The Hazards of Belief

BBC wrote:

Any attempt to present as fact the view that God made the world could lead to new free schools losing their funding under government changes.

The new rules state that from 2013, all free schools in England must teach evolution as a "comprehensive and coherent scientific theory". The move follows scientists' concerns that free schools run by creationists might avoid teaching evolution.

Sir Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society, said it was "delighted". Sir Paul told BBC News the previous rules on free schools and the teaching of evolution versus creationism had been "not tight enough". He said that although the previous rules had confined creationism to religious education lessons, "the Royal Society identified a potential issue that schools could have avoided teaching evolution by natural selection in science lessons or dealt with it in a such a perfunctory way, that the main experience for students was the creationist myth".

So far 79 free schools have opened in England with 118 more due to open in 2013 and beyond. They are funded directly by central government but unlike other state-funded schools are run by groups of parents, teachers, charities and religious groups and do not have to abide by the national curriculum.

The new rules mean if a free school is found to be acting in breach of its funding agreement - for example, teaching creationism as a scientific fact or not teaching evolution - the Department for Education will take "swift action which could result in the termination of that funding agreement".

The development of the theory of evolution is an excellent example of how science works and there is a clear consensus within the scientific community regarding both its validity and importance ”

In a letter to the Royal Society, the Schools Minister, Lord Hill, said: "While we have always been clear that we expect to see evolution included in schools' science curricula, this new clause will provide more explicit reassurance that free schools will have to meet that expectation." Sir Paul Nurse said: "The new clause in the funding agreement should ensure that all pupils at free schools have the opportunity to learn about evolution as an extensively evidenced theory and one of the most fundamentally important tenets of modern biology.

"The development of the theory of evolution is an excellent example of how science works and there is a clear consensus within the scientific community regarding both its validity and importance." A spokesman for the Department for Education said that the new clause would apply to the Grindon Hall Christian school in Sunderland and two others that this year became the focus of concerns about the teaching of creationism in free schools.

Grindon Hall, which was independent, reopened as a free school in September. The two others approved by ministers are not due to open until 2013. In July the principal of Grindon Hall said that creationism would never be taught in science lessons.

Rachel Wolf, director of the New Schools Network, which provides advice and support for groups who want to set up free schools, welcomed the funding agreement changes but said that the existing rules meant free schools already had to teach evolution in science lessons. "To my knowledge free schools have always had to teach evolution in science, but it is great that the government has reaffirmed its commitment to this," she said.

Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, organisers of a Teach Evolution not Creationism campaign, said: "A requirement to teach evolution in free schools is an excellent additional safeguard against state-funded creationist schools and must be welcomed. "However, we continue to be concerned about the three free schools recently approved which are supportive of teaching creationism as science and which we must worry will continue to find ways to circumvent a ban in practice."

Dr Berry Billingsley who leads a Reading University project on how secondary schools handle questions that bridge science and religion cautioned against an oversimplified debate. "Evolution is a fantastic theory and explains so much about how humans come to be here. It is backed up by evidence and supported by the vast majority of scientists in the biological sciences. Many of those scientists also believe that the Universe is here because of God.

"The importance of studying evolution is indeed the first thing to be said but children also need opportunities somewhere in the timetable to explore the 'Big Questions', which our research shows they want to consider and it is often the science lesson that stirs up those questions."

Paul Bate, of the European Educators Christian Association, agreed schools should teach a broad and balanced curriculum: "Science and religion need each other in this debate. Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of all time said, 'Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.'"

BBC wrote:

A mother who beat her seven-year-old son "like a dog" when he failed to memorise passages of the Koran has been found guilty of his murder.

Sara Ege, 33, beat Yaseen Ege to death at their home in Pontcanna, Cardiff, in July 2010 and set fire to his body. She was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice at Cardiff Crown Court. Sentence was adjourned. The boy's father, Yousuf Ege, 38, was acquitted of causing Yaseen's death by failing to protect him.

Yaseen Ege was beaten to death by his mother, who then set fire to his body It was initially thought Yaseen had died in the blaze at the family home but tests later revealed he had died hours earlier. His mother had pleaded not guilty to his murder and claimed her husband was responsible for Yaseen's death. She said she feared her husband would kill her and target her family unless she confessed to the murder.

That confession - made to police days after the death of her son - was captured on video and played to the jury during the five week trial. During the hour-long harrowing footage, university graduate Ege described how the young boy collapsed after she had beaten him while still murmuring extracts of the Koran. "He was breathing as if he was asleep when I left him," she said. "He was still murmuring the same thing over and over again. I thought that he was just tired." When she returned 10 minutes later she found her son shaking and shivering on the floor. He then died.

Within moments she said she decided to burn his body and ran downstairs to get a lighter and a bottle of barbecue gel. In police interviews she also confessed to beating her son for no reason and that her anger often led to her being out of control. She and her taxi driver husband had enrolled Yaseen in advanced classes at their local mosque as they wanted him to become Hafiz - an Islamic term for someone who memorises the Koran.

The court heard Ege become more and more frustrated with her son's inability to learn the passages he needed to. She told officers: "I was getting all this bad stuff in my head, like I couldn't concentrate, I was getting angry too much, I would shout at Yaseen all the time. "I was getting very wild and I hit Yaseen with a stick on his back like a dog." The prosecution said that Yaseen suffered significant abdominal injuries that were the cause of his death. They included fractures which were non-accidental.

"Sara Ege made no attempt to seek the medical attention he so obviously needed," prosecutor Ian Murphy said. "He clearly suffered terribly. She started the fire to hide what she had done." However, Ege insisted that both she and Yaseen had been beaten by her husband, adding he had been violent throughout their marriage. She told the jury that she did not take the boy to the doctor because she feared for her safety and that social services would take her son away.

Her mother Nafees Ahmed also gave evidence to say that Ege was a good mother who looked after him well. Ege was found guilty of murder and perverting the course of justice by burning Yaseen's body. Her husband was cleared of causing or allowing the death of a child by failing to protect him. The jury returned unanimous verdicts after eight hours of deliberation.

As the verdict was read out Ege broke down in the dock, holding her head in her hands and crying. Judge Mr Justice Wyn Williams told her she faces a term of life imprisonment. Her husband showed no emotion as he walked free from court. Mr Justice Wyn Williams told the court he would determine a minimum sentence for Ege in the New Year after a medical report had been completed.

Speaking after the verdicts, Deborah Rogers, district crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the "deeply tragic nature" of the case had been "all too apparent". "We should not forget that at the heart of the case is the loss of a bright and friendly young boy who had his whole life ahead of him," she added.

"It is therefore right that the circumstances of Yaseen's death were fully examined in a criminal court."