Letter: Impact of Supreme Court ruling on RE and collective worship will be more complex for controlled schools

This landmark judgment declaring the current framework for Christian-focused religious education (RE) in Northern Ireland’s schools unlawful has generated mixed reactions.

Humanists welcomed the ruling, the Protestant churches expressed disappointment.

The Catholic Church’s response has been notably measured. For Catholic schools – where faith formation is central – the ruling is not expected to significantly affect their core activities. Churches may take encouragement from Education Minister Paul Givan’s assurance that he will not permit efforts to “drive out the Christian ethos from our schools”.

The implications are more complex for state schools, predominantly attended by Protestant children. Although this particular case focused on RE and collective worship rather than the Christian identity of controlled schools, the court’s judgment is likely to have a greater impact on this sector. It will widen the “nurture-gap” between Catholic faith schools and controlled schools.

Some church leaders have long argued that secularisation is accelerating within the state system. At the 2006 CoI General Synod, government policy was accused of deliberately diminishing the Church’s influence in school life. This Supreme Court decision will likely hasten that process, creating a deficit for Protestant parents seeking faith-based education within the state sector.

The judges ruled that it is the specifically Christian focus of RE that renders the current model unlawful. To make it lawful, RE would need to become pluralistic – incorporating other religions and worldviews and teaching all content in an objective, critical manner. Despite the existing legislation that requires RE based on the Holy Scriptures.

What might such an approach look like in practice? Consider the Christian celebration of the Incarnation: Jesus’ divinity is rejected by Jews and Muslims, questioned by humanists, and dismissed by atheists. Would an “objective” lesson require comparing the Qur’anic and biblical accounts of Jesus’ birth, critically analysing the Virgin Birth, and presenting multiple interpretations? Students could easily conclude that what they learn at home and in church is merely one option among many competing beliefs.

Does the Christian collective worship currently mandated in schools violate the same inclusive principles? If so, it literally beggars belief what “critical and plural” worship might even involve!

This pluralist/secular teaching method treats foundational doctrines as mere subjective “beliefs” and therefore conflicts with the convictions of many religious parents, who also have a recognised human right to education aligned with their beliefs.

The appeal was brought by a non-religious parent whose human rights the court found had been breached. However, in culturally Christian Northern Ireland, many parents support a Christian-focused curriculum. The judgment therefore raises difficult questions about minority views shaping public policy – prompting one judge in the Belfast Court of Appeal to wonder whether this case represents “the tail wagging the dog”.

David Armstrong, Co Armagh