Lessons in hate and violence

Submitted by David on Wed, 2011-03-02 02:48

Channel 4 in the UK had a recent program entitled "Lessons in hate and violence" looking at Islamic schools:

It was interesting to read the response of one of the institutions mentioned. Here are a couple of excerpts:

We feel that it is especially unfair to attempt to represent any organisation using the statements of individuals for which immediate disciplinary steps had been taken. Rather, the fact that disciplinary action had been take should be sufficient proof that such statements are completely incompatible to the ethos of the organisation.

Basically they're arguing that some of the comments found to be offensive were made by students who had been expelled for this behaviour before the hidden cameras they placed in the classrooms were found.

By repeatedly replaying approximately five minutes of footage, taken from nearly two years of undercover reporting, Channel 4 has attempted to portray the school in a light completely contrary to its ethos. We feel that such a lengthy period of undercover reporting in any institution would uncover incidents ... that would appear controversial

I'm not quite sure how much footage was actually recorded during the timespan in which filming was apparently done - i.e. thousands of hours or a few days here and a few days there? If the former, I'd have to agree that there'd be a lot of opportunity to find some incriminating material. However I wonder if the actual volume of footage gathered more closely approximated the other.

Modulo those incidents that the school in question apparently responded to, what fraction of the sorts of objections here might also apply to Christians? Consider, for example, the recent UK court decision that some Christians couldn't be foster parents unless they were willing to endorse homosexuality.

Is this primarily an example of post-modern tolerance (i.e. no one is wrong) vs. classical tolerance (i.e. the I might not like what you have to say, but I'll allow you to say it)?

(See a more detailed response from the school here).