Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Atheist's challenge threatens Irish Catholic schools

Irish Catholic columnist David Quinn examines the odd case of an atheist who objected when his son was taught to pray—at a Catholic school. 

The situation in Ireland is complicated by the fact that Catholic schools receive government funding. 

The Irish constitution, as Quinn points out, requires the state to respect parents’ religious beliefs (or, presumably, lack of belief), and to fund appropriate schools. 

Thus the state is apparently obligated to provide schooling for the family involved in this case.

But must that schooling occur in a Catholic institution? 

If Catholic schools are required to accommodate families that object to religious influence in order to receive government funding, then they cease to be authentic Catholic schools. 

The case, Quinn notes, forces Irish Catholics to “wake up to the fact that their schools are under threat.”