I was pleased to see that a ban on prayer rituals at the Michaela community school in London has been upheld by the High Court following a challenge by a muslim pupil. Other than by way of history studies, there is no place for religion in schools. Then ban was introduced, states the Guardian, “after the school found itself the target of death and bomb threats over its approach to religious observance after pupils were seen praying in the school playground by passersby.” Whoever would have guessed that 50% of the pupils are the children of muslims?
Quite why the pupil, who cannot be named, or her family want to pray throughout the day is a mystery to me given that schools are a place where you are supposed to be learning. People can pray wherever they like – at home, in the mosque, church, temple or the synagogue – so why they need to make a fuss about being told that’s not why they are at school should be beyond me. Except that, of course, it isn’t.
Don’t think for one second that my objections to religion being part of a school day is confined just to muslims. I object to all religious schools and don’t think there should be any. No muslim, Jewish, Sikh, CofE, Catholic, Jedi or anything else. If children are going to learn and to integrate, then by separating them on the grounds of which God their parents believe in is absurd. And let’s dwell on that point for a moment
Children are not allowed to vote, have sex, get married, marry and so on until they reach an age where society has determined that they are mature enough to decide on these important issues. Yet when it comes to religion, babies are Christened and in some religions have their genitals mutilated when it is blindingly obvious they will have no idea what is going on.That is why almost all children grow up with the same religion as their parents. It’s called proselytisation. Catch them early, make sure they believe in the right religion because if you don’t – heaven forbid, so to speak – they might find another religion or maybe no religion at all.
Michaela’s celebrity head teacher, Katherarine Birbalsingh, rather muddied the waters once the court decision was announced. She said this: “A school should be free to do what is right for the pupils it serves. Schools should not be forced by one child and her mother to change its approach simply because they have decided they don’t like something,” adding “If parents do not like what Michaela is, they do not need to send their children to us.” Hmm. Careful here.
I suspect Birbalsingh means that if parents don’t like what Michaela is offering, then they can send their parents should send their children to ones they do like. And if the family priority is religion, they may choose madrasahs, to ensure their offspring get taught full fat islamic ‘teachings’. Is that what we really want?
In the UK, we have had this half-arsed approach to religion and schools. In striving to be tolerant and diverse, words I normally like a lot, we not only allow division, we encourage it. And when things go wrong – and I’m afraid this is almost always an islamic thing – we fail to address the real elephant in the room, which is that tolerance only happens in one direction.
Tough as this may seem, my view is that we should remove God, all Gods, from the classroom, that schools become entirely secular, as should the rest of society, with no one enjoying special privileges on the basis of the God their parents choose for them. Not just the muslim God. All of them.
If you still have sympathy for this unnamed muslim child and her family, then you can rest peacefully in the knowledge that this court case cost the taxpayer £150,000 of legal aid. Yes, you and I paid for this complete and utter waste of time.
In a secular Britain, people have the right to worship the God of their choice but part of the deal is that they will gain no special privileges for enjoying this freedom. Pray all you like, but not, in this case, during school hours.
After the verdict, the unnamed pupil said that she planned to remain at the school and focus on her GCSE exams. Well, yes. Isn’t that why she was at school in the first place? And she added that: “Even though I lost, I still feel that I did the right thing in seeking to challenge the ban. I tried my best, and was true to myself and my religion.” Well, if you feel that way, how about taking out a standing order to repay that £150,000? I can think of better things to spend it on.
