Religion in school

Where parents can be given choice, I favour the availability of schools of diverse ethos and philosophy. However, if a single school is to serve the entire community, diverse world views, moral principles and religious beliefs should be presented to pupils, by genuine proponents.

Robert Canning (Letters, 7 August) mistakenly concluded: “That means doing away with assemblies and services in which the supernatural beliefs of Christianity” “are presented as though they were fact”.

But this is a perfect example of what I recommend. Typical of the secularist to regard the exclusion of Christian messages as the route to making schools places of “open and stimulating debate, offering pupils the opportunity to engage with a range of world views and philosophies”.

In many, if not most, schools, a pallid veneer of Christianity may be evident in assemblies, but the core values and philosophy of the education offered are decidedly secular and liberal.

Steuart Campbell’s claim (Letters, same day) to have been “trapped” in Christianity is melodramatic. A resident in a 
harshly persecuting Muslim majority country with appalling apostasy laws might validly make this claim, but not Mr Campbell.

Richard Lucas

Broomyknowe

Edinburgh