Mr Gove gave the example of the US state of Massachusetts as an example of a school system that had applied the principles of a "knowledge-based curriculum".

BBC: Gove sets out 'core knowledge' curriculum plans

Let us hope that the advances of recent times will reawaken a sense of awe and well-being, that we will rest easy in the knowledge that there is indeed a God and that we will rediscover and reinvigorate the principles--however imperfectly adhered to--that created this nation: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

FORBES: Fact and Comment