To object to a religious song at a baby class?

[SecondTimer2019]

I take my baby (6mo) to a baby sensory class and this week the theme was 'rainbows'. At the end one of the songs played was 'Who put the colours in the rainbow?', which I remember from my childhood.

It asks who created all the amazing things in the world and ends by saying things like 'It can't be chance' and 'God made all of these'.

I'm not religious and think this environment should be secular. Obviously my baby can't understand the lyrics yet but I still feel it is inappropriate.

I'm thinking of contacting the organisers to let them know my feelings.

AIBU?

Yabvu

Why is it ok for some people to be quite offensive about Christian beliefs, completely shutting the idea of God down while promoting their own ideology as absolutely the correct beliefs? People making comments like "catching God" etc. There are quite a few pp laughing and being very sarcastic about religion. I am a practising Catholic but I live and let live. People don't need to make unpleasant comments about other's religious views.

Why is it ok for some people to be quite offensive about Christian beliefs, “

Absolutely nobody on this thread has been “offensive about Christian beliefs”. The only people talking about “catching God” are using it to tell the OP that her child won’t. Please go and read the thread.

It's not the place to insert religion, is it though?

Realistically anywhere outside a church isn't either, but don't get me started on every state-funded school committing to a 'daily act of worship'. That really boils my piss...

Just looking, of the ones you generally hear, there aren’t that many of the, which actually refer to god or similar.

Really?! Silent Night, Hark the Herald, While Shepherds Watched, Once In Royal, Away in a Manger, O Little Town of Bethlehem etc etc. Most carols are about the birth of Jesus (somewhat unsurprisingly!).

I wouldn't worry OP. They were having a theme, I bet they just collected songs on rainbows and colour without looking that deeply into it. It's actually quite difficult to gather songs on a theme. I do a little Easter 'performance' with my play group and once you've done "Peter rabbits got a fly upon his nose" and "sleeping bunnies" you can get a bit stuck..

Serious question.. how do you get through life if things like this are even on your radar? Surely just leaving the house would put you in a multitude of dilemmas like this? There are such bigger problems so how do you deal with them day to day?!

Thousands of Christians, including me, have had direct encounters with the presence of God. For us it is not a matter of faith, but of fact.

Oh, excellent, I love it when Trump White House-style alternative facts enter the fray.

“ There are such bigger problems so how do you deal with them day to day?!”

Are you not capable of being concerned about little things as well as big ones?

Playing a song with the word god in it isn't inserting religion into stuff.

@Babdoc Good post. Totally agree.

Oh, excellent, I love it when Trump White House-style alternative facts enter the fray.
Regrettably, Trumpism and Christianity seem to go hand in hand on my side of the pond. It's amazing that groups who assert themselves as morally superior can be so supportive of the politics of hate and surely the least moral president there has ever been. While it's one of many examples, seeing that pastor call for LGBTQ people to be executed a couple of months ago sticks in my mind.

Non-critical teaching of religious beliefs ought to be optional.

YANBU - it should be secular. The Red Flag is just a song (and a much better one) but they shouldn't be singing that either.

In “non denominational” schools, the amount of religious activity is pretty high.

This probably varies by school but was not particularly my experience. In my own day there was a fair amount at primary school with weekly assemblies featuring hymns and prayers, then nothing at all at secondary beyond RE. For my children there were just two annual bouts of religious observance at Christmas and Easter at primary, and I think maybe three or four at secondary that half the school; skidged off from.

We did remove ours from religious observance due to one particular minister (of the hellfire and damnation variety) but he was United Reform not Church of Scotland.

In some areas virtually all religious observance in the non-denominational sector is Presbyterian but in others it is more mixed. My cousin's school in Glasgow had Sikh and Muslin services (if services is the right word) as well as Christian ones being a more mixed area.

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather the whole system was secularised, but the non-denominational sector as it stands is a mixed bag. Some schools go in for the 'acts of daily worship' stuff, others barely pay it lip service.

Amen, @ButterTarts.

FFS FourQuarters, you can't just drop an Amen like that. Have you learnt nothing from this thread?

Who said everything in our society should be secular ?

I'm an athiest but there are no rules in this country whatsoever that say everything should be secular. Getting very tired of the constant 'everything should suit my sensibility' complaints about everything (not simply religion).

“ Who said everything in our society should be secular?”

Well, a non faith based baby sensory class should be. Otherwise there will be people who can’t use it.

As an athiest, I am also happy if my child sings Little Donkey, makes Diwali decorations, learns about Allah, goes to another family's Jewish celebration dinner.

I don't believe in any of it but its all part of life's rich tapestry and the world's history and culture and, as an adult, I'm perfectly able explain to my children the origins and say 'what a lovely song/story/decoration' whilst also explaining my personal belief that it's all a load of bunkum. They may not agree. As they get older we can discuss how I believe religion is responsible for many of the world's ills (not all) but right now I can appreciate the loveliness of a simple song and really there's no need to be offended by it.

I also went to a primary with daily hymns, learned all the stories, even went to Sunday school for 6 years (2 different branches of Christianity) Christian raves every month and work bf harvest once a year.... then a catholic secondary and sixth form.

My parents didn't believe in god so I wasn't indoctrinated, so it made no difference. I still don't believe in a sky fairy man

This probably varies by school but was not particularly my experience.

There is definitely a north/south divide. My NE schooling had very little 35 years ago. It is far more prevalent now we are further south. Weekly visits for “moral education” 🙄, lunchtime clubs where religious teaching masquerades as a craft club. Even the residential trips are at a Church of Scotland run outdoor centre. A holiday “Lego club” complete with Christian singing group. The same is true right across the council area.

The point is, the Church gets whatever access it wants, no question. I tried to organise a lunchtime STEM club and despite being PVG checked by Disclosure, the barriers to getting in there became too great.

It’s not a North/South divide. It’s a whether you abide by the 1988 Education Act or not divide.

Is it non-faith, does it announce it's non-faith ? Are some people unable to go into most shops because there will be cards showing the nativity, or walk through a shopping centre because there might be carols ? Or can we pick and choose when to be offended ?

“ As an athiest, I am also happy if my child sings Little Donkey, makes Diwali decorations, learns about Allah, goes to another family's Jewish celebration dinner”
So am I. That is a completely different issue.

“ Are some people unable to go into most shops because there will be cards showing the nativity, or walk through a shopping centre because there might be carols ?” Don’t be ridiculous.