Keys to heaven

I believe in the value of education. I come from a fairly humble background, and my best chance of a good life was to be as well educated as was possible. I think that is true for my children too.

More broadly, I believe that universal education is one of the pinnacle achievements of the Enlightenment, an expression of a fundamental belief that all should share in knowledge (and, as a consequence, power). One of the chief problems with the Islamist vision, as expressed by the Taliban, is that it seeks to restrict access to knowledge so severely, and in particular, that it seeks to exclude women from obtaining it. The Taliban, simply put, understand the threat to their power that educated women would pose. They fail to see the opportunity in it. Failing to see the opportunity is plain ignorant. And I am an enemy of ignorance, above all.

My view of education is secular. I do not believe that education whose bounds are set by religion can ever be useful, again chiefly because I believe that restricting knowledge disempowers. You can pretend things do not exist, and refuse to teach them, but by doing so, you do not make them actually not exist, and those who are aware of them will be able to use their information advantage over you and your children, who you have disempowered by creating the gap in knowledge.

That is not to say that I do not believe children should receive a religious education. Of course, I do. So although I thought it curious that Zenella should receive a class in religious education in her first year, I wasn't against it. I was uncomfortable, because it seems to me that educating a child in religion at a young age poses conceptual difficulties. But part of allowing your child to receive a public education is trusting that those you are allowing to do it are competent to do so.

I was taken aback though to learn that the religious education was to be given by a volunteer from a local church. The antennae more than twitched. They shrieked. I found this out only because I was asked to contribute to the cost of the materials. Had there been none, I wonder whether I would have even been informed. So I refused to allow Zenella to take the class, which upset her, so I talked to her teacher, in case I had been hasty. I asked what the curriculum looked like and what supervision the volunteer would have.

The teacher showed me the materials. The children are taught from a book called "Beginning with God", whose first lesson is a quote from somewhere in the Bible about God's love falling on us from heaven. One of the pages featured reasons to love Jesus.

Hang the fuck on! This is not religious education. This is religious instruction, at best. Indoctrination would probably be the better word.

It happens everywhere, apparently. They are all volunteers, said the teacher. Yes, I bet, I said. It's like the keys to these children's minds have been delivered to proselytisers.

Kids of five are credulous. They will believe, quite literally, anything. They all believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy; what is it to them that they have one more myth to add to their treasury? They are incredibly impressionable. It is not for nothing the Jesuits said that given a child until they were seven, they would show you the man.

But it's voluntary, the teacher said. Yes, I said, but I must opt out. Opt out! You don't say, who wants their kids to learn all about Jesus from a minister of X church; you say, who doesn't want their kids to have religious education classes? In school time. A timetabled lesson. Those Americans who read this will be shaking their heads. I'll bet your minister would like to be able to come into school and tell the kids they should love Jesus.

Whatever next? They allow a paedophile to volunteer to do the sex ed classes?

posted by Dr Zen @ 12:18 pm