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'It is deeply manipulative and has no place in schools paid for by the taxpayer'
Alpha: Homophobic?
More state schools running 'homosexuality is a sin' Alpha courses
An increasing number of state schools are opting to run a youth version of the Alpha course, which teaches adults that homosexuality is a sin and has been accused of using "sinister" techniques, including speaking-in-tongues.
The Times Educational Supplement has reported that about 60 schools are now registered to run the Youth Alpha courses, although this figure could include church groups that use school buildings. Designed for 11 to 18-year-olds, the courses are taught in lunchtimes and after-school sessions and are based on the adult versions run in prisons, universities and churches.
Archbishop Blanch CofE High School in Liverpool has been running the Youth Alpha course for three years and has seen almost 300 pupils participate. It was set up by the Rev Kate Wharton, the Bishop of Liverpool's appointee to the school's board of governors.
"Everyone is welcome, whether they are Christians, of another faith or don't believe," Wharton told the TES. "They can ask questions without being signed up to anything. It is a fair and balanced introduction to the Christian faith."
The Alpha course has been widely criticised for presenting a limited interpretation of Christianity and for its condemnation of homosexuality, despite which its celebrity adherents have reportedly included Will Young, Geri Halliwell and Bear Grylls.
The National Secular Society, referring to Wharton, said: "What she does not mention is its homophobia and the final sinister 'holy spirit' session that encourages participants to speak in tongues and behave hysterically."
John Rose, in his critique of the Alpha course for the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association, reported that it compares homosexuality to paedophilia, condemning the "shameful lusts" committed by "homosexual offenders". It also condemns those who "not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practise them", and teaches that AIDS is the gay plague and a judgement on homosexuality.
In his book Out of the Ordinary: True Tales of Everyday Craziness, Jon Ronson documented at length the speaking-in- tongues encouraged in one part of the course and noted that supporters of Alpha course leader Nicky Gumbel regard him as more influential in the Church of England than the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The use of the Youth Alpha course in schools has been criticised by religious bodies and secular campaigners.
Quoted in the TES, Jonathan Bartley, co-director of the Christian thinktank Ekklesia, said: "It's about sin, hell and the resurrection and what people must do to get to heaven. I would be very worried about that adult content being used in schools unless it has been heavily modified."
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: "This is real fundamentalist stuff all wrapped up in reassuring words and delivered by a bloke in a jumper with a permanent smile who looks remarkably like Tony Blair. This is not a 'balanced introduction' to anything: it is a carefully planned attempt to push people in a very specific direction. It is deeply manipulative and has no place in schools paid for by the taxpayer."
