religious, they are not wholly conclusive; individuals—and particularly young ones—might seek religious guidance through other means. However, other statistics confirm the trend away from religion. One that is particularly notable is the dramatic rise over the past four decades in Catholics marrying outside the Catholic community.27 Not only does this continued change indicate that the Catholic population is distancing itself from the religious leadership’s demands, the pairing of individuals of different religious background also indicates in advance, to a degree, the continuation of a less religious society in the coming generation. Church attendance and membership, marriage outside of one’s religious sect, and other statistics indicate a trend since the creation of Scotland’s two multiculturalist education policies away from both regular religious practice and religious motivations for action in Scotland.
IV. RAMIFICATIONS FOR MULTICULTURALISM
VVWhile the system of religious schools in Scotland has been allowed for religious educational pluralism since 1918, exemplifying the potential success of Wolterstorff’s impartiality conception of state neutrality, shifts in Scottish society have indicated the time- bounded nature of the program. State-funded denominational (Catholic) schools in Scotland began as a direct result of the Scottish Bishops’ fear that acquiescence to a nondenominational system would fundamentally disempower them to educate Catholic youth in the morals and ways of the faith. In an era in which sectarian identity was, relative to today, far more likely to be a Scottish person’s primary identity, the Catholic clergy’s desire to ensure the maintenance of its ranks is understandable. Indeed, more so in the past than today, Scottish individuals developed
88827. Paterson, 223.
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