MP letter: Evangelism in schools

Stop inappropriate evangelism in schools

Writing to your MP can help to get the campaign to end inappropriate evangelism in schools on the political agenda and show this is an issue their constituents care about. We campaign in parliament as an organisation, and your support will bolster our case. It is quick easy and helps your MP represent you in Parliament.

Tell your MP that it is time to end inappropriate evangelism in schools.

Read our latest briefing on 'End inappropriate evangelism in schools' to ensure that you are up to date and well informed surrounding this issue.

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Name*:

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Message*:

Dear {{name}},

I am writing as a constituent to ask you to help stop evangelical groups using schools as part of their missionary work.

There is a growing problem with religious organisations visiting publicly funded schools, many without a religious character, to deliver religious education, school assemblies, relationships and sex education and pastoral work. These groups do not prioritise children’s education or welfare – their main aim is to convert impressionable young people to their religion.

In our survey of 300 schools, only 16% of schools had policies concerning the partisan promotion of religious or political beliefs by external speakers. No policies of schools surveyed requires parents to be informed of visitors in advance, and no policies clearly prohibited religious proselytising.

Children who are subjected to confessional materials with little or no opportunity of hearing differing views are denied not only their right to an objective and balanced education, but also their right to freedom of religion or belief. Inviting evangelists into schools, often without informing parents of the nature of the visit, also undermines the right of parents to raise their children according to their own beliefs.

The involvement of evangelists in school life is often facilitated by the anachronistic law requiring schools to hold daily acts of worship, which provides a foot in the door for organisations with the intent to proselytise. The ambiguity about the specific aims and purpose of religious education also provides an ideal environment for evangelical groups to exploit.

Worship and religious instruction should always be voluntary - forcing it on children via evangelism is a violation of young people’s rights. I urge you to support efforts to end evangelism in schools, and to call for all aspects of school life to be respectful and equally inclusive of every pupil, irrespective of their religion, belief, or background.

For more information, please see: https://www.secularism.org.uk/evangelism-in-schools/

I look forward to hearing your views on this matter.

Yours sincerely,

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MP letter: Evangelism in schools

Stop inappropriate evangelism in schools

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