Atheism Central for Secondary Schools

"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modelled after our own - a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbour such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism."

Albert Einstein

Is believing in God a matter of faith?

Where do you think that evil comes from?

If God exists, then one should live according to His laws. If God does not exist, then what is the foundation of morals, ethics, honesty and charity?

What is a moral decision?

How do I know that I know?

Make sure your teacher does not require you to answer questions which discriminate against your atheist or agnostic viewpoint.

For example:

What idea do we have of God?

This question is unacceptable in its present form. 'We' is used in an inclusive sense and designed to encourage students to toe the religious line the teacher is promoting. If this is an essay question you should start by asking the teacher who 'we' are. Should the question read:

What idea do theists have of their god or gods?

or:

What idea do I have of god?

or:

Discuss the various ideas that different people have of their god or gods.

If the teacher does not clarify the point or becomes uncooperative your next action should be to complain in writing to the head teacher that you are the subject of religious discrimination by your teacher.

Unless you are attending a religious denominational school the teacher has no right to require you to speak or write as if you were a theist.

In the same way you should pull up your teacher if anything s/he says would be likely to cause offense, for example, to somebody who believes in a plurality of gods - or is a fundamentalist.

If your teacher says s/he does/did something because 'god told him/her' don't laugh. Just insist that your viewpoint is treated with respect.

If your syllabus does not include a comprehensive discussion of atheism and agnosticism you are clearly the victim of religious discrimination and should make this clear to the teacher. Humanism (humanists are atheists) is part of the syllabus on many UK religious courses (as a result of pressure form the British Humanist Association). If your teacher does not teach you about humanism (s)he may be breaking the rules of the local religious education committee. If the teacher always leans towards theism you should make it clear that you feel the teacher is biased. Ask the teacher to invite a guest speaker who is an atheist, humanist, skeptic or freethinker. If these terms have not been defined or discussed in your syllabus ask why.

Remember, what isn't on the syllabus is just as important as what is.