School is asking children to say ‘peace be upon him’ anytime Mohammed is mentioned

A religion is just a belief system, its no more or less worthy of respect than other beliefs like political or horoscopes or beliefs about society

Why can’t they equally respect that OP’s son doesn’t believe in a higher being and therefore doesn’t want to say it?

Or do you think religious beliefs inherently trump non religious beliefs?

In RE you can be taught once that " When Muslims state this name they always then state this phrase immediately after"

That's the educational learning

Asking non Muslims to then always state that phrase everytime they make reference to the Muslim idol is compelled worship

See the difference?

Precisely. It makes sense that you’d be respectful of the religion you’re learning about at the time.

This was the case when I was in y7 RE lessons 28 years ago.

I'm not twisting what you said at all!

You said we had to respect religious figures in order to have a tolerant society

That's wrong. We can say to people " I respect your right to hold that belief but I do not respect this belief, its rituals or the figures you hold up for people to idolise and I will not participate. I do not even believe this idol exists"

In other words You do you...but don't expect other people to show any kind of respect or reverence for the people or figures you hold up as idols

Forcing children (or anyone) to chant rituals of worship is not tolerant of THEIR right to freedom from belief.

What would you say if an atheist asked a Muslim to say something that implied the prophet they worship was wrong/bad/didn't exist? You would say it is disrespectful and intolerant to ask them to state something they didn't believe.
It's the same thing in reverse

You're learning about the religions, not participating in them. I would be very cross if my children were required to show reverence to a god they didn't believe in.

I do agree, we had this too. It's not the whole school it's just RE where the whole point of the class is to learn about different religions so I genuinely don't see why it's a problem?

I doubt the RE teacher is forcing anyone to do anything, it's probably how we had it, that we would say it sometimes as that's how it was done in the Muslim religion and we'd learn the same stuff for other religions like the Lords Prayer for Christianity (I'm not raised Christian but didn't mind) and also Judaism and so on.

I think when the teacher sets a worksheet that she's made, when she typef about the prophet she adds in "pbuh" in brackets.

They shouldn’t have to write it either.

No I’m not. You are twisting what I said.

Secondary RE teacher here. Children should be told this as I'd put on worksheets etc (pbuh) so they know it, but no, non Muslims do not have to say it and should not be made to say it.

I remember the same when I took RE GCSE 25 years ago. What’s the issue?

What are you on about? Are all of the world's majority religions oppressive?

What's the issue with using a term of respect for a man that's at the centre of a religion that brings billions peace and comfort?

I would use terms of respect to talk about jesus, Sikh gurus or any Hindu gods.

You're confusing respecting people with respecting religions.

Religions can not demand respect

I don't think religions should automatically get respect

Some practises are incredibly problematic or worse

Because we want to encourage a tolerant respectful wider society in the future surely?

Some "Christians" believe gay people should be executed. You can "respect" that if you want. Me ? Fuck that. And if you try to force that on me, then fuck you too.

Some "Muslims" believe women should not leave the house. Or work. Ditto.

And I hardly need to mention the needless surgical procedure Judiasm insists on. Ditto to that to. That actively disrespects human dignity and bodily autonomy. For what ? A psychopathic supposed supreme being ?

Oh, that makes things - er - challenging then.

I've been to Iran and had to wear the clothing, it is inconvenient and restricting. Covering the hair and neck is extremely hot. The long flowing clothes are a trip hazard going up stairs and get stuck in doors. We can argue that women want to wear these clothes, but let's not pretend that they are as practical and easy to move/live in as men's clothes. The same goes for high heeled shoes that women of all religious (and none) wear.

They won't though. Neither should people be forced to.
The only reason Islam gets this kid glove treatment is because you risk your life to disrespect it.
I assume that Battley teacher is still in hiding?

Interestingly I read recently that conspiracy theorists and people who believe in massive organised world networks are seeking that which religion gives, an answer, a reason, organisation and purpose.

For me the huge difference with Islam is that you can be actually killed, made to live in fear if you willingly criticise it and even accidentally criticise it.. That's a massive worry to me and I think that needs to change

Edited to add :my dd went to a Catholic school and very early on she decided she didn't want any part of it. My dh and I were fine with that.
But she's open about her dislike of religion and now at secondary school she's made friends with a lovely young lady but whose family are Muslim.
I'm worried and I've had to warn her to never ever discuss religion or her feelings with her friend
It would never occur to me to say this had she had a protestant friend, hindu, seek etc.

Well they bloody well should!!!

There’s no point. We’re in Ireland and it’s nearly all catholic schools which are more or less the same. Next year we’re going to get her taken out of religion classes but I’m sure she will still pick up some of it.

If they deserve it, sure. But if they don’t? Be disrespectful.

It implies you can’t criticise them or be disrespectful if you disagree with them. Being a religious figure does not mean you should automatically confer any more respect to a person than any other human being.