332 comments Add a comment
I am a mother with three children, twin girls aged six and a son aged seven. All my kids now attend a local primary school and I gripe is really with their policy on religious education.
I learned, and I eventually made up my own mind
My parents were atheists, and they allowed me from early age to study all sides of the argument as far as religion is concerned. As I grew older I learned, and I eventually made up my own mind about life, the universe and everything. I favoured the logical and scientific approach, so therefore chose evolution theory as opposed to the creation one.
Naturally, I felt that with my own children it was very important not to force my views on them. I wanted them to have the same freedom that I had as a child and to see both sides of the argument. When the time was appropriate and questions were asked, they could make up their own minds what they believe. Creation, evolution or whatever other religion is flavour of the month, the choice would be utterly theirs to make.
Over the last year however, the infant department of our local primary school has taken upon itself the task of instructing my children in R.E. totally against my wishes. They have them believing that GOD created us, and that they should pray for their food, sing songs such as 'point to the sky and clap your hands for the lord' etc. They are already indoctrinated, and are still too young for me to explain to them any scientific theory that they would understand.
I approached the school and asked them what we could do to resolve this situation. They advised me that I could remove my children from Religious Education classes. However, they then went on to say that this wouldn’t really solve the problem, because at infant level there is no SET curriculum; In fact the other lessons throughout the day could well have some sort of religious theme anyway, i.e. Thanking god for their daily crayons or whatever!
The USA have stopped this indoctrination in their schools, in favour of teaching scientific theory and fact, isn’t it time we followed suit?
Leave a comment
"The BBC has been accused of “absurd political correctness” after dropping the terms BC and AD in case they offend non-Christians.
The corporation has replaced the familiar Anno Domini and before Christ with Common Era And Before Common Era."
Todays paper.
And we pay for it with our hard earned cash, paying the licence fee.
The Loony Left are well in control with their, minority, gender, race, diversity rubbish!
I may sometimes offend people be they Christian or non-Christian , so what!
As I have said before the country gets dafter by the day,
Whilst you are alive there is only one goal: sheer greed. Grab as much as you can for yourself. There is no morality to this, so what!
I am on record here as loathing the BNP, but there is oppression of women within Islam, not so much in the Koran as in how it is practiced. Under Sharia law a woman’s testimony is worth only half of that of a man’s. It would need two women to “balance” a man’s testimony.
The Koran states that both women AND men should dress “modestly” but but in many Islamic countries women have to cover themselves from head to toe if they want to go out in public whereas men are free to go shirtless and wear shorts in hot weather if they choose to. In their culture a good woman is an invisible one.
Islam as it is practiced does often oppress and discriminate against women; this does not mean that most Muslim men behave that way or that all Muslim women meekly accept it.
Related Gripes
Welsh language policy in schools and society
School teaching assistant was horrible and rude
Religious symbols in schools, ban them all!
Mobile phones should be banned in schools
Cadbury Easter eggs and four other things that are shockingly halal
School teaching methods letting our children down
Admission policy for faith schools
Cruel teachers who torment children in class
Poor choice of subjects to study at school
Pushy parents at the school gate
FEATURES
miserablemoaninggit
Religion deals with a type of knowledge that cannot be explained by the naturalistic laws of science. Religion reflects an understanding; a way of knowing that cannot be written down in textbooks, or explained logically as if it dealt with things that were either 'black' or 'white'.
However, religion becomes very dangerous when people make claims to religion giving knowledge about morals; about how we should live our lives. Religion cannot tell us, for example, that marriage is exclusive to male and female; or that Sunday is a day of rest; or that Jesus is the only way to salvation; or that Mohammed is the 'seal of the prophets'. All of these statements are definete claims to knowledge that cannot be verified as clear items of knowledge and, therefore, should be taken as a matter of faith inclusive to those who believe them. Any attempt to impose or judge others relative to such beliefs is clearly unacceptable.
Faith is not a matter of certainty; it is a matter of trust based upon a knowledge that cannot be expressed in scientific or logical terms.