Faith schools shouldn't receive government funding

Then personally I don't think we can be called a Christian country.

As for the UK being "secular", I don't know about that. The fact that our coins say that the Queen is, "by the Grace of God, Defender of the Faith" on them seems to suggest otherwise!

What scale would you create to measure Christian-ness, and what would the pass mark be on that scale to earn the status of a 'Christian country'.

Far more important to our status, surrely, is the fact that the Crown and Church are united, and that the Church plays a part in our Constitution?

That's how the world is? Well then, don't you think trying to change it would be a good thing? Perhaps you would prefer to try to change nothing in your lifetime and just accept things as the are?

Think you will find Britain's oldest foundations were actually pagan.

Well, it is a difficult way to measure but the Church still being part of the state is there for historical purposes, not because we believe in some violent ancient scripture. But having an official religion does not make the country religious per se. Otherwise, India would be an atheist state by definition.

Could always do an opinion poll, using the Likert scale, to see how 'religious' people appear to be. Whilst I heard some stupid statistic that 75% Britons 'identify' themselves as being a Christian I can't help but feel this identification is a load of tosh.

Could see how many people attend Church on a weekly basis over the years. If that drops over time then it is a good sign that Christianity is waning and, therefore, questions the statement that Britain is a Christian country.

It's not really multiculturalism though is it. Multiculturalism is different cultures existing together, rather than being divided up into their own specific school.

Think you will find as a unified nation we have always been christian. no time for pedantics.

All seems a bit silly to me! Why even attempt to measure something like that, and why does it really matter? The identification thing is ridiculous, yes.

You need to satisfy quite strict criteria to qualify (for want of a better word) for an abortion. It's just not really enforced that strictly. Modern wisdom seems to suggest that simply not wanting a baby now qualifies as psychological distress.
As Anglicans are quite divided over abortion as it is, I'm not entirely sure whether this is on its own is enough to prove we're not a Christian country, just because we allow something that many Christians (and many other religions) don't approve of.

Iran is an interesting example. Does Iran allowing alcohol for Christian and Jewish ceremonies mean, in your opinion, that it is not an Islamic state?

I would have considered "multiculturalism" to be more of a recognition, support and endorsement of a variety of cultures.
So a multicultural UK would be one where a Black Christian, Pakistani Muslim and White Jew (for example) would all feel at home.

The UK is meant to be a secular, multicultural society, so why are religious schools funded by the government?
Because schools find it hard to operate without funding

Faith schools encourage segregation and exclusion.They are allowed to promote the idea that sex outside marriage and homosexuality are wrong;
No they aren't
the government is supposed to be working to discourage homophobic attitudes. They are allowed to select pupils (and staff) based on religion;
Hence the name faith schools. They also don't completely discriminate anyway
one of the best primary schools in my area was a Catholic school, but I couldn't have gone there even if my parents wanted me to. My mum is a teacher and has been unsuccessful in applying for jobs at several RC primary schools, all of which hired a Catholic teacher instead.

If parents want their kids to get a religious education then they should be able to go private pay for it themselves, but it's not fair to spend taxpayers' money on something many of us are denied access to anyway.
The funding they recieve is not spent on instilling beliefs on children. If anything, faith schools get much worse funding than others, yet still have to follow the same curriculum. Your arguement is entirely based on the fact faith schools discrimate. How would making them go private solve any of the problems you mentioned?

The foundations of this country didn't begin from 1707.

the foundations of this nation emerged in christianity. obviously there were pagans on the land before, as there were pretty much everywhere. it does not make you look intelligent or well informed pointing that out.

Again, wasn't really a problem untill Islam came along.....

Then Muslim schools in Britain started poisoning young minds and teaching Islamic supremacy, and that Jews were "apes and pigs," as reported by Newsnight:


and.......


This is where the segregation is coming from. Wasn't a problem before, but now, to be fair and even handed, all faith schools are facing scrutiny, even though some of them have excellent academic results.

The UK is meant to be a secular, multicultural society, so why are religious schools funded by the government?

Faith schools encourage segregation and exclusion. They are allowed to promote the idea that sex outside marriage and homosexuality are wrong; the government is supposed to be working to discourage homophobic attitudes. They are allowed to select pupils (and staff) based on religion; one of the best primary schools in my area was a Catholic school, but I couldn't have gone there even if my parents wanted me to. My mum is a teacher and has been unsuccessful in applying for jobs at several RC primary schools, all of which hired a Catholic teacher instead.

If parents want their kids to get a religious education then they should be able to go private pay for it themselves, but it's not fair to spend taxpayers' money on something many of us are denied access to anyway.

If Anglosaxon pagans didn't contribute to the foundations of what is our country we will be speaking Danish. Learn your history.

The reason that people send their children to private school is mainly due to state school not being good enough. Despite actually paying taxes that pay for the child's school, people still decide to send their children to private schools. Instead of taking away private schools, how about making state schools better, if state schools were better, I'm sure people have better things to spend £18,000 on than something they have already paid for through taxes. Also, having private schools puts more pressure (or should do) on state schools. The solution is NOT to take away private schools but to improve state schools which the government is failing at. Also on what grounds are you going to take away provate schools? "Your child isn't entitled to a good education, he has to go to the school that WE tell him to go"?

I would also like to point out that I have not gone to a private school as much as I would probably of liked to, but am going to make sure that I work hard (Like anyone has the ability and opportunity to do) to enable my child to have a good education. I will not let the governments failure affect my child's life. Improve state schools and there would be no need for private schools. The problem does not lie in private school. This "your children doesn't deserve better education" argument doesn't work.

If someone rich was dying and he decided to spend a large part of his money on some private doctor being flown in from Switzerland, are you going to say to him "Sorry, but you are not entitled to a better doctor then everyone else, you have to go to your local NHS?"

I don't see how stopping the people providing the best education, e.g. the private schools, is making things better. It wouldn't save any money. That's just bringing down everyone to the lowest common denominator, which history has shown means that no one gets anywhere.

I'm all for better education. But dragging everyone down to the same low standard, that's not the way to go. Everything is never going to be completely equal. What you're saying is principally that everyone should have their legs cut off to appear the same height.