ic Wales - His dark classroom materials: "THE leader of the Church of England has called for one of the most powerful atheist tracts in modern literature to be used as part of pupils' religious education.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, pictured below, advocated pupils studying Philip Pullman's controversial trilogy His Dark Materials at an address to religious leaders and academics hosted by Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Harlech-educated Pullman's Whitbread-winning trilogy - now a stage hit - has been branded anti-Christian propaganda by critics.
The Catholic Herald condemned his work, which reverses Milton's tale of the war in heaven, as 'fit for the bonfire'.
Rupert Kaye, chief executive of the Association of Christian Teachers, said Pullman's 'blasphemy is shameless'.
But the Church in Wales yesterday issued a statement quoting from the Archbishop's lecture to signal its agreement with his position.
A spokesperson said, 'The Church in Wales would be in agreement with the Archbishop of Canterbury in his insistence, 'That religious education should include serious examination of what loss of faith involves and what are the elements of belief that provoke doubt and conflict is surely axiomatic. But it is in showing how religious beliefs sustain themselves in such circumstances that we best educate students in a critical understanding of their own faith and a critical understanding of faith in general'.'
The spokesman continued: 'The three pillars of Anglicanism are scripture, reason and tradition and all three should surely be part of what religious education is about.'
Educationalists also welcomed the Ystradgynlais-born Archbishop's suggestion."
