British Sociologist Asks 'Why Shouldn't Faith Schools Criticize Gays?'

A British sociologist has denounced a recent effort by the United Kingdom Department of Education to investigate religious schools and their views on homosexuality.

Neil Davenport, head of Sociology at the JFS Sixth Form Centre in London, wrote a column on spiked-online.com Thursday asking "Why shouldn't faith schools criticize gays?"

"In a secular society that is supposedly committed to freedom of religion, the really outrageous thing here is that MPs and shrill campaigners are meddling in the values being taught in faith schools," wrote Davenport. "The accusation that faith schools are practising intolerance seems breathtakingly unconvincing, not to mention hypocritical, when one considers that militant atheists are themselves being intolerant of traditional and religious communities and their belief systems."

Davenport went on to argue that the investigation of religious schools on the issue of how "anti-gay" their curriculum might be was "an attack on parental autonomy."

"By investigating how faith schools teach sex and relationships, officialdom is in effect questioning the values parents want to instil in their kids," wrote Davenport. "Not content with policing the nutritional content of parent-made lunches, now campaigners demand that the moral content of lessons chosen by parents should also be vetted or even outlawed by state snoopers." Read more