I sometimes wonder if publicly expressed hostility to the Orange Order is one of the few remaining prejudices which are tolerated in contemporary Scottish society. Certainly at the public hearing of the City of Edinburgh Council Licensing sub-committee on Tuesday 22 July several of the elected councillors on the committee made known their resentment and antagonism towards the Order as it sought to gain approval for its right to march in the city on 13 September, five days before the independence referendum. It was arrogant of the SNP committee convenor of the committee, Gavin Barrie, to state that the Order had nothing to contribute to the referendum debate. It is not for our elected representatives to decide who has valid contributions to make to the debate. It is up to the people to decide what they want to say and how to express their views within the law. The councillors’ role was to see that the law was applied and following police and legal advice they accepted the right of the Order to stage the parade, although a Labour and a Conservative councillor opposed the motion. I was puzzled as to how the Conservative, Councillor Dominic Heslop, stated that he found the comments by the Orange Order representative, who was seeking the right of the Order to parade and express its views, to be ‘imflammatory’. Whether Scotland votes for independence or not it will always be a challenge to ensure that Christian religious organisations like the Orange Order, and other minority groups, have their rights protected when much public opinion is opposed to them.
Letter in the Scotsman 25 July 2014

Scottish Government puts off the day of the first gay weddings in Scotland until after the independence referendum

Amid discussion of current concerns about the laws in relation to homosexuality in Commonwealth countries in the context of the Commonwealth Games it is worth noting that earlier this year the Scottish Government secured the passage through the Scottish Parliament of legislation enabling same sex marriages in Scotland. However, it has also managed to defer the first actual gay weddings in Scotland until after the independence referendum on 18 September. Could this be because it does not want to remind that substantial sector of electors, particularly religious denominations opposed to the legislation, of its role in this respect before the day of the vital ballot? 

Letter in the Scotsman 23 July 2014

Rights of Christians to parade in Edinburgh should be protected

According to the Scotsman (18 July) some members of Edinburgh City Council are considering, against police advice, banning the planned Orange Order march in the city on 13 September, five days ahead of the 18 September independence referendum. Such a step would be a gross infringement of the rights of free expression of this group of Christians. They have traditionally marched peacefully in the city in the past to express their beliefs and loyalties. Restriction of this right of free expression would be damaging to the reputation the City of Edinburgh. Nor would it project a favourable image of Scotland to the world. Lawful free expression of views is vital to democracy in Scotland especially on the eve of the most important voting decision that most of us will ever be called to make.

Letter in the Scotsman 19 July 2014

Questions about the Scottish Government Funded Faith and Belief Study

The Scottish Government Funded Faith and Belief study has recently reported in the Scotsman (10 July) and on its website.

There are a number of questionable features of this study. Why was the funding granted to the Faculty of Divinity at Edinburgh University without, it appears, any competitive bidding as to who might conduct the study? Why was it awarded to a body that has a built in employment interests in attempting to justify the importance of religion in contemporary society? Why did the study not survey the existing literature and utlise the findings of numerous social surveys that give other estimates of the religious beliefs and practices of the Scottish population? Why did it use such an ad hoc  methodology when the methods of social survey research would have given a far more accurate picture than the methods adopted by the study. Why were Roman Catholics at 7 per cent so under-represented in the sample when the 2001 and 2011 censuses showed that they were 16 per cent of the population? The Church of Scotland was similarly under-rerpresented at 17 per cent compared to the census figure of 32 per cent. The sample also greatly over-represents the populations of Glasgow and Edinburgh which, combined, are about one fifth of the Scottish population whereas just over one in three of the sample come from these two cities. There are thus good reasons to have fundamental doubts about the quality of the findings of this study.

The report in the Scotsman suggests that there were religious and political aspects to the research. Study director Prof Siddique is quoted as saying 'action needed to be taken to make Scottish society less divisive. She added 'The issues around religion in public life are creat¬ing a new tension and dynamic in Scotland, and it is important that we minimise unnecessary division for the sake of a more inclusive Scotland." Prof Siddiqui said action needed to be taken to make Scottish society less divisive.She added 'The issues around religion in public life are creating a new tension and dynamic in Scotland, and it is important that we minimise unnecessary division for the sake of a more inclusive Scotland."  

But what is wrong about democratic debate about the extent to which religious denominations should have privileged positions in Scottish society? Prof Siddique's remarks sound suspiciously like an attempt to close down public debate in favour of continuing the status quo. Division, contention, debate are essential features of democratic debate. A cosy consensus can be the death of diversity and free expression.

The Faith and Belief in Scotland website can be found at http://www.faithandbeliefscotland.co.uk/
Other sources of evidence on religious belief and 'spirituality' can be found in earlier posts on this website.

An independent Scotland - a religious or secular state?

LSE blog post - click the link at

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/archives/41409

Constitutional issues at the end of Elizabeth's reign - free access to journal article during March 2014

Will King Charles be able to be declared 'Defender of Faith' and not 'Defender of the Faith'

Why a new monarch has to declare the Protestant Faith.

Why a new monarch, according to the Acts of Union, swears to 'maintain and preserve the True Protestant religion

Will the next monarch be the Head of the Commonwealth?


For free access to an article in British Politics during March 2014 click the following link

http://www.palgrave-journals.com/bp/journal/v7/n2/full/bp20123a.html

IRRELIGIOUS SCOTS - A HALF OF SCOTS NOT RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL - 26% SAY THERE IS NO GOD

                                                                    

John Knox would be dismayed

Findings from a recent social survey emphasise the great diminution in the influence of religion in contemporary Scottish life

A half of Scots say they are not spiritual or religious 

Only 35% Scots say that they are now influenced by Christianity 
while 62% say they were influenced by Christianity when they were a child or a young person.

Just over a half of Scots (53%) say they are not currently influenced by religious or spiritual attitudes 

11% say that they are influenced by other religions

21% of Scots prayed in the previous month; 8% read a holy scripture in the last month

82% of Scots do not attend religious or spiritual events with other people

BELIEF IN GOD
27% believe that there definitely is a god or higher power; 21% say there probably is

16% say there is probably NOT a god or higher power; 26% say there definitely is NOT a god or higher power.

11% don't know

Data source

62 years ago today - Queen Elizabeth's oath to maintain and preserve the 'True Protestant Religion'

On 8 February 1952 (62 years ago today) Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom swore the following oath, required by the Acts of Union of 1707, at the Accession Council, two days after the death of her father, George VI

‘I, Elizabeth the Second (sic) by the Grace of God of Great Britain, Ireland and the British dominions beyond the seas, Queen, Defender of the Faith, do faithfully promise and swear that I shall inviolably maintain and preserve the Settlement of the True Protestant Religion as established by the laws of Scotland in prosecution of the Claim of Right and particularly an Act entituled an Act for the Securing the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Government and by the Acts passed in both Kingdoms for the Union of the two Kingdoms, together with the Government, Worship, Discipline, Rights and Privileges of the Church of Scotland’.

(National Archives of Scotland 1952 37(3) 496/4 Scottish Home Department 11 February. Certified copy).

The Scottish Government in its independence plan ‘Scotland’s Future’ pledges not to change the legal status of any church or religion in Scotland (Q590) even though the Scottish Parliament has more than once passed a motion urging the repeal of the Act of Settlement of 1701 which excludes Roman Catholics from succession to the throne.

This topic is explored in much greater depth in ‘Monarchy, religion and the state’ by Norman Bonney. Details at; http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9780719089879 

Field Marshall Haig - a man with honour in his own time

Alan Massie is correct in his column (8 January) to remind your correspondent Alan Hinnrichs who offered such a damning indictment (6 January) of Field Marshall Haig, the commander of UK forces on the Western Front in France and Flanders for much of the First World War, that he was widely respected in his own time for his leadership role in the catastrophic battles and eventual victory - a victory that probably had to do not only with German exhaustion but also the imminent arrival in battle of tens of thousands of fresh American troops. 

The Edinburgh born General, commemorated with a plaque in Charlotte Square, was the heir of the wealthy whisky producing family and was made an Earl after the war in recognition of his roles.He was granted the freedom of both the City of Edinburgh and the City of Glasgow in the Peace Celebrations of July 1919, following the conclusion of peace treaties at Versailles.

In 1924 the Glasgow Herald reported that 'there is unbounded satisfaction that the honour of unveiling Glasgow's war memorial will fall to Earl Haig. Since the Field Marshall has returned from France he has not spared himself on behalf of the men who served in His Majesty's forces'. George Square was filled by countless thousands on that day, 31 May 1924, as they listened to the commemoration and then filed for hours past the Cenotaph and Stone of Remembrance in front of City Chambers. 

20,000 Glaswegians were estimated, by the then Lord Provost, to have died in that war

And it was the support of Haig that led to Edinburgh's  war memorial, the Stone of Remembrance in front of its City Chambers, finally being constructed and dedicated some three years later, a year before he died.

Letter in the Scotsman 9 January 2013

Church of Scotland minister expelled as chaplain from Glasgow school; council education chiefs and school heads act as religious functionaries and censors

The expulsion of a Church of Scotland minister as the chaplain at a Glasgow Council Gaelic School for expressing his religious and political views, following upon the recent expulsion of a Christian  evangelical chaplain at another Scottish school, raises profound issues about the access of religious groups to pupils in our state schools.

Local authorities and school head teachers are, in fact, acting as censors and religious functionaries in determining which religious organisations will be allowed into our schools and which religious views will be allowed to be expressed to pupils.

Is it not time to end religious observance in schools?

END, NOT AMEND, SCOTS SCHOOL PRAYERS

For more on the latest expulsion of a school chaplain visit http://bit.ly/1cVjsF6