Inspecting your faith

Secularist/LGBT activists in Ofsted are using their powers to drive Christian faith and practice out of education. There is an urgent call for UK Christians to defend their religious freedoms

In February 2018 the Christian advocacy ministry, Voice for Justice UK (VfJ UK), made an urgent call for UK Christians to defend their religious freedoms which are under increasing attack. 

Secularist/LGBT activists in Ofstedusing their powers to drive Christian faith and practice out of education. The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a nonministerial department of the UK government, reporting to Parliament.1

VfJ UK highlighted a number of attacks against religious liberty in Britain, especially from Ofsted. These included the following:

May 2017, Orthodox Jewish School Vishnitz failed by Ofsted inspectors for failing to teach transgender rights to five year olds.2  

Some so-called ‘fundamentalist’ Christian schools also were reported as failed by Ofsted for not promoting respect for LGBT people and British values.3

The Jewish Yesodey Hatorah School in north London, was rated inadequate for failing ‘to teach certain protected characteristics of people defined in the Equality Act’4

In 2017, 49% of independent faith schools were judged ‘less than good’ or inadequate by Ofsted. According to the Regulator, part of the reason for the high failure rate has been the introduction of new standards three years ago that focus on leadership and ‘fundamental British values’.5

VfJ UK reported that gay rights group, Stonewall, is calling for secondary schools to adopt an LGBTInclusive curriculum across thirteen subjects, including Maths, Science, Geography and English. In class, teachers are being encouraged to discuss and promote gay sex as part of the lesson structure. In Maths, for example, teachers are encouraged to refer to LGBT people and different family structures. In RE, they are urged to look at religious texts and the different ways they can be interpreted. This is clear prioritization and promotion of LGBT values over and at the expense of other protected characteristics (namely religion) as set down in the Equality Act 2010.

LGBT Activists are not content just to protect their basic rights – and neither are their supporters. They want to radically transform our society and other societies across the world and dictate to us what we can and cannot believe in matters of faith and morality. This agenda includes destroying the traditional family and restricting religious freedom. To support Voice for Justice UK’s work, phone: 07933 305914 or Email: info@vfjuk.org

Ofsed Ambitions

Julian Mann, an Anglican vicar from Yorkshire, wrote an article for the Conservative Home website (conservativehome.com) warning of the dire threat to our freedoms in Britain today.  Published on February 5, 2018 and entitled:“Julian Mann: Make no mistake. This Ofsted plan is a threat to religious freedom.”His article includes the following observations:

“The level of apathy about the escalating threat from the state to freedom of speech and of voluntary association is breathtaking. One possible explanation for this indifference is that the state is currently targeting religious people, and most British people are not particularly religious.

“But a speech last week by the head of Ofsted should be of profound concern to all freedom-loving people in Britain, whether they are religious or not. Amanda Spielman is a campaigner for the regulation of Sunday schools. Her proposals demonstrate the vagueness typically adopted by the politically correct establishment whenever it goes into liberty-grabbing mode:

‘One of our greatest areas of concern is what is happening under the radar in socalled out-of-school provision. Out-of-school provision is a mainstay of the work of the church; indeed it is hard to think of a more British institution than a Sunday school. Similar positive activity groups exist in other faiths, providing extra-curricular activities, language training and spiritual instruction. I have no doubt they provide an enriching experience to the young people who attend them. But some other out-of-school settings operate less benignly. These institutions, some of which operate as illegal schools, use the opportunity to – in the words of the former Prime Minister – put “poison in the minds, hatred in hearts” of young people. They need to be tackled. That is why I am afraid to say it is a matter of regret that the Church has resisted changes in the law to allow Ofsted to inspect these settings.’ ”

Islamic/Secularist Threat 

The threat of Islamic extremism to the UK has been used as an excuse by secularists to try and restrict the religious freedom of Christians. It is a multi-purpose agenda and arguably one of its major purposes is the effective destruction of Christianity, Christian values and Christian influence in the UK. The Islamic threat to Britain is a very real one and Islamic theology teaches that Islam must eventually dominate every society in which it has a presence, eventually to dominate the entire world. Islam teaches its adherents not to assimilate with a Non-Muslim society, but to convert it. However, the secularist threat to Christianity in Britain is also very real. Hard-line secularists also wish to force their ideology on all people in the UK and to micromanage their lives.

Many Muslims and Secularists share a common hostility towards Christianity. For example, Pastor Paul Song, a highly successful volunteer Christian pastor at HMP Brixton, has been removed from his role by the newly appointed Muslim senior chaplain, after being accused of ‘extreme Christian views’. The senior Muslim chaplain reportedly told Song he wanted “to change the Christian domination” of the chaplaincy. (Readers can sign Christian Concern’s petition urging Pastor Song’s reinstatement through thus URL: http://citizengo.org/en/signit/156310/view

On 1 February 2018 the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) published an article entitled: “Parents, not teachers or politicians, should decide about children’s sex education, says poll.” This article is reproduced in full below:

“Will the government take note?

Most Britons believe that parents are best placed to decide when young children learn about sex, a new poll has found. There was also strong support for parents being fully informed on what their children are being taught on the subject.

The ComRes poll found that two thirds (65 per cent) of adults think that parents are the most appropriate people to decide when primary school children should learn about sexual activity and sexual orientation. Only 7% thought politicians were the most appropriate, with 66 per cent saying they are the least appropriate group to make that decision. Significantly, only 13 % thought teachers the most appropriate.

State or parents?

The findings are significant in light of the ongoing consultation the Government is conducting on the new primary school Relationships Education subject, and on secondary school Relationships and Sex Education.

Respond to the Consultation!

The Children and Social Work Act 2017 made Relationship Education a compulsory school subject in all primary schools, with no option for parents to withdraw their children from these lessons. The ComRes poll found that 51% of respondents thought that a parental opt-out should be available.

Parents must be at the heart

There was even stronger support for parents being informed about what is taught in school sex and relationships classes. Around 80 per cent of those polled agreed that schools should be “required to make the content of this relationships education available to parents before it is taught in schools”. Respondents also strongly supported schools notifying parents ahead of time if any external charity or organisation is “going to be involved in teaching this relationships education”.

Primary educators

The poll was commissioned by the Evangelical Alliance, who called on ministers to listen and not disregard parents. Dr David Landrum, Evangelical Alliance’s director of advocacy said: “Parents know their children best, and when it comes to teaching about relationships, they are clearly the right people to make the ‘what and when’ decisions about such issues.

This government should listen to these results and not try and ride roughshod over the will of parents.  “When it comes to teaching sensitive issues around sex and relationships, it’s clear that the role of the state and politics should be limited.”

To support SPUC’s campaign against abortion and their defence of family values, phone SPUC on 020 7091 7091.

1 http://www.citizengo.org/en/signit/156104/view

2 https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspectionreports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/138516

3 http://www .pinknews.co.uk/2016/12/21/christian-schoolsdowngraded-by-ofsted-over-homophobic-teachings/

4 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/educat ion-news/ultra-orthodox-school-private-faith-yesodeyhatorah-stamford-hill-rabbi-pinter-a7821556.html

5 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/nonassociation-independent-scho… mes-as-at-31-august-2017

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/nov/23/g rowing-proportion-private-faith-schools-fail-ofsted