Free Church minister accuses humanists of ‘fundamental dishonesty’ over religious observance opt-out campaign

Sep 20, 2016 by

by Janice Burns, The National:

A LEADING Free Church of Scotland minister has accused humanists of being “fundamentally dishonest” over their legal challenge to give pupils the right to opt out of religious observance in Scottish schools.

The former moderator of the Free Church of Scotland hit out at claims by the Humanist Society Scotland (HSS) that the Scottish Government’s refusal to update guidance in the wake of the UN review meant ministers had potentially acted unlawfully.

Rev David Robertson, who is also director of the Solas Centre for Public Christianity, said: “I think what the Humanist Society is doing is disingenuous and fundamentally dishonest. My view is they want to get rid of Christianity, and in fact all religions, from the Scottish state education system altogether. That is what they are working towards. I noticed when I looked on the Scottish Secular’s website there was delight, like ‘oh, get rid of the whole thing’.

“I think this is their first step towards doing that. I think that the Scottish Government has a legal right to have these acts of worship because they’re not compelling anyone because people can withdraw. I think it is part of an ongoing campaign to try and remove Christianity, in particular, from schools in Scotland.”

He insisted that if the humanists want their own schools then they should have them but he warned schools that were handed over to the state from churches would need to be given back.

Robertson added: “Humanists are always looking for some way to try and exclude anything that doesn’t fit their point of view. I think there should be more Christianity in schools, not less.

“Remember that the Scottish state education systems were split into Catholic and non-denominational, and all churches handed over all their schools to the state on the condition they would continue to be basically Christian schools.

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