SCHOOLS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM - BIGOTS ARE

SNP 'is open to idea' of state schools for Muslims

THE SNP government has signalled it is willing to consider having separate Muslim state schools in Scotland. A spokesman for Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop said ministers were "open" to proposals about such a move.

http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=1081232007

The survival of Catholic schools owes a lot to the fact that despite being almost completely integrated within society Catholics still see themselves as being under some level of threat. The large amount of Orange lodges and Orange parades proves that this threat is not imaginary.

The Act of Settlement with its various bigoted clauses also gives the impression that discrimination against Catholicism is institutional and until this is removed or adjusted that is actually the case.

There are also other shady groups like the Masons who deliberately exclude Catholics from their membership and which have an insiduous influence within society. The constant requests from the Orange lodges for Catholic schools to be closed actually guarantees their continued existence.

They are also guaranteed under law because the Catholic church used to run their own schools themselves and their right to have seperate schooling is enshrined in the legislation which set up comprehensive education.

Catholic shools will continue until Catholics feel they are 100% integrated. This has almost happened but given the above factors has not actually quite completed as yet.

If Muslim schools are introduced it will be done for progressive positive reasons. However it might prove to be a backward step eventually that will cause even more problems because it will indicate that a further group feels under threat from the community at large, which is a great pity.

Cultural 'divisions' between Muslims and 'Christians' (in fact most people are not genuinely interested in religion at all) are already exacerbated by a divisive foreign policy by the British Government and various attempts like citizens ceremonies to push a false British identity upon us all. We should be asking why Muslims feel the current schools system does not suit them.

In Scotland we seem to historically have had a mature approach which is based on respecting the rights of others however it is probably true to say there is still insufficient understanding of other religions and what they actually represent.

The real problem is that non-demoninational schools are not actually seen as genuinely non-denominational, for many they are Protestant schools which reflect the dominant religion of this country. As long as this persists people will want to opt out of the status quo and the only logical answer would seem to be to remove religious education entirely from all schools.

Unfortunately this won't cure bigotry which is not actually induced at school but at home and is ultimately based on ignorance.