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
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
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