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?

What do you mean with 'that way'?

As a man in the sky making things.

And heartened that at least some people may have had the same reaction. It's just the same old posters banging about the same old thing they always do when religion is mentioned. Have you not been on MN long?

Well, I don’t think any of the major faiths in this country refer to God in that way.

I really feel like I must be misunderstanding you.
So 'It can't be chance' and 'God made all of these' is not in line with how the major religions in this country seem to see God?

“ It's just the same old posters banging about the same old thing they always do when religion is mentioned.”
Yep. Certainly is.

Don't know if I've ever posted on a thread about religion before.

I still don't believe in a sky fairy man Hurrah! Sky fairies!

At the end one of the songs played was 'Who put the colours in the rainbow?', which I remember from my childhood. So OP why were you not indoctrinated by this awful event?

Oh FFS. For the millionth time. OP wasn't worried about her baby bring indoctrinated. She didn't feel comfortable at religion being treated as fact in a non-religious setting. Why are people willfully misunderstanding this again and again.

I think people are focussing too much on the particulars of the song and ignoring the pervasiveness of teaching Christianity to children as fact in the UK.

I went to a pretty run of the mill primary school that, so far as I can tell, isn't affiliated with a particular church. There was no 'some people believe'; just the teaching of Christianity and Creationism as fact, usually through songs or stories in class or assemblies. My parents weren't religious and probably had little idea, outside of nativity plays, how Christian my education was. I didn't really discuss God with them but I did absorb it all.

I wasn't aware that there existed other religions, or that there was even a question about God's existence, until secondary school.

Admittedly things might have changed since I went to school but I don't like that I was uncritically taught Christian theology as a child and wouldn't want the same for mine, but I don't know if you can realistically 'opt out' of it, short of sending your children to a faith school of a different faith...

The OP's post is just a small example of that.

Are all the songs at baby sensory classes treated as fact? Hey Diddle Diddle? Twinkle Twinkle?

“ still don't believe in a sky fairy man Hurrah! Sky fairies!”

If you even try to say Christians have been given a hard time on this thread you will make yourself a bit silly....

So you don't celebrate Christmas or sing any Christmas carols or expose your child to any carols that will be playing on endless loops in public places!

Also would you send your kid to a good CofE school over a less-good non church school. I'm guessing you probably would!

You would expect Christmas carols at Christmas.

You would not expect Christian song at a non fair based baby group.

Bertrand

As I said, I really feel like I must be misunderstanding you. So could you please clarify how 'It can't be chance' and 'God made all of these' is not in line with how the major religions in this country seem to see God? How that would exclude people from other faiths?

I’m not aware of different faiths sharing hymns- but obviously you know more about this than me. Maybe singing a Christian hymn would not make a Muslim, for example feel out of place, in which case, I’m glad.
But I do find they “oh, why would anyone mind?” mentality very frustrating. I don’t see why “default Christian” should be the automatic position- particularly at something like a baby sensory group where no effort is needed to avoid it.

Well, perhaps someone Sikh, Hindu, Muslim etc could say whether supposedly secular baby groups that meet in spaces affiliated with those religions, if any, sing faith-specific nauseatingly twee creationist ditties?

@PickleChips, that’s exactly what my seven year old gets now at our village school. Fortunately, he’s naturally sceptical, and has a lot of friends from Muslim and Hindu backgrounds, and comes to his own conclusions, but it really shouldn’t be that a seven year old of average intelligence can see the problems with a statement like ‘It’s true because it’s in the Bible’ and a grown man can’t.

Sikhs and Hindus both have more than one God, so it wouldn’t make much sense to them. And my feeling is that Muslims are more respectful to their God- I don’t think this song would sit happily with them. But happy to be proved wrong.

you will make yourself a bit silly....

And we wouldn't want anyone looking silly on this thread.😂😂😂

A bit off-topic, but WTF is a baby sensory class for anyway? Aren’t all senses being developed anyway for babies, just by being, you know, babies in the world? I find it a bit nauseating that all baby & toddler groups now feel the need to come with a list of the special benefits they have for developing cognitive, gross motor and developmental skills etc. Just to play to the neuroses of modern young parents who feel the anxiety/pressure to over-analyse and hand-wring about every aspect of once-normal baby-rearing. All has to be educational/over-explained/over-complicated from the moment they pop-out.

Eeh I can’t help wondering how we all managed to grow into functioning healthy intelligent adults reared only on bog-standard mum-and-baby groups in draughty church halls, the adults dunking a biscuit in their Nescafé whilst we all gnawed on a fisher price dial phone

Sikhs and Hindus both have more than one God, so it wouldn’t make much sense to them. And my feeling is that Muslims are more respectful to their God- I don’t think this song would sit happily with them. But happy to be proved wrong.

Ahh so it seems just Christianity at fault, the other religions are fine.

A bit off-topic, but WTF is a baby sensory class for anyway?

Can't speak for others, but in our case -the chance to talk to other mothers on maternity leave. The walk into town and visit to the bakery next door. It was different every week with lots of varied activities so didn't get boring for me. In truth, I think most of the time it was a bit much for DD, but it was the highlight of my week. (I may not have particularly enjoyed maternity leave.)

No one I spoke to was there for the babies' development, it was the social side for everyone.

“ Ahh so it seems just Christianity at fault, the other religions are fine”
@rainbowvalley17 I have absolutely no idea how you read criticism of Christianity into that! Please enlighten me.