Religion and a moral compass

Sir, – Bryan Sheridan (April 29th) admonishes Jacky Jones for proposing that the teaching of religion in State-funded schools should be replaced by the teaching of human rights ("We do not need religion to calibrate our moral compass", Second Opinion, April 26th).

Mr Sheridan proposes that this in itself would be a breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It is correct to say that imposing an educational ethos on children against the wishes of their parents is a breach of human rights. Such breaches are evident every day in Ireland, due to the near monopoly of Catholic schools.

However, Mr Sheridan should note that while all parents have a right to choose an educational ethos for their children, they have no right to insist that the State should pay for it. – Yours, etc,

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JOHN HAMILL,

Castleblayney,

Co Monaghan.

Sir, – I agree completely with Bryan Sheridan and the UN Declaration of Human Rights that parents have the right to choose the type of education their child should receive.

However, I disagree completely that this should be funded by the State.

Or will we reach the day where fundamentalist madrassas are being funded by the taxpayer? – Yours, etc,

JOHN DOYLE,

Enniskeane,

Co Cork.

Sir, – Your report “School manager warns of ‘moral vacuum’ ” (April 29th) quotes a Roman Catholic school manager as saying that dismantling the Catholic ethos of schools would leave children in a moral vacuum and in danger of “despair”, “nihilism” and “self-harm”.

This analysis suggests an extraordinary world where nothing of value exists beyond the Catholic Church.

Withdrawal of the Catholic ethos, and replacing it with classes in spirituality and morality, would open up the children’s minds, encouraging them to study different faiths, atheism and humanism. Most of all, it would teach them the pointlessness of sectarianism. – Yours, etc,

GARRY BURY,

Dalkey,

Co Dublin.