Dear Editor, This new Education about Religions and Beliefs and Ethics (ERBE) programme being introduced into primary schools, will expect little children to explain and defend their faith, something well educated adults have difficulty with in our present secular surroundings.
It is however much worse than that. All religious beliefs will be viewed through secular/atheist eyes as interesting curiosities of human behaviour, strange cultural phenomena.
This is not going to cause ‘difficulties’ in faith schools – this will totally finish them off!
You can’t teach atheism in a faith school. (Or teach warfare in a Quaker school, hedonism to Stoics…) Faith and atheism are diametrically opposed.
Parents and teachers need to be made aware of what the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is attempting to introduce into our faith schools. They need to complain directly to this council and not answer the beguiling and totally misleading consultative questionnaire to be found on the internet.
Otherwise aggressive secularism will take over completely.
Yours etc.,
Bríd Ní Rinn,
Corrachoill,
Co. Chill Dara.