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Faith schools lead to segregation and therefore are a problem, see Northern Ireland. Selection is based on the religion parents give their kids (it's not that you can choose) leading to kids being segregated from a very young ago.
Secular education on religion including everyone's festivals (sugar fest, lent, easter, christmas etc.) yes please.
Living in Northern Ireland I see the toxic influence of religion. DESPITE most people of course not being bigots it skews public policy and leads to bad sex-ed, shaming of LGBT people and women and a lot of other issues.
We have creationism in schools. What rot! And those things unfortunately come from religion.
Despite any religion having moderate streams (the Islamic world used to be a world leader in science hundreds of years ago until a regressive doctrine took over, Protestantism also fosters some origins of scientific thought) the nasty dumb ones take over. And again the Tories let it happen with their "education" minister.
However, we are all entitled to our beliefs and I see a lot of stereotyping which helps absolutely nobody. I probably have more in common though with a left liberal secular muslim than a right wing gun toting atheist... :)
JWestland-
DESPITE most people of course not being bigots
Seriously, you keep saying this - which I guess may be true in circles in which you mix, leading to a little confirmation bias. Try scratching the surface a little, and examining the communities in NI you're less familiar with - potentially the older, less urban, less educated sections of the population?
What proportion of NI's MPs vote consistently for bigoted/against liberal policies? How many of them stand proudly on bigoted manifestos? People vote with their own prejudices, and NI has plenty more than most places.
In NI, you'll rarely meet people who aren't lovely, friendly and welcoming. That doesn't mean they don't have deep-seated discomfort with anything outside of the culture which they have been brought up in (generally conservative, often influenced heavily by religion). You may be happy where you are, but stop kidding yourself that it's better than it is.
kl
I don't think we should stop funding faith schools. I don't think 'faith' or religion in themselves are the problem. Infact I think it is essential we don't lose touch with old texts like the bible and the koran which are the basis, directly or indirectly, of alot of modern thinking. I know many people, myself included, who were educated in a religious environment went on to be atheists, or agnostics, with a healthy understanding of that with which they disagree. Hate speech can happen at any institution.
Yes, this is definitely something to aspire to. Alot of young, liberal, metropolitan people in the circles I move in take a dismissive attitude toward religion, which helps no-one.