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NEWS EXTRA

Scared of atheism?

Mixed reaction to suggestion that students learn Ônon-religiousÕ worldviews

Christians should not “be scared” by a leading think tank’s recommendation that secondary school students be taught atheism as part of the national curriculum. Luton Churches’ Education Trust instead said it was possible for believers to encourage the study of different worldviews without forfeiting the uniqueness of Christianity.

Chris Curtis, director of the Trust which promotes evangelical outreach work in schools, stressed he would “fight tooth and nail” to keep Christianity as the major faith in religious education (RE), but said Christians should not “be scared” by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR)’s proposal that non-religious worldviews like agnosticism and human secularism also be included.

“Christianity stands head and shoulders above the rest,” he said, “therefore I’m not afraid. I want young people to understand the different varieties of faith and choose the Christian faith by informed choice, rather than because it’s the only thing they came across”.

Young people need to be taught about spiritual worldviews “in the broadest possible sense” – including atheism, consumerism and human secularism – Chris explained, adding some Christians seemed to have a misguided notion that young people will abandon the Gospel if they find out other options exist.

He used the analogy of young people being faced with a myriad of doors, each of which pointed to different worldviews. He said some were busy trying to attract young people to the Christianity with flashing lights and wacky stunts “hoping they won’t notice there are any other doors”.

He added: “That’s a dangerous way to draw people into the Christian faith – for kids to take the Christian door, not knowing what else is out there. Because then they go to university and college totally unprepared to meet people who have a different but ‘very together’ worldview – which is totally wrong, but totally coherent. It’s very scary if you come from a youth group which implies that everyone who is not a Christian is deeply miserable, and you meet (non-Christians) who are not deeply miserable.”

Chris said: “I don’t think as Christians we can hold onto a curriculum that doesn’t represent the broader society,” though he disagreed with the IPPR’s recommendation that RE moves towards “ethical and moral” education at the expense of studying spirituality. “I think there should be a richness of spirituality being explored – I think we should be asking for more spiritually not less”.

But some Christian groups have expressed concerns at IPPR proposals that the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority bring RE “up to date” by including non-religious worldviews. Adam Atkinson, of Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) disagreed with the Institute’s fundamental claims, saying that Christianity is part of “our heritage and our worldview”. Taking issue with the report’s assertion that Christianity should form less of the curriculum because only 7% of people attend a weekly religious service, he pointed out that in the 2001 UK census 72% of people called themselves Christian and only 3% said they were atheists.

“You can play with statistics as much as you like, he said. “There is no need for the structure of RE to change to include atheism because it’s already being covered, it’s already being allowed for”.

While young people should be encouraged to explore different religious belief systems, non-religious beliefs should not be seen as “equivalent,” he said. “Others faiths are belief systems – atheism is a doubting system. We need to teach children to believe before we teach them to doubt,” he said, adding that young people are already exposed to “enough secular liberal humanist claptrap” through schools and society.

Joel Edwards of the Evangelical Alliance called the IPPR’s recommendations “a survival tactic by the humanist lobby”.
He said: “The curriculum already allows for the exploration of ideas of non-religious philosophy in RE classes and open discussion is already encouraged on matters relating to other beliefs, faiths and ideas outside of Christianity”.

He added he hoped the government and Qualifications and Curriculum Authority would treat the report “with the scepticism it deserves. It could be considered as an attempt by a minority – namely those who would not subscribe to any religious faith – to unfairly influence the majority.”

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		NEWS EXTRA Scared of atheism? Mixed reaction to suggestion that students learn Ônon-religiousÕ worldviews Christians should not “be scared” by a leading think tank’s recommendation that secondary school students be taught atheism as part of the national curriculum. Luton Churches’ Education Trust instead said it was possible for believers to encourage the study of different worldviews without forfeiting the uniqueness of Christianity. Chris Curtis, director of the Trust which promotes evangelical outreach work in schools, stressed he would “fight tooth and nail” to keep Christianity as the major faith in religious education (RE), but said Christians should not “be scared” by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR)’s proposal that non-religious worldviews like agnosticism and human secularism also be included. “Christianity stands head and shoulders above the rest,” he said, “therefore I’m not afraid. I want young people to understand the different varieties of faith and choose the Christian faith by informed choice, rather than because it’s the only thing they came across”. Young people need to be taught about spiritual worldviews “in the broadest possible sense” – including atheism, consumerism and human secularism – Chris explained, adding some Christians seemed to have a misguided notion that young people will abandon the Gospel if they find out other options exist. He used the analogy of young people being faced with a myriad of doors, each of which pointed to different worldviews. He said some were busy trying to attract young people to the Christianity with flashing lights and wacky stunts “hoping they won’t notice there are any other doors”. He added: “That’s a dangerous way to draw people into the Christian faith – for kids to take the Christian door, not knowing what else is out there. Because then they go to university and college totally unprepared to meet people who have a different but ‘very together’ worldview – which is totally wrong, but totally coherent. It’s very scary if you come from a youth group which implies that everyone who is not a Christian is deeply miserable, and you meet (non-Christians) who are not deeply miserable.” Chris said: “I don’t think as Christians we can hold onto a curriculum that doesn’t represent the broader society,” though he disagreed with the IPPR’s recommendation that RE moves towards “ethical and moral” education at the expense of studying spirituality. “I think there should be a richness of spirituality being explored – I think we should be asking for more spiritually not less”. But some Christian groups have expressed concerns at IPPR proposals that the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority bring RE “up to date” by including non-religious worldviews. Adam Atkinson, of Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) disagreed with the Institute’s fundamental claims, saying that Christianity is part of “our heritage and our worldview”. Taking issue with the report’s assertion that Christianity should form less of the curriculum because only 7% of people attend a weekly religious service, he pointed out that in the 2001 UK census 72% of people called themselves Christian and only 3% said they were atheists. “You can play with statistics as much as you like, he said. “There is no need for the structure of RE to change to include atheism because it’s already being covered, it’s already being allowed for”. While young people should be encouraged to explore different religious belief systems, non-religious beliefs should not be seen as “equivalent,” he said. “Others faiths are belief systems – atheism is a doubting system. We need to teach children to believe before we teach them to doubt,” he said, adding that young people are already exposed to “enough secular liberal humanist claptrap” through schools and society. Joel Edwards of the Evangelical Alliance called the IPPR’s recommendations “a survival tactic by the humanist lobby”. He said: “The curriculum already allows for the exploration of ideas of non-religious philosophy in RE classes and open discussion is already encouraged on matters relating to other beliefs, faiths and ideas outside of Christianity”. He added he hoped the government and Qualifications and Curriculum Authority would treat the report “with the scepticism it deserves. It could be considered as an attempt by a minority – namely those who would not subscribe to any religious faith – to unfairly influence the majority.” © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.