The Alliance Defending Freedom in the United Kingdom says a new bill that would force schools in Wales to teach humanism gives the state control of a child’s education.
According to The Christian Post, the bill, called the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill, “transfer(s) the right of parents to decide their child’s best interests about sex and religious education to the State,” said Elizabeth Francis, a legal officer for human rights group Alliance Defending Freedom.
Francis wrote in a column for The Conservative Woman that the bill doesn’t allow “the previous statutory right” of parents to choose to keep their child from certain classes.
“The changes should concern parents who believe that they should have the primary authority to make decisions about their child’s education and best interests, especially in relation to mature or sexual content,” she said.
The bill changes the term “religious education” to “religion, values, and ethics” and includes the study of humanism alongside Christianity.
“The Welsh Government ignored two public consultations which clearly opposed these changes,” the Institute’s Wales Officer, Gareth Edwards, said. “In the last census only 815 people said they were humanists in the whole of Wales. Why have they been handed such influence over the content of religious teaching in schools?”
However, the group that supported the bill, Wales Humanists, said they are glad to see the study of humanism part of the curriculum.
“We are absolutely delighted that the Senedd has passed this bill and that, after many years of campaigning by Wales Humanists, humanism will be put on an equal footing with religions throughout the curriculum,” Kathy Riddick of Wales Humanists said in a statement. “This is a huge success for inclusive education and Wales is very much leading the way. We congratulate the Government for its achievement.”
According to The Christian Post, the bill, called the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill, “transfer(s) the right of parents to decide their child’s best interests about sex and religious education to the State,” said Elizabeth Francis, a legal officer for human rights group Alliance Defending Freedom.
Francis wrote in a column for The Conservative Woman that the bill doesn’t allow “the previous statutory right” of parents to choose to keep their child from certain classes.
“The changes should concern parents who believe that they should have the primary authority to make decisions about their child’s education and best interests, especially in relation to mature or sexual content,” she said.
The bill changes the term “religious education” to “religion, values, and ethics” and includes the study of humanism alongside Christianity.
“The Welsh Government ignored two public consultations which clearly opposed these changes,” the Institute’s Wales Officer, Gareth Edwards, said. “In the last census only 815 people said they were humanists in the whole of Wales. Why have they been handed such influence over the content of religious teaching in schools?”
However, the group that supported the bill, Wales Humanists, said they are glad to see the study of humanism part of the curriculum.
“We are absolutely delighted that the Senedd has passed this bill and that, after many years of campaigning by Wales Humanists, humanism will be put on an equal footing with religions throughout the curriculum,” Kathy Riddick of Wales Humanists said in a statement. “This is a huge success for inclusive education and Wales is very much leading the way. We congratulate the Government for its achievement.”
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
Answers in Genesis explains that although “humanism” has attempted to be portrayed as “non-religious” and purely driven by logic, that is far from the truth.
“Humanists consider man to be the measure of all things.” AiG states. “That is, the human mind is considered to be the ultimate standard by which all claims are judged. Humanism is a religious system, the deity of the worldview being man himself. Humanists hold their views with zeal and conviction.”
Ken Ham goes on to further detail why “Secular humanism is actually a religion” and how they have sought to replace Christianity in schools with the religion of atheism:
Humanists believe the universe is self-existing and wasn’t created. Now, they believe that man, as apart of nature, was a result of the continuous process of material causes. Secular humanists believe that nature is all that exists. That there is no God, no spiritual dimension, no afterlife.
In short, they believe that man evolved from molecules by natural processes. No Supernatural is allowed. Secular humanists don’t believe that an absolute moral code exists. They believe that man makes up his own rules.
Now, secular humanists don’t want to be called “religious.” That because they don’t want to admit that teaching materialistic evolution is really a religious point of view, a view that tries to explain life without God. You know, if they did that it would be to admit that when public schools in America threw God out of the science classroom, they didn’t throw out religion, they just replaced God with an atheistic religion.
Sadly, what many church leaders don’t realize is that when they support eliminating God out of the science classes, they are supporting an anti-God religion: the religion of atheism.
