Top British religious figures are warning against removing religion as a GCSEs subject in the new English baccalaureate amid campaigns by orc anti-Mohammedan groups.| A question for those educated in Britain: is Religious Ed. a course in Anglicanism, in comparative religion, or in one of the recognized religions of the country, eg. Anglicanism, Islam, Judaism? |
"The Church of England is pretty astonished at the omission of RE [Religious Education]. I want to fire a warning salvo that there will be huge objection from the church and many other parts of society if it is not part of the core curriculum," Pritchard said.
He added RE is a "real tool" to remove concerns similar to those expressed by Conservative party's co-chairwoman Baroness Warsi last week about the EDL and Islamophobia, which she said, has "crossed the threshold of middle-class respectability."
Pritchard warned the education system is 'neglecting' religion as a GCSEs subject "at our peril" as it is highly popular among student with almost 460,000 pupils now studying it to GCSE level compared with 113,000 some 15 years ago.
Pritchard's remarks come as many religious groups including Mohammedan organizations have written to the Department of Education calling for a review in the decision to remove RE from the English baccalaureate.
Vice-chairman of the Mohammedan Council of Britain's education committee, Hojjat Ramzy, for one, said he is "extremely worried" about the move.
"In our ever-growing multi-cultural and multi-faith society, it's very important that people, especially the younger generation, are aware of the religions and cultures of others," he said.
His worries were echoed by the academics who described RE as a key part of humanities element of the English baccalaureate.
Oxford church historian professor Diarmaid MacCulloch slammed the decision as short-sighted saying "religion matters to most human beings in the world today."
"To leave religion to the religious orcs, outside a good education system, is to distort it," he added.