Obama ctiticises faith schools

Totally agree nanaej - just as it is here where I live - no private schools (only for expats) and no faith schools- and no religion as part of curriculum.

I so agree, nanaej.

Sorry if I've repeated what someone else has said. Only just realised there were 3 pages to this thread
Will read rest of thread now

I've just asked DiL who is American and a teacher.
All public schools (ie state-funded) in the States are secular.
There are faith schools, but they are fee-paying.
Unlike the UK.

I think that whilst NI is a particular case I believe all faith schools should be closed.

In my educational utopia all education would be in a good local school, state funded and run by well qualified professionals in partnership with the local community.

No faith /academy/free/grammar/comprehensive/ private /public schools just all through schools for children aged 6-18 serving the local community.

Children under 6 would be able to attend Nurseries either close to home or parents work place, again staffed by highly qualified and properly experienced professionals..#dreamscancometrue

I am glad she is in minority, Envious. I remember reading about lynchings when I was younger, and burning with anger. It is the very ignorant rednecks in the UK who are racist, too.

It's impossible to pontificate about segregated education in NI unless you have lived under that regime. I haven't and neither has Obama. I have, however, lived in the next worst situation: in the south-west of Scotland where my school was non-Catholic and the only time we met Catholics (we called them worse than that) was on the hockey pitch where it was all-out war. There was nothing specially religious about this hostility. It was no more nor less than tribalism, as an enlightened NI friend of mine explained it. This tribalism is exemplified best in Glasgow where the 'old firm' match used to be held on New Year's Day and police leave all over Scotland was cancelled. Not sure what happens now that Rangers have been relegated!

Greatnan,Ive always found Paula Deen an embarrassing cariature example of a women from Georgia.There is no excuse for her ignorance. The racism she shows died with my parents generation and only shows its ugly head with stupid people.Stupid people will always be somewhere. Lucky for her she has all the money she could ever need.

You're right feetlebaum. At my ex son-in-law's rugby club (all protestant Orangemen) their version of the National Anthem goes,

God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save our Queen,
NO SURRENDER - sung to the short musical link
Send her victorious etc., etc.

My daughter had her first baby in Downpatrick hospital which is mostly catholic and was given a private room (paid for by the local Orange lodge) as they didn't want her to mix with catholic mothers on the ward. They told her that her English accent would set her apart and it was 'for her own safety'

I can't tell you how much we would have objected to the marriage if we'd known what was in store for her but he was an absolute charmer to begin with and she loved him.

They have a long way to go in America - I have been reading about the cookery show presenter Paula Deen, who thought it would be a nice idea to dress negro men (only that was not the word she used) as slaves and have them serve at a wedding. She sees nothing wrong in racist jokes.

Re Northern Ireland - I feel that Catholic and Protestant are not in conflict over theology! These are labels, denoting people who want to be part of The United Kingdom,and those who would prefer to be part of a united Ireland.

Were it not for the appalling behaviour of both sides over the past forty years or so I might say that I have sympathy for both points of view. Just as well it isn't up to me, then.

Politics and religion combined make a poisonous brew. And yes -I have advocated the use of the term 'sectarian schools' - much more realistic than the fluffy 'faith' schools - talk about weasel words!

But that's what faith schools are, jings – segregated schools. Schools that segregate according to faith

Sadly Bags, it is much worse than that. They do not 'only' segregate according to faith (and so many in NI on one side of the other do not have faith apart from hatred) but on political, social, cultural and so many other lines. Religion is just an obsolete sort of background to all this. And in Glasgow even divide by football!!

Agreed. I think he's not in favour of anything that encourages sectarianism and I'm glad he's willing to say so.

Just read this thread. Whatever reason he has for making his speech, it isn't to do with being re-elected. He's in his second term.

hindus have god in different representations and forms...

My daughter lived in NI for ten years, jingle so we visited two or three times a year. It was difficult to understand the hatred between the Protestants and Catholics - this was in the late nineties and early noughties. The older people seemed to be entrenched in their views and we hoped the younger ones would be moving on but there was very little change that we could see.

jingle I don't think things have change in Ireland even if on the surface things look to have improved.

OK,j08 I see.

I've looked at your profile. You live in the US!

I was referring to merlotgran's point about segregation in Northern Irish schools. And talking about the general situation there.

Do you live in Northern Ireland? I wonder if there is still hatred amongst Protestants and Catholics there. I can't see that things would have changed much at grass roots level. Especially with the older people.

JO8, I'm a average "man" in the street,what do you want to know?

I would bet my bottom dollar that Obama would like schools to have a strong religious ethos.

Merlotgran yes. They are not there yet. But hopefully it's getting better. We probably don't know the whole truth about how things are for the average man in the street though. Bigots can't change that easily.

Sorry, I mean segregation.

No, he'd be happy with secular, non-religious schools. The parents and churches can do the religious stuff and the schools can do the other stuff.

Yes, from the catholic point of view, jingle but he alienated some of the hardline protestants and there is STILL a problem with integration in schools.