Dawkins Attacks ‘Alien Rubbish’ Taught in Muslim Faith Schools

MAIL ONLINE: Richard Dawkins has attacked Muslim faith schools, saying that they teach students 'alien rubbish'.

The noted atheist claimed that pupils were being taught to ignore scientific evidence in favour of following the Koran.

He said that he had even met a science teacher who believed that the earth was only 6,000 years old.

Mr Dawkins, a former Oxford professor who found fame as an evolutionary biologist before becoming a vocal opponent of religion, is a longstanding critic of all faith schools.

But he has said that Islamic schools are worse than others, as their teaching is more likely to be influenced by a religious agenda.

Talking to the Times Educational Supplement, he described a trip he made to an 'utterly deplorable' Muslim school in Leicester.

According to the Daily Telegraph, he said: 'Every person I met believes if there is any disagreement between the Koran and science, then the Koran wins.

'It's just utterly deplorable. These are now British children who are having their minds stuffed with alien rubbish.' Continue reading and comment » | Hugo Gye | Saturday, October 08, 2011

It's a great pity that our politicians don't have the courage that Richard Dawkins so obviously has. Perhaps this country would be run better then. Politicians, bereft of a backbone as they mostly are, just pander to Muslims, fearing for their lives, I suppose. The result is that ignorance and superstition just grow and grow. Eventually, it will lead us back to another dark age. – © Mark

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Nick Clegg: Faith Schools Should Teach Children That Homosexuality Is ‘Normal’
THE TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, has said that children attending faith schools should be taught that homosexuality is "normal and harmless".

In a pitch for the “pink vote,” he called on all the parties to prove that they supported full equality for homosexuals, and accused David Cameron, the Conservative leader, of being untrustworthy on the issue.

The Liberal Democrats support measures forcing teachers, including those working in faith schools, to implement policies to combat homophobic bullying, with lessons teaching that same-sex relationships are “normal”.

Mr Clegg said: “Crucially faith schools should have a requirement to have an anti-homophobic bullying policy at their school.”

In an interview with Attitude magazine, the Liberal Democrat leader also called for lesbians and homosexual men who have undergone a civil partnership ceremony to be given the formal and symbolic status of a “married” couple.

Rules which bar homosexual men from giving blood should be scrapped, and refugees who flee persecution on the grounds of their sexuality should receive an automatic right of asylum in the United Kingdom. >>> Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent | Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Even More Balls from Ed Balls! It’s Time Mr Balls Found His Balls!
Loophole: Girls studying at a Madrasah. Ed Balls is refusing to ban smacking in Islamic schools in Britain. Photograph: Mail Online
To look at these kids dressed like this in a British school is an affront to all that we stand for and hold dear! NO CHILD, even in Islam, needs to be dressed like this in a state of prepubescence. Not even in Saudi Arabia are children expected to dress like this before puberty. It's time for you to find your balls, Mr Balls! – © Mark

MAIL ONLINE: Schools Secretary Ed Balls has been accused of refusing to ban Islamic schools from smacking children for fear of upsetting Muslim 'sensitivities'.

Mr Balls was last week urged to close a legal loophole which gives teachers in Britain's estimated 1,600 schools associated with mosques the right to smack children - even though it is banned in other schools.

He refused, prompting claims that he is allowing an alleged 'culture of physical abuse' in some of the mosque schools - or madrasahs - go unchecked.

Smacking is banned in all State and private schools. However, it does not apply to madrasahs, where pupils usually study in the evenings or at weekends, because the ban exempts schools where children attend for less than 12.5 hours per week.

Lib Dem schools spokesman David Laws, who is spearheading the campaign to close the smacking loophole, said: 'The Government needs to legislate to protect children - not leave an opt-out simply because it fears some ethnic or religious backlash.'

He was supported by Labour MP Ann Cryer, who said it would be 'bonkers' if the Government did not act. She said: 'I suspect people are frightened of upsetting the sensitivities of certain members of the Muslim faith.'

A report just over a year ago warned that madrasah students had been slapped, punched and had their ears twisted.

Irfan Chishti, a former Government adviser on Islamic affairs, said that one madrasah student was 'picked up by one leg and spun around' while another pupil said a teacher was 'kicking in my head like a football'. Double standards row as Ed Balls refuses to ban smacking at mosque schools to avoid 'upsetting Muslim sensitivities' >>> Brendan Carlin | Sunday, January 17, 2010

New Dark Age Alert! MP Condemns Plan to Build Muslim Eton for Girls
Forerunner: Students at an all-girl Muslim school in Bradford. Photograph: Mail Online
MAIL ONLINE: A Labour MP has bitterly attacked plans for a Muslim ‘Eton’ for girls.

The college for 1,500 pupils would be both the largest Muslim faith school and the biggest boarding school in the country – larger than 1,330-pupil Eton.

Yesterday Gordon Prentice, MP for Pendle, near the school site in Burnley, warned that it could damage existing schools and colleges in the area and stoke community tensions.

‘The last thing we need is single-sex, single faith schools for girls,’ he told the Times Educational Supplement.

‘It pulls against community cohesion. It makes me weep to think so much time, energy and effort has gone into the community to get people to mix together. [This] goes against all public policy.’

The blueprint emerged after a proposal for a 5,000-place girls’ boarding school in Pendle was dropped amid public opposition.

The Islamic charity behind the Burnley project, the Mohiuddin Trust, insists its aim is to ‘strengthen inter-community relationships’.

It is in the process of setting up Mohiuddin International Girls’ College after purchasing the former Burnley College site for £2million.

The college would cater for girls of 16 and over and teach mainstream qualifications and faith studies.

The trust wants the school to cater initially for 500 students, expanding to 1,500. >>> Laura Clark | Friday, December 18, 2009

This Stupid, Irresponsible Government! Pupils Aged 11 to Learn about Gay Sex
TIMESONLINE: Compulsory sex and relationships lessons for 11-year-old children are to include classroom discussions on gay unions and civil partnerships. Secondary pupils will learn about contraception and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), while primary school children will learn about their bodies and friendships, a review of sex education has concluded.

The review was ordered in October after ministers announced that sex and relationships education (SRE) lessons should be made compulsory to help primary and secondary pupils to “navigate the complexities of modern life” and to ensure that children learnt their sex education from the classroom, not the playground.

The changes to personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) classes mark the culmination of decades of campaigning by sexual health organisations, who believe that the patchy nature of sex education in schools is helping to fuel a record level of teenage pregnancy and STIs in England. >>> Alexandra Frean, Education Editor | Tuesday, April 28, 2009

THE GUARDIAN: Faith Schools Free to Preach against Homosexuality

Government plans include sex education for all pupils / Catholic schools welcome clause on teaching 'values'

Sex education is to be made compulsory in all state schools in England but faith schools will also be free to preach against sex outside marriage and homosexuality, under government proposals.

The plans to make personal, social and health education (PSHE) compulsory from the age of five, published yesterday, include a clause allowing schools to apply their "values" to the lessons and another allowing parents to opt their children out on religious grounds.

It means that all state secondaries in England - including faith schools - will for the first time have to teach a core curriculum about sex and contraception in the context of teenagers' relationships, but teachers in religious schools will also be free to tell them that sex outside marriage, homosexuality or using contraception are wrong. Sexual health campaigners warned that such an approach could confuse teenagers, but Catholic schools welcomed the move. >>> Polly Curtis, The Guardian’s education editor | Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Faith Schools ‘May Breed Terrorism’
Separate schools for Muslims not only ‘may’ breed terrorism, but WILL breed terrorism. Islam is a supremacist ‘religion’. To give Muslims the chance to indoctrinate their children is a sure road to Hell! (The road to Hell is paved with good intentions!) This is one of Tony Blair’s stupidest policies. With this policy, he showed us that he understood absolutely nothing about the nature of Islam. We should never forget that school is a starting point for cohesion in society. - ©Mark

EVENING STANDARD: Faith schools that encourage religious segregation are sowing the seeds of terrorism, a leading expert claimed.

Professor David Canter came to the conclusion after leading a pioneering study which involved speaking to convicted Islamic terrorists about their lives and beliefs.

His findings indicate that the common Western view of terrorism emerging from deprivation and conflict is wrong.

Spiritual belief and attachment to a particular social group provided the two most important pathways into the world of terror, said Prof Canter.

The research also showed that far from being ignorant "pawns" or mentally disturbed, most terrorists were educated and intelligent.

Strict faith schools steered students towards terrorism by instilling in them a sense of exclusive spiritual and social identity, Prof Canter argued.

The professor, director of the Centre for Investigative Psychology at the University of Liverpool, said: "I have to say, and this is a personal point of view, that issues like faith schools are terribly dangerous.

"Setting up these divisions based on faith and religion is the starting point for people thinking of themselves as separate and distinct and part of some out-group." Faith Schools ‘May Breed Terrorism’ >>> | September 9, 2008

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Divisive Faith Schools Set for Expansion
BBC: The government has pledged its support for the principle of faith schools - with the prospect of many more Muslim schools within the state sector.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls and faith group leaders have formed a partnership - endorsing faith schools as a force to improve social cohesion in England.

Mr Balls says faith groups could raise standards in poorer areas, which may be through multi-faith academies.

But a teachers' union warns that faith schools can separate communities. Faith schools set for expansion (more)

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
British government backs faith schools

DAILY MAIL: CRAZY NOTIONS:
Muslim schools offered cash to become state-run

Mark Alexander