With faith schools once again being the hot potato issue, I felt it was time do do a reflective piece on this!
First of all I ought to declare an interest! I am a committed Christian, fairly devout! Admittedly falling short on a daily basis but that's what grace is there for! Plus I went to a C of E Junior School. Anyways, it does therefore mean that I am wholly sympathetic to the idea of faith schools!
But that doesn't mean to say that faith schools are right! What certainly isn't right is when some parents start attending church or a synagogue or a mosque, in order to curry favour and gain a place for their child, rather than out of genuine faith or curiosity.
Likewise, if there is one thing the Founding Fathers of secularism did respect it was the idea of conscience, and it is only natural for parents to want to bring their child up in their own faith. Whether it is Christianity, Islam, or even a school founded on the tenets of secularism. This opens up therefore, the wider issue of parental control.
One can't solve this issue here, and it is too emotive to properly discuss, but I personally feel that this is a matter for parents (to a certain extent) and the schools in question. So long as the schools do not break the law, and so long as the schools welcome all regardless of faith (and I appreciate a no of them don't), then I don't see the problem. Anything less smacks of religious or secular bigotry.