Sir, – Of course Diarmaid Ferriter is correct – the schools system is blatantly sectarian ("Schools system is blatantly sectarian", Opinion & Analysis, November 28th).
We have a schools system that is funded by taxpayers, but religious institutions – without a democratic mandate – are patrons of 96 per cent of primary schools. Moreover, these so-called “national” schools are licensed by this State, under legislation, to discriminate against its own citizens on the grounds of religion. This is provided for in the – get this – Equal Status Act. One can only imagine what an “Unequal Status Act” would look like – maybe it would contain derogations providing for equality?
Advocates of the status quo maintain that because the vast majority of people declared themselves to be Catholic, the majority therefore support a near-total monopoly of primary school patronage by the Catholic Church, school admission policies that discriminate against citizens on the grounds of religion and a disregard for such petty considerations as freedom of conscience, freedom of expression and freedom of religion. This considerable leap of faith is not supported by evidence. In fact the Ipsos MRBI “Family Values” poll earlier this year revealed that the vast majority of people surveyed said that children should have equal access to school places and that most people do not believe baptised children should receive priority for spaces in their local school.
Some insist that the solution is to build more schools, but unlike the schools patronage system, religious institutions do not have a near-total monopoly on the public finances (even if they did, I doubt equal access to education would be high on their list of priorities). This is about equality. This is about equality of access to education in a republic. Section 7 (3) (c) of the Equal Status Act, 2000, allows national schools to turn children away on grounds of religion. It is discriminatory, it is unfair, and it is un-Christian.– Yours, etc,
ROB SADLIER,
Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.
Sir, – The high rates of baptism among Catholics are undoubtedly due to the benefits that their church promises their members, but it's not just in the area of education ("Baptism: badge of identity, or passport to education?", November 30th). At a Catholic funeral I attended recently, it was said several times from the altar that the deceased was now in heaven because she had been baptised into the Catholic Church. The priest stated that it was at this point she gained the knowledge of how to be saved. The fact that this happened when she was a helpless infant who could neither refuse or give her assent didn't seem to bother him at all.
There is zero scriptural basis for this practice. Only one time in the entire Bible is the question asked, “What must I do to be saved?” The answer comes back, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). Sin é. No mention of baptism, or joining a church, or anything else.
It does not seem to be an issue for any of the mainstream churches that claim to be Christian that nowhere in the New Testament is any baby ever baptised. In every single reference to baptism in the scriptures it is an adult choosing to be baptised, and they are then fully immersed in water, because baptism itself is a picture of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. Their baptism takes place after they have proclaimed their faith in Jesus Christ, something which cannot be done either by a baby or on another’s behalf.
The type of baptism we are familiar with in Ireland is merely a passport into a particular denomination, not just Catholic, the major enticements for doing so being the education and the cultural identification they provide, rather than any faith motivation. – Yours, etc,
SÉAMAS Ó CEALLAIGH,
Arklow, Co Wicklow.