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Time
to Stand UP!
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By
Azam kamguian In
my talk, I am going to argue for a secular system of education, for keeping
God out of classrooms and for the urgency of fighting for a secular Europe. We
have all been witnessing that in the recent past decades; European
governments have given their strong backing to faith schools and propose to
extend the number of faith schools across Europe. From north to south and
from east to west, they encourage the opening of new state – sponsored
faith schools including Islamic schools. Regrettably,
in most secular countries and in most atheistic societies where most people
are wholly ignorant of their religious observance, this trend is dominant
and there is a constant pressure from religion to gain or regain the power
and influence that was taken away from them. A whole generation that has
never entered a church in their lives, except perhaps to go for a wedding or
for a funeral, now is challenged by religion more and more in education, in
media and in legislation. In
the UK there is a state religion unfortunately. Queen, the head of the
country is the head of the Church of England, too, and there is an unholy
alliance between the church and the state. The Church of England is strongly
present in legislation, in media and in education system. One third of
schools in the UK are church schools and the Church of England aims to
establish a hundred new church schools and to take over 250 other
publicly-funded local authority ones. These faith based schools funded by
the state and controlled by religious bodies will give them the opportunity
to indoctrinate, to brain –wash and to discriminate in favour of their own
denominations in selecting pupils, staff and Governors. Another European
country; Norway has been particular violator of the liberties of
non-religious children and parents. In 1997 Norway introduced a new
compulsory syllabus for primary and secondary schools where children are
educated overwhelmingly about Lutheran Christianity. In
September this year, the very first state – funded Islamic school started
to work in France, the birthplace of secular education system. This school
was set up and funded by French government for girls from Muslim families
who resisted the secular education system. This is indeed a serious setback.
Long before France, Scandinavian governments have strongly supported and
subsidised Islamic schools. Islamic schools are in fact the most powerful
child abuse machinery. In Islamic schools, which have been growing fast,
children are being treated worth. They are deprived of their social
activities such as learning to play music, to swim, to mix freely with each
other and to enjoy their life and study. Girls are segregated, subject to
mandatory veiling; they are deprived of being playful and happy. In Islamic
schools children are alienated and humiliated. They lose their self-esteem.
They feel that they have been singled out and are different. Preventing
children from enjoying their social and civil rights such as education and
participation in social activities is a systematic child abuse and an
offence. It particularly isolates girls and makes their lives miserable. Yet,
this apartheid and misery does not stop here. It will extend to the
community and to the homes of these innocent children. To
extend Islamic schools among immigrant communities is a continuation of
European Governments’ policy of building a wall of segregation and social
apartheid around these communities to separate them from wider and
mainstream society, and aims at strengthening the most reactionary elements
such as controlling women and girls’ lives, imposing the veil on them, and
encouraging forced marriages and honour killings. In this way, the states
have allowed Imams and sheiks to speak for the immigrant community. And who
doesn’t admit this has hurt most women and children’s basic human
rights. Having identified religious leaders as the representatives of the
community, governments across the continent aim to give them access to the
mind of our children in the hope of silencing the very real demands for
integrating to the mainstream of the society and for a better life.
Of course, this couldn’t be done without an ideological
justification. Cultural relativism or respecting backward religious and
cultural values has been and continues to be a fancy cover for this ugly
reality that has been imposed on the immigrant community. Education
is the transmission of human values and civilisation and preparation of
children for complex responsibilities in their future lives. Education for
all must guarantee opening doors of opportunity to wider horizons than any
child's home environment. Segregated faith schools deprive boys or girls to
learn about human values, to internalise these values and to make real
choices as they grow up. Do
faith schools, as it has been claimed, teach tolerance and respect? Or do
they insist the sort of sectarian hatred that has some Muslims talking of
jihad and some Christians of Crusade; and that has some Protestants spating
at children from Catholic parents as they walk to their religious schools?
Neither Christian nor other religious schools teach respect for other
faiths. Each and every religious school starts to teach its pupils about the
superiority of its own belief and the inferiority of others. When
a school promotes a particular religion as the one true faith, what sort of
culture does that engender? How can schools which deny freedom also be
reasonably expected to promote it? The situation merely causes a crisis
inherent in marrying education and religion. If the youth dangerously get
ghettoized based on religion, the growth of Islamic fanaticism in schools is
not surprising. In an age and in countries of widespread secularism, it is
indeed shameful to force upon children ideologies that the majority of
adults have left behind. Now,
we should deal with another more important issue. Do children have religion?
How and in which process they have chosen to be the followers of this or
that faith? The truth is that religions are hereditary beliefs and opinions.
Children are labelled automatically as followers of this or that faith as
soon as they are born and as a result of a blind lottery. The outcome is
labelling the child as Muslim, Hindu, Protestant or Catholic, etc. It is not
acceptable to do this to children. But, sadly and unfortunately, the society
accepts this as a universal standard. Children
have no faith. They have not joined any religious sect. The fate of children
shouldn't be tied to the faith of their parents. Labelling children as
followers of religious sects is indeed child abuse. Society should protect
children and safeguard their rights. Society is duty bound to protect
children from the spiritual manipulation by religions and religious
institutions. Children
should be given the chance to learn, to question and to investigate. The
time for children to learn about religion is in later life. They go to
school to gain knowledge, not to become vehicle for dogma and superstition.
Religion should be completely separated from education. But, quite
understandably, the governments deliberately do the opposite. They set up
and hugely subsidize religious schools. They prepare the fertile ground for
the growth of superstition, fanaticism and religious hatred. Secularism
is the only answer!
Children
should be protected against the transgressions of religion and religious
sects on their rights. It is an offence to prevent children from enjoying
their social and civil rights such as a secular education, amusement and
participation in social activities specific to children. Society
has the duty to protect children and persons under 16 from all forms of
material and spiritual manipulation by religion and religious institutions.
Society should guarantee both freedom of religion and atheism. A complete
separation of religion from the state guarantees this separation and
protects children from manipulation by religions.
These
are the essential and necessary measures to ensure children rights, the
health of the next generation and development of the society. Faith schools cause deep psychological and physical harm to children. Religious education is indeed child abuse. Society is duty bound to put an end to this systematic child abuse. We
must keep God out of classrooms! Now
is the time for us to stand up and fight for a secular Europe! Adapted from the speech
delivered at the 2nd International conference of “Children First”, on 29
& 30 November 2003 in
Stockholm – Sweden, and also at
a seminar on children rights in Oslo – Norway, on 4 December 2003 |
www.middleastwomen.org