Regarding your report (TES, December 20), I can understand the unease among standing advisory councils on religious education (SACREs) about the law on collective worship, and still more with Circular 194, where the definition of worship digs a far deeper hole than is in the 1988 Education Reform Act.
My confidence in SACREs, however, is undermined somewhat when I read such a statement as “It is ridiculous for a daily act of worship to be primarily Christian in a multi-ethnic area.”
Christianity is a multi-ethnic faith. Many British citizens of African, Afro-Caribbean and Asian ethnicity are Christians. On a world scale, most Christians are not Caucasian, and it has been truly said that today even the typical Anglican is black and lives in Africa.
The identification of “Christian” and “white” shows profound ignorance of Christianity, and is a slur on many British Christians. Having it made in public on behalf of a SACRE shows that Robert Low’s 19th-century statement “Now we must educate our masters” still has enduring force.
RICHARD WILKINS
94A London Road
St Albans
Hertfordshire
