Introduction

In a book recently published by Routledge (The Future of Publicly Funded Faith Schools), I pointed to the increasing and often hostile objections to the continuation of financial support for Faith Schools within the State system of education. It is now commonly argued that in a secular society there is need for a secular system of education, one which does not discriminate in admissions to state-funded schools on the basis of a religious faith. Within a secular system there would doubtless be a place for some form of religious education, but not one which is based on a particular set of religious beliefs. Indeed, the 2017 Commission on Religious Education for England and Wales recommended that the subject should be renamed as ‘Religion and World Views’, enabling young people, in their preparation for life in modern society, to have knowledge about religious and non-religious world views but without commitment to (or encouragement to be committed to) any one of them.