British private schools that teach intelligent design as science will lose funding

Jonathan M. explains what happened at Evolution News.

Excerpt:

The British Guardian newspaper reports on recent developments in UK governmental policy on teaching evolution in free schools (which, though state funded, are normally not required to follow the national curriculum):

The Department for Education has revised its model funding agreement, allowing the education secretary [Michael Gove] to withdraw cash from schools that fail to meet strict criteria relating to what they teach. Under the new agreement, funding will be withdrawn for any free school that teaches what it claims are “evidence-based views or theories” that run “contrary to established scientific and/or historical evidence and explanations.”It appears that it is no longer merely religious notions that are being disallowed. It is nowall ”evidence-based views or theories” that run contrary to the current consensus paradigm.

[...]When one side of a debate is insecure enough to need to stifle dissenting viewpoints from being expressed, this legitimately raises doubts about the scientific robustness of the view being shielded from criticism. Whether Richard Dawkins and his ilk at the BCSE (British equivalent of the National Center for Science Education) and BHA choose to acknowledge it or not, there is a growing contingent of scientists who recognize a mounting body of evidence that militates against neo-Darwinian evolution. It can’t be ignored forever.

I’m actually shocked by this, because I thought that Michael Gove was a Conservative Party MP. I guess he’s not really that conservative that he supports conservative policies like school choice. Or maybe British conservatives are more like liberals, except a bit less liberal.

The decision to cut funding for private schools is being hailed by the Guardian as a victory for Richard Dawkins and the British Humanist Association, headed by Polly Toynbee. You remember them, don’t you? They are the two parties who refused to debate William Lane Craig when he was touring the UK looking for atheists brave enough to face him. (See the links below). The British humanist A.C. Grayling also chickened out of debating William Lane Craig. I don’t think that atheists are interested in debates and evidence at all – they seem to be more interested in forcing people to accept their views.

Why did Christians in the UK elect secular leftists so many times?

I often get into discussions with Christian apologists about the importance of understanding how Christianity relates to economics, politics, law and many other areas. One area where there is an obvious conflict is education policy. Christian parents don’t want their children being influenced by a curriculum designed by secular leftists for the purpose of advancing secular leftists causes and ideals.  The way that conservatives work against that is by opposing federal control of schools, so that what children learn is pushed back to the states and the municipalities. Conservatives favor local control of schools, and school choice, so that parents can have more control over what their children learn – not bureaucrats in Washington, Ottawa, or London. The Bible tells Christians what we should want, but it’s up to us to vote for the policies that will achieve those goals. We have to know what those policies are – by reading and studying the issues.

Frankly, the British people have (by and large) been voting to have big government to drain the pockets of private citizens and businesses for decades so that left-wing bureaucrats in the Labor party and now the Liberal Democrats, are making all the policy decisions. The bigger a government becomes, the more likely they are to intrude into your family – including your decisions about education. When you talk to leftists like Harriet Harman, they are quite up front about their social agenda – feminism, moral relativism, the destruction of the family, changing the definition of marriage, etc. So why put these people in charge of your children’s education? How does that serve God? It doesn’t.

So why did so many British Christians elect these secular leftists over and over again? The answer is that British Christians were swayed by the rhetoric of “social justice” to think that big government was “nice”. However, Christianity is not in the business of being “nice” through government-controlled redistribution of wealth. Christians favor individual charity and liberty – not redistributing wealth so that everyone is equal no matter what they do. And it’s not government’s job to provide security either. Individuals have to take responsibility for their own actions and make plans for their own education costs, health care costs, and so on. Stop empowering government to make your decisions for you – they are just going to take your money and then use it against you! Good government is small government – government that empowers the individual and the private business. Good government lets you decide what you are going to do with your life, based on your values.

Here is a trustworthy saying:

Whether we like it or not, the American wage earner and the American housewife are a lot better economists than most economists care to admit. They know that a government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.
– Gerald Ford

If you are a UK Christian, I would really recommend that you read something about free market capitalism, marriage, abortion, foreign policy, just war and the many other issues where the Bible has something to say. A very good book to pick up is Wayne Grudem’s “Politics According to the Bible“. Or you can listen to some of his lectures here, like this one and this one. A good basic book on economics and foreign policy like Thomas Sowell’s “Intellectuals and Society” would also be helpful. If you want someone British, then try reading Theodore Dalrymple’s “Life at the Bottom“. I posted links to all the chapters in that book here, so you can read it for free.

Related posts

• Video: William Lane Craig lectures coward Dawkins’ empty chair in Oxford
• UK Independent joins UK Guardian in call for Dawkins to debate Craig
• Atheist philosopher: Dawkins refusal to debate is cynical and anti-intellectual
• Richard Dawkins responds to Craig’s debate challenge in a UK Guardian editorial
• Richard Dawkins, A.C. Grayling and Polly Toynbee refuse to debate atheism
• Humanist Association president Polly Toynbee runs away from debate on God
• Coward A.C. Grayling and chicken Dawkins flee debate with William Lane Craig
• UK Telegraph on Richard Dawkins’ cowardly refusal to debate William Lane Craig
• Cowardly Richard Dawkins explains why he won’t debate William Lane Craig

Filed under: News, Compassion, Conservative Party, Department of Education, Education, English Socialism, Feminism, Free School, Intelligent Design, Labor Party, Labour Party, LIberal Democrat Party, Michael Gove, Postmodernism, Private School, Public School, Redistribution of Wealth, School Choice, Social Justice, Socialism, Tax the Rich, UK, United Kingdom, Wealth Redistribution