To speak to the school?

[Orchwoid]

I've just been to collect my son from his school and he's told me that he won't be cast in his school Christmas play but all the other children will.

I am fumming. I am going to go and speak to his teacher first thing tomorrow morning but I am so angry that I can't work out whether I'm being reasonable or not.

And to those saying atheists can celebrate what they want. I agree! I celebrate Christmas even though I'm not religious. But I am tolerant of those who do believe and will quite happily take part in as much as I feel comfortable and if I don't feel comfortable I will politely decline

The OP is rude about religion and refuses to allow her son to be given the opportunity to learn about religion and become tolerant and eventually make his own mind up about what he wants to believe in. This is why people are saying she can't pick and chose.

To whomever suggested googling fumming and dragon butter. I really wish you hadn't - am scarred for life and worried I'll hear someone talking about it one day and now I'll know what they mean!

Can we have a vote on troll thread vs a really indignant atheistical MNer (who has now joined despite the rumours about cloudy arses)?

How can you "celebrate" something if you think it doesn't exist or have any meaning though?

Fantastic update

Especially the deification of shepherds.

[Smile] Dinner done - nothing much on tv. Looking forward to an entertaining read here!

The winter festival is not religious. You do not have to believe in anything to celebrate family, warmth and food.

That is the 'meaning' for many people and its perfectly adequate and acceptable, far more so than a relatively new Roman war God being born by the son of a virgin!

I mean seriously!

I dont celebrate christmas i just have christmas. Christmas to me is about family and giving gifts to my loved ones.

I dont do all the religious shit either. I wouldnt stop my dd attending assembly because thats the time where you can have a snooze at school

First attempt at a smile didn't work - advice please?

filee777 have you read the whole thread? Why are you challenging people not seeing that the child should be involved in the play? They are challenging the OPs anger at school.

Assuming all this is genuine; The school believed they were following the mother's instructions by not including him in a religious event (after she had told the school she didn't want her child involved in assemblies and the "religious shit"). Once they had a meeting and realised mum didn't mean all the "religious shit" (school not a mind reader though) they offer him a part as a shepherd that she then turned it down as she didn't want him to have a "god part". School are doing their best to accommodate OP's opinions, but short of cancelling Christmas what can they do?
Or am mis-reading and your "Way to make him feel bad about being raised atheist." aimed at mum not school?

Ah OP has overegged the Christmas pud now.

ALL TOGETHER NOW

Ohhhhhhh - I may be atheistical
But ah don' see the logistical
Problems with ma boy bein' on staaa-ge

Ah only said 'ditch god'n'shit'
Ah didn't really think that it
Would end up with me gettin' such a rage

Ah got no beef with puttin' him
Outside when they're assembly-in
But ah want him in the spotlight on the day

An if ah don' get what ah wants
Because of all yer teacher cunts
Ah'll take it to Discussions of The Day!

It's the capital letter, I think, mumthetaxidriver. The word inside the square brackets needs to be all in lowecase.

No it was absolutely aimed at the school! In the same way it would be unacceptable to exclude Muslim child from a winter celebration without treating it with consideration and respect, this situation should have been treated very, very differently.

I want to know what OP plans to do next seeing as she's still not going to let him have a 'god part' in the nativity play and it would seem that the faith schools nativity play only has a script based on the Bible?

OP's ds could perhaps narrate jezza Kyle 'like'style see innit. maybe pop in the dna test

mumthetaxidriver - smileys are not capitalised - though tbh I'm surprised Chaos hasn't started a campaign to make them so....

mumthetaxidriver you put 'Smile' between the brackets, whereas there shouldn't have been a capital letter. There's need to type out the bit in brackets (and if you do don't change the first letter to a capital) Just copy and paste the word beside the smiley you want to post and your chosen smiley will appear. Like this

Orchwoid it does sound as if you and the school have made different assumptions about what the letter you sent covered.

I'm unclear why you're still so angry, as it sounds like you have now got what you want - a not-overtly-religious part in the Christmas play.

I suspect the school were trying to explain to you why they thought they had originally done what you wanted.

Honestly, it sounds like a simple miscommunication. In my experience, it helps to go in calmly and try to avoid taking offence if you can. Life's too short.

Hope DS enjoys being a shepherd.

Thanks rusty and clay

But they are not excluding the child now they realise that they misunderstood mum's request to withdraw her child from the "religious shit" - mum is by refusing a part.

Oh joy, at last rosepettel returns. Rosepettel, it has to be you right? How many weeks I've waited in vain for that shitty piece of bitch twat to WALK PAST just so you would come back. But now I realise I should have been waiting for Louise! My day is complete.

But it wouldn't have been treated differently though. Plenty of people who with draw their children from collective worship do so because of their own religion and withdraw from all activities to do with religion or festivals. This includes RE and activities to do with Christmas and Easter. It was not unreasonable of the school to assume that this was what the OP meant.

The OP isn't BU to want to withdraw from active worship but to allow activities to do with learning about religions or festivals. But she needs to let the school know that. Where she was unreasonable was to be fuming about it. All she needed to do was to see the teacher and explain there had been a bit of a misunderstanding.

What's wrong with being a shepherd?

Maybe the OP needs to home educate so her son doesn't get all this God shit.

It is irrelevant whether the child has a part now, it should have been dealt with appropriately initially, not as an afterthought! Faith school or no, all schools have to accommodate different children with different backgrounds.

But they did, they believed mum didn't want him in the play so they didn't put him in it. From all the posts OP has made about religion, their atheism and the letter she had written withdrawing her child I find it hard to believe any school would not have not cast the child believing they supporting mum in her requests.

But Filee777 My husband's cousins are JW. None of their children have been involved in any religious observation including the play. The OP removed her child from Collective Worship not realising that the Nativity Play would come into that exclusion and so therefore the school acted appropriately by following her request not to have him doing "religious god shit!"