to be pissed off at school for telling DD (5) about Baby Jesus?

[Kalemu]

We don't want religion anywhere near our house, one of the main reasons we chose to send our DD to state school instead of a CoFE school. Imagine my surprise when she came home with a Baby Jesus picture book and singing about the Baby King. This makes me very mad - it's not like we want to keep her in a bubble, but I wanted to have told her the different religion when she was a bit older.

Thinking of writing to the headteacher to let him know our thoughts, and to demand that we're informed next time they plan to talk about religious stuff in class. Do you think AIBU?

You could just look Here and save the trip into school.

Sorry - it didn't work but if you google RE in schools UK it will give you the answers.

Surely it's a sign of a good school to educate children about different values and celebrations in different cultures. As a primary teacher I'd be worried if my daughters school shunned ALL religion for fear of offending someone? Especially if the school weren't aware of your feelings towards the subject? YABU!

Surely though it isn't going to matter what an atheist censors as if the child is going to have faith they will have faith regardless of what there parents stop them from hearing or seeing - so it will have no effect on the outcome of their own faith in the long run

Not really, children of Christians don't tend to become Muslims. Parental choice influences eventual faith quite heavily.

YABU. It's Christmas and all schools would have talked about Babby Jesus,that's what's Christmas is about. Your DD will be taught about other religions.

That is simply not true noblegiraffe. In 2011 5,200 people in UK converted to Islam and the average type was a 27yr old white woman. I think that parental choice quite often influences the child to do the opposite!

I didn't say they never do! My upbringing was catholic and I'm an atheist. But the children of Muslims tend to become Muslims, the children of Christians tend to become Christians.

Oh for goodness sake OP.

You are being absurd.

I know more DCs of Christians that are not Christians than are and I know quite a lot of Christians who had no religious background as a DC. I'm not sure that it as very much to do with parents.

I certainly don't!

I was raised Christian - church going full on High Anglican - I am a humanist and decided I didn't believe in God aged 15 - my mother fully supported my right to make my own choices

You only borrow your DCs - I don't see why anyone thinks they have the right to choose for them.

exoticfruits I quite agree. Our children should be able to choose who they are, what they are, their sexuality, their faith, the place in life etc. Our job is just to guide them into these decisions safely, not to make them for them.

Children of Muslims are more likely to be Muslims than children of Christians are likely to be Christians and children of Christians are far more likely to be Muslim than vice versa.

Hear, hear Trainee.

I think the CofE is quite weak in the childhood indoctrination stakes. But religion would have died out long ago if it wasn't passed successfully from parent to child (maybe why the CofE is struggling!). You only have to look a 'catholic countries' and 'Muslim countries' and 'Buddhist countries' to see it's not a free choice.

They are very weak in the indoctrination stakes because they don't do it! Therefore I'm not sure why people get some uptight about it- I don't know a single person who was converted through school assembly!

how would you convert through school assembly as if you have faith then you would have faith and convertion is about which religion you pick for your faith rather than the faith itself?

Convert means cause to change- you can change from faith to no faith or vice versa.

Agree with Trainee. Our job is to ensure our children are given all the information they need to make informed choices for themselves, not to make them identikits of ourselves and our own opinions and beliefs.

so how do you convert to having faith then? I always assumed that faith was something you had not something you were taught? otherwise who taught the first people to have faith?

I understand religion has to be taught as there is a lot to know about whichever religion you choose and the rules and traditions etc, but surely having faith in the first place can't be taught?