visiting gurdwara

[spiderpig8]

MY DDS school is visiting a gurdwara and they have been told they have to wear a scarf and bow to their religious book.
Whilst I respect other peoples right to take part in whatever religion they like, I do not respect their religion , because as a Christian I believe christianity is the only true religion.
I feel that wearing a headscarf and bowing to a book crosses the line from educational into observing some of their religious beliefs.
DH has been into Muslim, sikh and hindu temples in the courses of his work and never been asked to cover his hair, so it can't be an 'absolute' rule.

"Quote from Happycamel:You wouldn't find them forcing a Muslim child to join in. It's only Christians that are supposed to be doormats."

It's the "Christians are a persecuted minority in the uk" loony brigade out again!

fEENIE- THE THREAD ABOUT THE CINEMA WAS DELETED AT MY REQUEST BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE WERE BEING ABUSIVE TO ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE GIST OF THE THREAD WAS THAT wibu TO BE SORRY THAT THE MANAGERS ASKED A CHILD WHO WAS SHRIEKING CONSTANTLY AND THROWING MISSILES AT MY FRIGHTENED dcs
(sorry about that)
IRL Nobody but nobody would be happy to have paid alot of money for cinema tickets and then not be able to hear the film and have their poor little children terrorised.
But in the parallel universe that is MN we all say we would be happy with it.Yeah right!

I meant sorry about the caps lock

I'm interested in how many people are shocked by the idea that Christians (or Muslims or Jews) might think that their ideas about God are true in a way that others aren't? Don't why we all think that about lots of things? Presumably you think your belief that all faiths are equally valid pathways to God / worthy of respect and that it doesn't really matter anyway is more valid than my belief that it does matter and that Christianity is closer to the truth. The equal validity of all faiths thing just isn't intellectually coherent. Does 'all faiths' include Satanism? Do you think that Fundamentalist Islam and more moderate Islam are entitled to the same level of respect? Do you think that faiths which allow women to occupy positions of leadership are better than faiths which don't? I'm guessing the answer is no to the first two and yes to the third, in which case you do believe that some faiths are more valid or entitled to respect than others. You're just using a different set of (secularist, liberal) criteria. I've yet to meet anyone who really believed the 'all faiths are equally valid' thing when they actually had to think about it. And thats before you get into the difficulties of believing that (for example) orthodox Christianity, which talks about God in terms of the Trinity and incarnation, is really just the same as Islam, which teaches that the Trinity and the incarnation are shocking blasphemies.

I guess I'm with the atheists on this one. No particular religion is automatically entitled to respect.

My son went to a gurdwara and loved it. He wore his school cap and as far as I know he was not asked to bow to any book. The sikh priest talked to the children about their religion and the children were given some food.

We are christians as well and the visit to the gurdwara sparked an interesting discussion at home. For example why do Sikhs keep their holy book on a bed with gold bedsheets? We had a discussion on simialites and differences between Christians and Sikhs.

I think that getting to visit a gurdwara is an amazing opportunity. I wish I could have had the opportunity as a child. I think that learning about other faiths strengthens your own beliefs.

I think the OP is getting her knickers in a twist about nothing.

Op if your Dh had been to a gurdwara - which is a Sikh temple.
He would HAVE to covet his head too...

Your dd can go to the gurdwara but not bow to the holy book, but have to cover hair
Everyone who goes MUST cover hair

Butterfly- I would imagine he would know whether he had to cover his head or not.I can't see any reason he would want to lie about it.He did say he was asked to take his shoes off ( but as the person who washes his socks I'm nit sure whether that was a good move on their part or not!)

Spiderpig8 - I remember the night your unpleasant thread was posted, and the way it went. You were not the victim of that thread, far from it - and how would that even have gone exactly?

"MNHQ, please will you delete this thread because everyone is being mean to me?"

Not very plausible.

As I said before, if you don't like it when someone highlights the collective nature of your posts, then perhaps you need to look at the kind of thing you are posting.

Feenie-i am just going to ignore you fro now on, you are forever twisting things i say.Your behaviour is so immature, I really fell for the poor kids you teach and their parents too

Spider pig- you seem ignore anyone who disagrees with you- why make a special mention of Feenie?

I really fell for the poor kids you teach and their parents too

Further highlighting your lovely nature, Spiderpig - and btw that's the last insult remaining for anyone losing an argument with an MN teacher.

I haven't twisted anything - I have posted a link to a thread and pointed out that it is highly unlikely that MNHQ would pull a different thread just because people were mean to you.

See you next time you post something deliberately inflammatory regarding SEN children and/or religion. And I'm sure there will be a next time.

Bollocks the cinema thread was deleted because you were trolling.
I had some very helpful emails from mnhq about that one.

Te least christian Christian I've heard from in a long time,

I have a good mind to write to Jesus about this.

What would your children like to do? Have you even asked them? Do they fully realise why they will not be participating in the trip?

We visited a Gurdwara a few years ago.

We covered our heads, took our shoes off, bowed to the Guru Granth Sahib, accepted the prashad (if we wanted to - no pressure) and ate in the langar.

It was wonderful. We were very respectful, they were very welcoming.

It was a very positive experience and I came away feeling it was very important that all children should experience other people's religion/culture in order to stop people having the sort of views and opinions that are being expressed by the OP.

Zip- say what, what are you talking about woman? Would you like to see the complaints |I sent to MNHQ and their responses?? I can provide them

what views are those tenant? All i said was i didn't want them observing sikh religious practices ie bowing head to their artifacts and wearing a scarf!
As a christian of course I believe there are no other gods.I have to .It's the first commandment.that doesn't mean i don'tv respect other people s right to believe in whatever they like.I have said this time and time again throughout this thread.Could someone please explain how that is being intolerant or bigotted?

they will be participating in the trip but going to a park with a playground in the vicinity.they don't feel hard done by at all. I will let them go in though if I am assured they will not be made to bow and can wear baseball caps instead of scarves.
The school uniform of a UK school should be fit for anywhere in the uk

why is acquiescing to a baseball hat more acceptable than a scarf? Makes it seem like a fashion dilemma!

I think it is a pity that some christians do interpret the belief of their one god means they cannot show respect to others. I can see why you might feel that a bow is showing subservience, though I don't share your interpretation. Surely a simple pause can't be interpreted as anything more than respect?

I understand it isn't your religion, but it is important to them. You wouldn't vist say a war memorial or a wedding without following a code of conduct, and appropriate dress. Put the religion aside and this is no different.

I'd love to visit a Gurdwara, and I do think it is a shame your children might miss out. Mine have visited a Mandir and a Synagogue with the schools and loved both.

Spider

You said in your OP you do not respect their religion. To disrespect an entire religion is mind boggling.

That is distinct from not believing in other gods.

To not respect that a community has a different set of beliefs and seeing only yours as the true faith is the most literal interpretation imaginable. No wonder religion descends into fanaticism so often if people cannot see other faiths can exist in harmony alongside ours.

I respect followers of other religoins, I respect their right to beliefs but how can I respect the religion itself when it is based on belief in a god, which to acknowledge was real, would be against my own religion.

Maybe this is a question of semantics and how the word 'respect' is interpreted.
the dictionary says 'Admire (someone or something) deeply, as a result of their abilities, qualities, or achievements.'
so can one admire something based entirely on a god one doesn't believe to be real.I am not sure that is possible.

Coraltoes 2 questions
1)If I strongly believe that others should be able to follow whatever beliefs and practices they like free from persecution, what, in your opinion would i need to add to that to equal 'respect' but not go as far as 'believing'.

2. i am wondering how you are inferring that I am against religions existing in harmony?

Spiderpig in light of all of your comments I honestly don't think Jesus would reckon you were kind or empathetic enough to be part of his gang.

Just let your kid go to the gudwara with her mates and have fun and stop making a fucking moutnain out of a molehill.