News

A Protest the Pope march and rally will take place in Central London on 18 September. See the Protest the Pope website for details. If anyone from Suffolk is planning to go could they please let us know?

Ekklesia, the liberal Christian organisation, has published a report on the BBC's Thought for the Day that "challenges the terms of the current controversy over BBC Radio 4’s flagship ‘God slot’ by actually analysing its content – with some surprising results." See their website for more.

BHA President Polly Toynbee tackles Labour leadership contender Ed Balls about his support for faith schools in a video on the Guardian website, about 10 minutes in.

Christina Patterson of the Independent has a go at multiculturalism, female genital mutilation (FGM) and bad manners, and I say "Hear hear!".

Click on the links for more.

A few of the stories that have caught my eye on the Interweb this week:

* As an antidote to the depressing news that a significant proportion of British people think that creationism ought to be included in school science lessons, we can celebrate a development in education. Evolution will be in the national curriculum for primary schools when the new version is published soon. Andrew Copson from the BHA wrote in the Guardian:

The new primary curriculum, together with the 2007 government guidance that prohibits the teaching of creationism and intelligent design in science lessons, should put English schools in the forefront of education about evolution. Coming in the month which marks the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species, and at a point when good science education is a matter of urgency, it could not be more timely.

* We will have to remain vigilant, however, when loonies of all sorts seek access to our classrooms. The Times Educational Supplement reported a couple of days ago that ...

A school initiative that trains children in “energy therapy” has been criticised as unscientific by two senior academics.