You can read the first part of this article here.

“Your truth is your truth; mine is mine. Neither belief is better than the other”.

We know that many people today think this way – at least until someone treats them in a way they think is unfair. This philosophy underpins moral subjectivism – each person chooses what is right or wrong for them – and theological pluralism – every religious belief is equally valid.

Of course, these beliefs are fundamentally contrary to Christian convictions and to the beliefs of many other people. Yet, as explained in my last article, a law passed in 2022, implies that such beliefs are correct.

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[destacate]Moral subjectivism: each person chooses what is right or wrong for them and theological pluralism: every religious belief is equally valid[/destacate]It outlines the principle that people can choose and develop their own cultural identity – which includes politics, religion and race – and that public bodies should aim to promote “parity of esteem”, without specifying what that means.

If this simply meant that every person should be valued equally and no one should be discriminated against, Christians could celebrate it. But, although many public bodies might apply it that way, that is not what the law actually says.

It is at best unclear and open to great latitude of interpretation. At worst, it could allow freedom of speech to be shut down or protect the expression of troubling values.

In this second article on this subject, I will explore how this relates to schools. If you have not yet read the first article you may wish to do so before reading on.

The NICE Award and NICER badge

The 2022 Act that introduced the “national and cultural identity principles” also legislated for the establishment of a new Office of Identity and Cultural Expression (OICE).

The OICE is still in the process of being established. Its remit is to encourage and support public bodies to enact the principles. One of the first actions the OICE has taken towards this goal is focused on schools - creating the National Identity and Cultural Expression (NICE) Award.

To receive the award and display a plaque saying so, schools must commit to the two national and cultural identity principles. This raises additional questions about what these principles mean and what will be taught to children.

I emailed the OICE to ask if it has any additional guidance for schools or detail around the Award beyond the principles as stated in the legislation.

In response, the OICE confirmed that this is a new Award for the 2026/27 academic year and that registration commits schools to “sharing the Principles with their community and promoting respect for diversity”.

Each school will be free to determine exactly how this will be done. It also clarified that schools that do so will receive a trophy and that schools can decide to reward pupils “who participate in cultural events and demonstrate respect and tolerance with an individual NICER lapel badge”.

The OICE did not provide any additional detail on what that means in practice but, since “cultural” in the legislation includes religion, this could mean that schools reward children for participation in religious worship activities of various religions.

Given that the principles emphasise individual choice of religion, it could also mean rewarding children for endorsing their peers’ self-made religions.

[destacate]The NICER badge could encourage children to sample practices of various religions, rewarding those who do so, and therefore implicitly penalising those who do not[/destacate]It is important to say that the NICE Award is merely a mechanism for encouraging or supporting schools to do what the law already requires of them, which is to “have due regard to the national and cultural identity principles”.

This wording is no clearer than the principles themselves. It is clear that schools will have a considerable amount of latitude in how they apply these principles.

I have no doubt that many governors and leadership teams will apply this wisely as a way simply to express their welcome to children from diverse backgrounds and their opposition to bullying and discrimination.

However, the vagueness and breadth of the principles means that, once a school promotes them officially, they could be used in troubling ways in future.

Future school leaders, perhaps under pressure from pupils or driven by their own personal convictions, could use the principles to promote the values implicit in them: moral subjectivism and theological pluralism.

The NICER badge could encourage children to sample practices of various religions, rewarding those who do so and therefore implicitly penalising those who do not.

Badges in school culture often function as status markers, meaning that optional participation can quickly become socially pressure to participate. On the other it could mean restricting freedom to evangelise or discuss matters of faith on the basis that it may impinge on the sensitivities of others.

Perhaps more concerningly, the principles could also be used by pupils and their parents in ways that would be problematic for Christians.

They could be a basis to insist upon freedom of expression for beliefs that are concerning to adherents of other faiths. Or they could be weaponised to shut down freedom of speech and prohibit pupils from sharing their faith openly because of the sensitivities of others.

A clash with human rights law?

The application of the principles in schools must also be set against the background of human rights law.

As I have commented in recent months, Northern Ireland’s primary religious education curriculum is currently being redrawn because of a court ruling that existing practices amounted to “indoctrination” and were insufficiently “objective, critical, or pluralist”.

The law behind this judgement is Article 2 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which says: 1

[destacate]Northern Ireland’s primary religious education curriculum is currently being redrawn, because of a court ruling that existing practices amounted to “indoctrination” and were insufficiently “objective, critical, or pluralist”[/destacate]In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching is in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions.

When applying this law, Courts typically balance this right against other legitimate educational aims. However, they have consistently ruled that schools must not undermine parents’ convictions.

This creates a direct tension: the NICE Award encourages schools to promote parity of esteem, while Article 2 Protocol 1 requires schools not to undermine parents’ convictions.

If the NICE Award were to be used to promote the idea of parity of esteem between religions in schools, which is within the possible interpretations of the principles’ plain wording of the principles, it would surely conflict with this principle.

What should Christians do?

First, what can Christian school principals and governors do?

How much of this the average busy school principal or governor will consider when presented by OICE with the idea of the NICE Award, I do not know.

In any case, the NICE Award is only the event that highlights what is already established in law, and schools cannot ignore the principles.

However, I would urge that schools do not adopt the NICER badge and develop guidance about how the principles are to be applied and promoted before registering for the Award. Without that they are opening the gate to potential future problems.

I would suggest that Christian governors and leadership team members propose that a school adopts a statement to sit alongside the NICE Award along the following lines:

As a school, we have registered for the NICE Award as an expression of our commitment to the ‘national and cultural identity principles’.

Our understanding of these principles and their applicability in a school setting is that they express a commitment to welcome children from all national and cultural backgrounds, to treat every child fairly without discrimination, and to create an environment in which children can speak respectfully about their cultures.

We expect all pupils and staff in our school to work to share those commitments and ask parents to support us.

This will not undermine the religious or philosophical beliefs of pupils’ families as protected in Article 2 Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights and should not be interpreted to mean that the school believes that all beliefs and values are equally true.

The Award will be implemented in line with the school’s other existing policies.

A statement like this will not protect the school against potential legal risk, but it may help to guide parents, teachers and pupils and will reassure many. It may also help a court to adjudicate in any future case related to the Award or the principles.

Second, what can Christian parents do?

Parents (and others with caring responsibilities for children) should pay careful attention to these principles and consider whether they want their children to participate in the Award.

They may also wish to contact their schools to ask for clarity about how the Award will be implemented and to resist registration in the absence of clarity.

If a school does register for the Award but does not give additional clarity about how the Award will be applied, it is reasonable for a parent to ask for a clear and easy option for their child to opt out from activities relating to the Award in a way that does not penalise the child.

Third, what can Christian politicians do?

Sadly, so far as my research can establish, when the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022 was being passed no Christian organisation or politician appears to have noticed the problem with how these principles develop the idea of “parity of esteem”.

The focus in debates at the time was on another provision of the Act – the establishment of an Irish language Act and Commissioner. I fear that some politicians may have missed a more fundamental problem in the legislation because of their greater concern with the issue of languages.

Like all Christian people, Christian politicians should be more concerned with freedom for the gospel than with tribal causes and constitutional questions.

I would urge any Christian in politics to consider whether the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022 could be amended in future so that the principles could be clarified.

A rewritten set of principles could uphold freedom of conscience, clarify what is appropriate expression, and not mandate esteem of other belief systems.

By way of example, consider this alternative with deletions as strikethroughs and additions in italics. This begins with rewording the legislation’s definition of “national and cultural identity”:

a reference to a person’s national and cultural identity is a reference to a person’s religious belief, political opinion or racial ethnic group.

The reworded principles might then say something more like this (words deleted from the legislation are struck through and added words are in italics:

(a) the principle that everybody in Northern Ireland is free to—

(i) choose, affirm and maintain and develop their national and cultural identity, including freedom to choose their religious identification and political affiliation, and

(ii) express and celebrate that identity in a manner that takes account of the sensitivities of those with different national and cultural identities and respects the rule of law, and

(b) the principle that public authorities should encourage and promote reconciliation, tolerance and meaningful dialogue between those with different national and cultural identities with a view to promoting parity of esteem, mutual respect and understanding and peaceful co-existence cooperation.

I suggest this wording it is better than the existing legislation because it is simpler and better integrates with other legislation.

A call for honour, understanding and dialogue

Having expressed concerns about this Award and the principles behind it, I want to finish on a positive note. What Christians can and should commit to is to honour every person in accordance with the the innate dignity they have.

[destacate]To endorse beliefs that conflict with the Word of God or to pretend that we can hold other religions in parity of esteem would be unfaithful to our Lord Christ and dishonour the other people we are relating to[/destacate]This will include being fair and treating people equally before the law and whatever rules exist in a school or other setting. It will also mean listening well to others and seeking fair and accurate understanding rather than operating from prejudices and assumptions.

Against that background, it will mean being able to share our own beliefs and hear those of others with conviction and sensitivity.

What it cannot mean is to endorse beliefs that conflict with the Word of God or to pretend that we can hold other religions in parity of esteem.

That would be unfaithful to our Lord Christ and would also dishonour the other people we are relating to, who should not feel compelled to say that our beliefs have parity of esteem with theirs.

Paul Coulter, author, executive director of the Centre for Christianity in Society in Northern Ireland. This article was first published on the author's blog, Connected Christianity. If you would like to be informed when the Christian Leadership Integrity Commitments are released, please subscribe to this blog.

Notes

1. https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/echr/convention_ENG

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