Sir, – A report on how to advance pluralism in Irish education has said that "Crucifixes in schools should be joined by other religious artefacts" as a way of "celebrating diversity" ("Call for school crucifixes to be joined by artefacts from other religions", July 2nd). Is now not a good time to just remove religious iconography from schools? That way everyone is included because nobody is left out. Specific religious indoctrination belongs at home and in churches, not in schools.
Apart from that, where does the list of “other artefacts” end? The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or Pastafarians, worship His Noodliness. Can they now rightfully expect to see their artefact, the colander, to appear on school walls too? – Yours, etc,
RICHARD MORTON,
Coppinger Glade,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – The proposal to include other religious symbols in schools is a fudge. While there is nothing wrong with learning about other religions and cultures, tokenism is not the solution. There should no be religious symbols in schools, other than those that individuals choose to wear themselves.
The Catholic Church just cannot let go of the symbolic power of a crucifix in every school, or indeed every classroom. Although, during my time at St Kevin’s CBS (1980s) in Ballygall Road, the statue of Mary did little to impress church values on me. The class used to play games with it, throwing the duster at it to knock if off its perch and then running to catch it before it hit the ground. Not exactly what the Brothers had in mind.
The Catholic Church should just remove its symbols from our schools and not give students extra symbols for target practice. – Yours, etc,
GEARÓID Ó LOINGSIGH,
Calle 12,
Bogotá,
Colombia.
Sir, – The 40 pages of the progress report on the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector missed a key point. Jesus of Nazareth left his followers a sign for all to “know that you are my disciples” (John 13:35) and it wasn’t an artefact. It was that they “love one another”. – Yours, etc,
DAVID WILSON,
National Team Leader,
Agapé,
Clarinda Park North,
Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.