State schools, collective worship and confused expectations
by Helen Hall, Christian Today:
Oxfordshire parents Lee and Lizanne Harris are taking their children’s primary school to court over what they perceive to be discrimination and indoctrination.
In short, they object to the religious, Christian content of assemblies, and the lack of educational value in the alternative provision for children whose parents opt out. No doubt there is a complicated story behind the headlines, but one issue at play appears to have been confused expectations on the part of the Harris family.
Firstly, as the school rightly point out, what they have been doing is not merely legally justified, it is in fact required by legislation. Publically funded schools which are not designated “faith schools” are required to hold a daily act of worship which is “wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character”, whilst faith schools are in fact subject to different regulations.
Although this might sound counterintuitive at first, it would obviously make little sense to provide for the possibility of Jewish or Sikh faith schools, but demand that they offered daily devotional time for Christians.
“Faith schools” will have a defined religious ethos which may relate to Christianity or any other faith, whereas non-faith schools have a softly Christian character.
This soft Christian character is the default position, rather than a form of neutral secularism. Obviously, there is ample room for debate on whether this is desirable, but at the present time it is crystal clear where the law stands.
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