Fascist nutcase Sue-Ellen Braverman, who calls herself Suella presumably in order to avoid any confusion with Sue-Ellen, the drunken spouse of fictional Texan oilman J.R. Ewing (one for the teenagers, there), has confirmed that if The Great British People vote for full fat fascism in the next General Election they will force schools to make their pupils sing hymns and the National Anthem every day at school. There will be “consequences” for schools who don’t comply, which will include public floggings and, in the case of repeat offenders, beheadings. During a time in history where hardly anyone believes in God, here comes Reform UK Party Ltd to brainwash us into believing. What could possibly go wrong?
Christian Nationalism is a relatively new development for this septic isle. And it’s a calculated effort by the far right in order to counter what they feel is some kind of Muslim takeover. I am not sure whether the likes of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who calls himself Tommy Robinson, or the Fagash Fuhrer Nigel Farage, really do have deep religious convictions but they have decided it would be politically advantageous to have God on their side. Given what an unpleasant character the God of the Old Testament was, perhaps it’s not surprising the far right have warmed to him.
I can’t help thinking that the best way to react to growing influence from religious fanatics, or maybe just political fanatics pretending to be religious, is not to get into competition but to encourage the country to be more secular. By all means believe in the God of your choice – there are so many to choose from, after all – but in so doing you get no special rewards or treatment. You don’t have any religious schools, you don’t engage in the cruel killing of animals in the name of religion, you don’t live by a law other than the law of the land.
Religion should be taught at school, but not as a stand alone subject. It should instead be taught as part of history lessons, as factually as possible, covering all religions and Gods and then allow the student to make up their own minds about whether any of the teachings are true (they aren’t). But what the fuck is Braverman doing, demanding we force God down the throats of young children? I don’t think you should force anything down children’s throats, never mind God. It’s absurd.
Things are bad enough already, with England and Wales being almost unique in the democratic world in requiring every state school without a religious character to hold a daily act of ‘broadly Christian’ collective worship. While this is largely ignored these days, instead of firming up the law on forcing God upon children, we should be stopping schools indoctrinating them in the first place.
I was forced to listen to religious nonsense throughout my school days but fortunately I was not raised by a particularly religious family. They weren’t outwardly agnostic or atheistic either. God was never talked about. I believe that enabled me to make up my own mind about the non-existence of God on the rational basis provided by evidence. Allow children to make up their own minds and religion dies. It is not a coincidence that children always end up worshipping the same God as their parents. It is not hard to see how that happens.
Keeping God out of the school hall and the classroom is more important than ever, especially when those leading the charge towards proselytisation happen to be the unhinged wackos and thugs on the far right fringes of politics. And if Suella Braverman thinks something is a good idea, you can be sure it isn’t.
