One neuralgic issue for all schools today is how to address the question of marriage in Religious Education lessons and other school activities. Certainly those in favour of changing the traditional understanding of marriage as between one man and one woman (henceforth ‘marriage’) have largely succeeded in fighting the battle on the territory they have chosen. Supporters of marriage have constantly to respond to accusations that they are promoting attitudes which promote backwardness, bigotry and intolerance. It is clear that the issue of marriage is becoming enmeshed in wider
arguments about the role of religious ways of thinking in a secular
society.
The UK press tends to give a reasonable hearing to both sides of the argument. A recent article and associated comments in the Guardian exemplifies the mindset of some of those who wish to redefine marriage. Another article in the Telegraph (written by an atheist) states the case for Catholic schools to teach from a Catholic position and explains why Catholic schools will always support and teach the value of marriage.
What is of concern is how the state will deal with schools which cannot assent to the proposed new definitions of marriage - assuming it ever becomes law. I refer here principally but not exclusively to Catholic schools. Although we are often told that we live in a plural society, the Guardian article above is testament to how far we have to go to achieve a genuine pluralism in the UK.
This issue will be in the news for a while and educators are once again in the front line.
