Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

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1. 

   You get drivel about aliens, abduction etc from all sorts of people, not just Christians – there are atheists, agnostics…

2. 

   […] last time I had had occasion to write about Rowan County clerk Kim Davis, above, was three years ago…

3. 

   Whatever is presented on the BBC, and I must admit I do not watch the TV, the fact is that…

4. 

   “The curriculum had already drawn tensions among the county’s religious parents, with some worrying about appropriateness and arguing the material…

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   As someone who produced dozens of nativity plays as a teacher and a Sunday School leader, that title ‘A Gay…

Michaela Community School in Wembly today (Tuesday) won a legal challenge mounted by an “extremely rude and defiant” Muslim pupil who demanded the right to pray, despite the school’s “no prayer” policy.

Delivering his ruling Mr Justice Linden said the “strictly secular” school had been entitled to impose the ban and the student, who cannot be named, chose the school knowing about its strict rules.

The school, led by headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh, imposed the crackdown in March last year, insisting its approach:

Promoted inclusion and social cohesion between pupils.

The judge said the ban was “a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aims” of the school.

He also found that Birbalsingh, above, had been justified in suspending the student, based on the account of a teacher that she had been “ extremely rude and defiant”, as the prayer row continued to grow.

However, he found that a second suspension had not been justified, as the student was not given the chance to give her own account.

Birbalsingh, who established the Free School in 2014 with the support of then-Education Secretary Michael Gove, has earned the nickname “Britain’s strictest headteacher” thanks to her approach to managing the school.

Birbalsingh was awarded a CBE in 2020.

The High Court was told the pupil made a request to pray for five minutes at lunch time, on days when faith rules required it, but not during lessons.

The pupil claimed the prayer ban:

Was the kind of discrimination which makes religious minorities feel alienated from society..

She also challenged allegedly unfair decisions to temporarily suspend her from school.

But the school, which has been rated “Outstanding” by Ofsted, insisted its stance on prayer was justified and “proportionate” as it has faced death and bomb threats linked to religious observance on site.

During the High Court hearings earlier this year, Birbalsingh took to social media to insist the school is defending its “culture and ethos”, and the decision to ban what she referred to as “prayer rituals” contributed to:

Maintaining a successful and stable learning environment where children of all races and religions can thrive. Ours is a happy and respectful secular school where every race, faith and group understands self-sacrifice for the betterment of the whole.

She added:

Multiculturalism can only succeed when we understand that every group must make sacrifices for the sake of the whole. We allow our children freedoms of all sorts, as long as those freedoms do not threaten the happiness and success of the whole school community.

The school, where around half of the 700 pupils are Muslim, claims some of the students have faced peer pressure over religious adherence.

In March 2023, up to 30 students began praying in the school’s yard, using blazers to kneel on.

Lawyers for the school said students seen praying outside contributed to a “concerted campaign” on social media over the school’s approach to religion.

The school also say it has been targeted with death threats, abuse, “false” allegations of Islamophobia, and a “bomb hoax”.

After the court hearing concluded, Birbalsingh she believes the school should “be allowed to be secular”.

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