Letter to Courier (19 Feb 04)

This was sent in response to the Courier article “high hopes for new school” in edition 12 Feb 04. (See “what the papers say”). Apparently they had to edit a small amount out to get it into the paper. This is the full version.

I wish to comment on last week’s article, “High hopes for new school”. I find it amazing David Vardy can say that knocking down then rebuilding Thorne grammar school “will do more for the regeneration of Doncaster than the proposed international airport”. Am I alone in believing this statement to be a gross exaggeration?

Contrary to what he says, regeneration has nothing to do with indoctrinating children with the Vardy Foundations extreme version of “biblical truth”. Sure, you can change attitudes towards work & enterprise so that children leave school with a greater determination to lead more productive lives. But this is something which can be taught without reference to religion of any description.

Thorne has in the past experienced high levels of unemployment due to the closure of traditional industries, but things are now improving. New industries are bringing better jobs & opportunities. These are the sorts of things that bring wealth & a better way of life. The religious beliefs of the population or lack of them are completely irrelevant.

John Burns asserts that forcing children to pray each day will have a calming, civilising influence. Personally I would have thought the simple act of getting ready for & attending school would have been sufficient to do that, without wasting time on irrelevancies. However, perhaps the children should be asked to spend a little time each day in silence, reflecting on the suffering inflicted on the human race over the last two thousand years as a result of the activities of religious extremists, of which the conflict in Northern Ireland is just the tip of a massive iceberg. Or perhaps reflect on the hardships of their distant ancestors who somehow managed to survive in the incredibly harsh conditions of the last ice age. And who by doing so have allowed us the gift of life we now enjoy. Yet have been repaid for this by the likes of the Vardy Foundation, whose creationist teachings deny their very existence, in effect purging them from the history books.

It should be noted that whilst there has been growing & well publicised unease about the activities of the Vardy Foundation, none of this is apparent in any official statements made on the subject. I contrast this to the public enquiry into Finningley Airport where all the issues were examined rather than just brushing anything negative under the carpet.

But not all local authorities are as inept as Doncaster & in Wales a similar move by the Vardy Foundation met with so much resistance that they backed down. (& came here instead!). This led one of the supporters of the scheme, the Reverend Richard Harrison, to spit out this little gem: "If you bring up a generation and teach them that they've evolved from primordial swamps, soon you will develop a generation that is totally self-centred and liable to erupt into mindless violence.”

There is a lot more I could add, but if you have internet access then I am developing a website on the subject at blackshadow.co.uk. I also suggest a visit to www.darwinwars.com/lunatic/liars/layfield.html where a speech by a teacher at a Vardy Foundation school is recorded. Here is just a tiny sample:

“If the Bible really is the Word of God - and the internal evidence is overwhelming - true Science will always agree with it.” Science teachers should “Note every occasion when an evolutionary/old-earth paradigm (millions or billions of years) is explicitly mentioned or implied by a text-book, examination question or visitor and courteously point out the fallibility of the statement and, wherever possible, give the alternative (always better) Biblical explanation of the same data”.

And what was the teachers position, was it in RE for instance? That would have been bad enough but at least understandable. No, he was Head of Science

Alan B.

Harold Mason replys (4 mar 04)

I wish to reply to Alan Bellis’ letter (View-point, February 19). He outlines his unease about the Vardy Foundation’s plans to establish a new school in Thorne.

It seems clear that Mr Bellis is an atheist and this, therefore, affects his view on events both past & present.

I would acknowledge that religion has much to be ashamed of regarding what has transpired down the centuries. At the same time most fair minded people would realise that Christians have made a tremendous contribution to the advancement of civilization in the western world.

Most of the great political reformers and many prominent pioneers in the realms of health and education have been people with deep rooted Christian convictions.

I would ask Mr Bellis if his fellow atheists have made a similar impact for good?

As far as the Vardy Foundation are concerned, they already operate one school – the Emmanuel Academy in Gateshead. The children attending are not handpicked and the school has operated long enough to demonstrate beyond doubt what outstanding results can be achieved when a Christian ethos pervades the school.

If this sort of success story can be repeated in Thorne then we have nothing to fear.

I understand that, while I have never visited the Emmanuel Academy, visitors are welcomed and granted freedom to speak to pupils and staff. Perhaps Mr Bellis would care to join me on a trip there in the near future?

Harold Mason.

My Reply Back (11 MAR 04)

I wish to reply to Mr Mason’s recent letter.

Yes, Christians have made important contributions to the advancement of our civilisation. However, given that in the past the western population were nearly all Christian it would be a surprise if this were otherwise.

Not only was the population mostly Christian, it was also a good idea not to speak against it, as the poet Shelley found out when he was booted out of Oxford University for being an atheist.

Entering the phrase “Famous Atheists” into an internet search engine returned hundreds of names. Where do you want me to start?

The success of Emmanuel School, Gateshead, can be readily explained by factors that have nothing to do with the Urban Myth of its “Christian Ethos”.

The pupils there have a longer working week & parents sign a strict contract with the school, which enforces compliance & discipline. The school is also 3 times oversubscribed, allowing them to pick the best pupils for this Christian supremacist’s propaganda war.

Faith Schools discriminate against parents who do not want their children indoctrinating with religion, as well as employees who do not share the required religious outlook. For example, I found a school advertising for a technician, who had to be, “A practising member of a Christian Church or another world faith”.

Many people are starting to get very worried by this sort of thing & it is something I could never endorse. I therefore decline Mr Masons offer to visit Emmanuel School.

Finally, King’s Academy, a school recently taken over by the Vardy Foundation, has just banned Harry Potter books from its library on the grounds they are satanic. This is something that will be repeated at Thorne. See blackshadow.co.uk for further details.

Alan B.

Comment: The opening paragraph was botched to “I wish to reply to the Vardy Foundation to be set up in Thorne”. And yet again the website details were left out. This is in spite of the fact that I went out of my way to keep the letter short so there was no excuse to remove them.

Mr. Gilliland also replied to Mr Mason with the following: (11 Mar 04)

Regarding the Viewpoint article (March) - School will have positive impact.

I quote from the article, “most of the great social and political reformers and many of the prominent pioneers in the realms of health and education have been people with deep rooted Christian conviction.”

To this should be added of yesteryear. As an atheist I do not fear the Vardy Foundation or Christianity but see it positively as offering the people of Thorne a decent education which can open up a whole vista of intellectual life.

Timothy Gilliland.

Comment. Well thats very sporting of Mr Gilliland. I wonder if I were ever to win the lottery & use a couple of million (10 percent) of it to take over the local school with an atheistic ethos (Darwin Academy), that misused the RE lessons to instill a mistrust of the bible; would a Christian write a letter supporting me? Also, contrary to the impression given, there is already a perfectly good school in Thorne capabable of providing a decent education for the inhabitants.

Concerns over academy (25 Mar 04)

I, Like Alan Bellis (Viewpiont March 11), have concerns over the Vardy Foundations plans for Trinity Academy at Thorne.

If parents choose a Church of England or Roman Catholic school for their child they are opting for a particular ethos. This is not the case for Thorne.

On September 1, 2005 all the pupils from Thorne Grammar School (a non-denominational LEA school) will transfer to Trinity Academy, an independent school with a well publicised heavy Christian ethos.

In an LEA school parents can withdraw their child from religious education and collective worship if they wish.

When the Academy chairman John Burns outlined the plans for the academy to the Thorne/Moorends Town Council last June, I asked him if parents would be allowed the same opt-out at the Academy.

He immediately said that parents would have the right to withdraw their children from religious education and collective worship.

As long as the Vardy Foundation abides by John Burn’s promise, the parents of Thorne/Moorends will have nothing to fear from the imposition of a Christian ethos.

They will be able to reject it by withdrawing their children from the key components of that ethos.

Coun Tony Brookes

Thorne/Moorends Town Council.