to not want my kid to go to a mosque ...again!

[moaningminnie2]

We live in North Yorkshire and every year the village Cof E school run a whole-school trip to Bradford.First they went to a mosque, then the following year a Gurdwara and then a Hindu temple, and now this year back to a mosque again.They do that in the morning, then have lunch and a run around in a park, and then in the afternoon a quick visit to 'Bombay Stores' and then back home for school pick up. DD and her friends don't want to go ( they went in Y2) and I resent having to pay £13 for each of my 2 kids at the school.Whaty is the point of going to the same place again, and do the school get 'Brownie Points' for doing this sort of RE trip.

Gosh, elport, how awful. I think I would have refused to answer such a question. That's disgraceful and archaic.

I would welcome DS visiting a mosque/temple/church and discovering the misogyny endemic in many religions for himself. School trips should be about learning and that doesn't mean cooing at the lovely architecture - though I sadly suspect that is actually what they take out of it.

Well, yes, kew, I agree. It would all be about how lovely it is. It wouldn't be about challenging religion in any form. I don't know where that would happen within the primary education system.

Neil that's awful. what did your parents say.

Neil that's awful. what did your parents say.

elportodelgato In all honesty I'm surprised that particular mosque agreed to the visit, when they could have just advised the organisers to approach another, more liberal place - surely they must have known the offence they risked causing?

I have no problems with my dc going to visit a mosque but under no circumstances would my dd be covering her head or excluded from any activities if her head wasn't covered.

alemci They said if I wanted to see the rest of the play, they'd give me the money. I was a bit busy though.
Or do you mean about the priest?
If so, I was a bit of a little sod when I was about 12 or 13 so I doubt they were that bothered. The nuns and priests used to hit us quite a lot.

the priest hitting you is awful. so much for fruits of the spirit e.g self control

you would be invited to see the second half at a cost ... So you'd go all excited to see the end of the play only for it to suddenly become all linked to the bible

Good grief, I'd have gone ballistic - and I'm a (bad) christian. It's not the bible links I'd object to per se, but the implied deceit

As I've said, there are unprincipled people in ALL religions (neiljames's violent priest is another good example) and this is just one more

Knitted, which Muslim woman on MN said she felt oppressed by the hijab?

A very articulate lady was saying she found the whole religion oppressive and she eloquently explained why and the various problems with it.

Oh and another thing, one of the priests came into school (primary) and gave sweets to the kids. But only the ones who'd been to church on Sunday and left the others out.
If I was the teacher, I'd have gone out to the shop and got them some.
Spiteful old turd.

he'd be accused of discrimination in this day and age. giving the wrong message then i think, what a meanie

2pencs: atheism isn't a belief system, there is no way to tell what someone believes if they are atheist, it only tells you that they don't believe in any of the gods. A position that is only one god different to Christians and Muslims.

We went to a mosque when on holiday last year, we were asked to cover up and they provided what was needed. We had a good chat about our mutual beliefs and we left with the children having been given fruit juice and some sweets. Lovely, lovely people, and as a woman, mother, wife and practicing Christian there was nothing said or done that I could have objected to. Christian churches in the same country ask people to cover up as well, it's not unusual nor inappropriate.
If you are religious and are open to your children learning about other religions then there is no reason to object to a mosque visit, unless you have a closed mind of course.

I've never visited a mosque as a tourist. National Geographic ran a piece a while ago with the most beautiful ones shown. There's one in Iran that is breathtaking.

I've seen preserved nuns and St Catherine's preserved head though. I wonder what the muslim visitors think of some of the catholic places of worship?

When the Muslim kids do go to visit the Catholic churches, tell them not to ask the priest any awkward questions!!!!

Blot Lots of people who object to some Islamic practices also object to similar practices in Christian and other religions. Many religions have problematic treatment of women for instance. The fact that has been acceptable in almost all countries for hundreds or thousands of years and is exceedingly common does not mean that there is "nothing there" that you could have objected to. It just means you don't object to it. If you believe that there is no spiritual difference between men and women and that practices that differentiate them debase both, then it might be offensive to you, just as you might find the enforcement of class or caste divisions by a religious institution offensive.

Neil

neiljames77, was that before corporal punishment was banished in schools? It would be assault now (it was then as well, of course, just not recognised as such). I was a bit shocked when I looked date up and see it was so lately banned completely in schools (if you include independent ones). It seems some Christian independent schools fought the ban in the courts.

I also see it is still allowed in lots of U.S. states. Conversely, lots of european countries have progressed to banning corporal punishment in both school and home. U.K. not one of these.

neiljames, it sounds as if you had good powers of reasoning!

Pangurban Yes it was. We also got strapped, slippered, had wooden board dusters thrown at us and one teacher made us kneel on pencils at the front of the class as punishment.
I think their idea of Christianity came from the old testament, not the new.

For anyone still interested in the reality of Britain's mosques the Spectator has just published an in-depth article here:

www.spectator.co.uk/features/9230671/who-runs-our-mosques/

Quote: "According to a database of British Islam, however, only two out of 1,700 mosques in Britain follow modernist interpretations of the Koran. It’s not the same elsewhere in the West. In a 2011 survey of Islam in the United States, 56 per cent of mosques described themselves as following an interpretation of Islam adapted to modern circumstances. This has not happened in Britain..... The largest single group — the one which arguably gives Islam in Britain much of its character — is the Deobandi. It controls around 45 per cent of Britain’s mosques and nearly all the UK-based training of Islamic scholars. What most Deobandi scholars have in common is a conservative interpretation of Islamic law: television and music for the purposes of entertainment, for example, are frowned upon if not banned. Women are advised not to emerge from their homes any more than is necessary."

When the Muslim kids do go to visit the Catholic churches, tell them not to ask the priest any awkward questions!!!!

Why? We should all be asking all religions awkard questions.

I think that was supposed to be a bit of a comment!