Steiner and science

A group of parents and teachers have launched a campaign to create a new free school. The Bristol Steiner Free School group announced...that it would bid next February for government approval of the project. Free schools are state-funded but independent of council control and set up in response to demand from groups of parents....[The group said the school would have] a strong academic element, specialising in environmental sciences...The Steiner School movement emerged from the ideas of early 20th century educationalist Rudolf Steiner. (full story).

Steiner (pictured) claimed direct experience of the 'spiritual' world. He was a philosopher, occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist. and founded Anthroposophy. Anthoposophy claims to investigate the spiritual world and believes it can attain precise and clear conclusions in the same way that science concludes about the physical world.

I've been an active green for 30 yrs and I teach environmental sciences  (which is simply the proper application of scientific methods to the environment). I do not support Steiner's ideas or Steiner Free Schools and would point to the British Humanist Association concerns about them (see http://www.humanism.org.uk/news/view/1042 ).

Like others commenting on this Post report I can’t see how Steiner's ideas are at all consistent with modern science and its methods and so I am as concerned about Steiner Free Schools setting up with public money and support as I am about certain other kinds of Free School with a significant ideology behind them instead of openness, questioning and reason.

Background on Steiner:
http://www.rudolfsteinerweb.com/  and  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Steiner  

Archbishop’s fear of unruly demonstrations by the Protest the Pope campaign is ill-founded

Received via Facebook: Archbishop to meet Pope protesters...Catholic Church requested meeting...Post-meeting press conference at 12 noon Wednesday 8 Sept...on the pavement outside New Scotland Yard immediately after their meeting with the Catholic Archbishop of Southwark, Peter Smith.

The meeting has been called at the Archbishop’s request and with the approval of the Catholic hierarchy and Papal visit organisers.

In response to the Archbishop’s request for a “neutral” space, New Scotland Yard has agreed to host the meeting. It is being facilitated by Sergeant Nicholas Williams, head of the Met’s Communities Together Strategic Engagement Team.

The meeting will start at 11am, tomorrow, Wednesday.

The Archbishop will meet a delegation of Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association and Marco Tranchino and Peter Tatchell of the Protest the Pope campaign.

“The Archbishop’s fear of unruly demonstrations by the Protest the Pope campaign is ill-founded. We plan no disruptions,” said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who is also a spokesperson for Protest the Pope.

“When I meet him, I will advise the Archbishop that the best way for the Pope to avoid protests is by dropping his offensive, anti-humanitarian polices, such his opposition to women priests, gay equality, fertility treatment for childless couples and condom use to prevent the spread of HIV. Many people would also like him to reverse his decision to lift the excommunication of the holocaust denier, Bishop Richard Williamson.

“The Pope should apologise for his own personal failure to bring child sex abusers to justice and he should agree to hand over to the relevant police forces worldwide the Vatican’s sex abuse files.

“It is no use Benedict meeting victims of priestly sex abuse if he is not willing to hand over his own bulging files on clerical abusers.

“In 2001, when he was a Cardinal, the Pope wrote to every Catholic Bishop in the world, requiring them to report all child sex abuse cases to him in Rome. He cannot claim that he was unaware of the abuse that was happening. His letter did not urge the Bishops to report abusers to the police.

“As the Catholic theologian Hans Kung has said, the Pope bears co-responsibility for inaction and cover-up. That’s why he should apologise for his own personal shortcomings, instead of apologising for the behaviour of other clergy,” said Mr Tatchell.

More from:

http://www.protest-the-pope.org.uk/

http://www.secularism.org.uk/

http://www.humanism.org.uk/about