People are using the word "Apologist" as if it is an insult....it is not. It is, with Christianity a field of Theology whose aim is to present a rational basis for the Faith and defend it against misrepresentation and erroneous positions ascribed to Christianity.
I am not really interested in getting into another pointless debate on just how misinformed about religion people are in general or arguing against points that have been discussed and dismissed ad infinitum...but I would like to make one point other than the one above and that regards Secularism itself.
Secularism is not, as some people both religious and otherwise seem to think, about promoting atheism or agnosticism over religion...it is about neutrality of all philosophical positions.
People seem to think that Secularism somehow defends the rights of atheists or is an extension of atheism, including many militant atheists and that is simply a misrepresentation of what Secularism is actually about.
Secularism is opposed to all forms of discrimination, all forms of privilege and is as opposed to the banning of the Burqa in France as it is to the sitting Bishops in the House of Lords.....
We have a choice to make in how far we wish the state in which we live and work to embrace secularism...I am conflicted on that as I see the point that secularism promotes in that Public decision making should not be influenced by purely religious motivation, and I include Humanism (and Atheism) in that....I also do not want to see the further erosion of the Traditions of this Country which are like it or not based firmly on a Christian History that led us to become this largely free society where we can have this kind of debate in the first place.
For example, we should be free to send our children to Faith Schools as well as free to send our children to Secular Schools....the provision should be about equality, not about one position over the other.
France is a good example when it comes to Faith Schools. France is a secular State, yet it spends significant Tax Euros on Faith Schools...all State Schools are secular in France, yet Independent Faith schools are funded centrally as well through Grants and "écoles sous contrat" to the state education system (in other words the State pays the Teachers)...around 20% of Schools in France are funded in this way and the vast majority of them are Faith Schools (mainly Catholic). The fees for these schools (Catholic ones) are largely symbolic as they are funded directly by the Catholic Church (as in the case with many UK Catholic Schools albeit to a lesser extent) and the State (via the aforementioned contract).
The interesting thing about this is that in recent years the Faith Schools have been outperforming similar State Schools and thus the provision for Faith Schools in France is growing rather than shrinking.
It is also important to the debate to mention that France does not teach Religion in State Schools, (it is not banned, only it takes place as an elective after-school activity and strangely many French State schools have a Chaplain, something you don't see very often in UK schools)... however there is a growing demand that Religious Awareness is taught in State Schools as it is increasingly becoming the position in France that there is a need for development of greater understanding between Frances different religions.
Anyway I shall let you get on with your
debate.
