Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to expect religion to be taught & practised at religious schools?

223 replies

KristinaM · 26/09/2007 19:06

I am getting rather fed up with the threads that go........

" Although we are not Jewish we have chosen to send our son to the local Jewish school, its got a good ethos and great results. Now he has started we are very angry and upset to discover that they celebrate all the Jewish festivals and have acts of worship with a rabbi present.They even take them to the synagogue.

I don't want to have my child brainwashed with fairy stories.I only want him exposed to my particular beliefs. I am worried he will grow up and have a mind of his own and not believe the same as me. How can I get the school to change to suit me??"

OP posts:
SueBaroo · 26/09/2007 22:31

Muslim songs are called Nasheeds, I believe.

harpsichordcarrier · 26/09/2007 22:33

I have heard some Arabic hymns though I can't remember where or when

SueBaroo · 26/09/2007 22:35

You can get some quite funky ones from really traditional muslims - they believe that only drums and the human voice are allowed, so they have these top tunes with just voice harmonies and a beat.

puts madcrazyfundy hat back on

Yuk, difference, erk! Need uniformity!!

harpsichordcarrier · 26/09/2007 22:36

Oh and I saw something funky in Turkey once, like a passion play thing.

Original poster
KristinaM · 26/09/2007 22:37

"Would you send your child to a Muslim school? Would you mind that your child took part in acts of worship every day? sang Muslim songs praising Allah and setting out the tenets of Islam"

No i wouldnt . But if i chose to send my child there becuase it was the best school in the area / had the best results, i woudlnt expect thenm to change their religious practice for my child. i woudl accept that they woudl have to participate in these things , unless i was able to / chose to withdraw them. i expect they woudl have to observe muslim dress and dietary rules.

I wouldnt tell my child that it was all nonsense and fairy stories, i woudl explain to them why i did not agree with some of their teachings. i woudl encourage the to form their own views. i woudl not mock the teachers and Islam, trivialising them and misrepresenting their views

OP posts:
scienceteacher · 26/09/2007 22:38

I'm a science teacher - I don't have an imagination.

But I'm not bitter either.

Original poster
KristinaM · 26/09/2007 22:38

ok must learn to type faster

OP posts:
NappiesGalore · 26/09/2007 22:39

civility. a marvellous thing.

harpsichordcarrier · 26/09/2007 22:41

why wouldn't you send your child to a muslim school - and what if you had no choice?

"But if i chose to send my child there becuase it was the best school in the area / had the best results, i woudlnt expect thenm to change their religious practice for my child. i woudl accept that they woudl have to participate in these things , unless i was able to / chose to withdraw them. i expect they woudl have to observe muslim dress and dietary rules."

hold on who is saying that children are sent there because they are the best school. I have NO CHOICE and I am not the only one.

I wouldnt tell my child that it was all nonsense and fairy stories, i woudl explain to them why i did not agree with some of their teachings. i woudl encourage the to form their own views. i woudl not mock the teachers and Islam, trivialising them and misrepresenting their views.

who is doing this?

ChantillyLace · 26/09/2007 22:41

In our house we all firmly believe, teenagers as well, that there is no god. DD3 will start school next year and I dont want her to have RE as a subject the way I was taught it but as a "these are the beliefs of people in the world" covering all religions so that she can make her own judgement. I know god doesnt exist and she will be aware of my feelings but I wont tell her that is how she should think.

I dont want her praying in assembly though or singing good old 'christian' songs because that is showing bias to one religion.

No offence to anyone who follows a religion meant! Each to their own but please 'teach' my daughter dont 'preach'!

drosophila · 26/09/2007 22:43

AIBU to think that there should be no religious school unless 100% self funded?

SueBaroo · 26/09/2007 22:44

Yeah, actually, the no choice thing is sort of changing my mind on this.

I mean, if you've chosen to send your child to the school because of all that ethos gubbins, then fair enough, I think you should perhaps suck it up a little when it comes to the religious shctick.

But if there is no choice in the equation, then it does change the complexion of it, really.

NappiesGalore · 26/09/2007 22:45

ditto CL.

have been to one end of year performance thingy... for ds1 who was at end of nursery class (now moved up into reception).i was really quite uncomfortable with the religious content. i didnt choose the school for its religion... i specifically chose the school, for , amongst other things, it relative lack of emphasis on religion.
sigh.

harpsichordcarrier · 26/09/2007 22:45

actually, a more interesting question is probably - how would you feel if every school in your area was run by atheists, on atheist lines, teaching that God did not exist and that everything written in the Bible was nonsense?
and that all the children were invited to participate in daily collective acts where the non-existence of God and the untruth at the heart of religion was repeated and taught as absolute ungarnished truth?

EmsMum · 26/09/2007 22:45

Smithagain - I agree that to understand religions you have to be exposed to the actual thing.

I think it would be a good thing if as part of the curriculum, at an appropriate age (prob secondary school?) they all went to a synagogue, a mosque, and a couple of different churches (smells& bells ; happy clappy). And a dharma centre for some meditation.

This is an entirely different thing from either the bland pap served up in assemblies in non-faith schools or just getting one flavour in a faith school.

scienceteacher · 26/09/2007 22:46

Yes - yabu - a spriritual curriculum has always been a dearly held value in this country.

SueBaroo · 26/09/2007 22:48

how would you feel if every school in your area was run by atheists, on atheist lines, teaching that God did not exist and that everything written in the Bible was nonsense?
--------

ah, that is an interesting question, harpsi. It's actually one of the reasons we did choose to say no to state education, anyway. So I completely see your point, albeit from the other end of it.

NappiesGalore · 26/09/2007 22:49

id be happier with that harpsi tbh.

tho, really, why waste so much time talking about it? it seems perfectly obvious without it needing to be pushed quite so energetically.

harpsichordcarrier · 26/09/2007 22:49

for several millennia all education in this country was based on the literal truth of the Creation Myth.
that men were absolutely superior to women.
that slavery was entirely acceptable.

so, times change. the Enlightenment happened. Darwin spotted a few things. Get Over It.

NappiesGalore · 26/09/2007 22:51

HC

harpsichordcarrier · 26/09/2007 22:51

off to bed now, but thanks for the discussion

Original poster
KristinaM · 26/09/2007 22:51

HCC - i am not saying that you are doing these things...just that they are things that i have read here on MN

acutaully we are in teh same position as you - we do not have a local school that teaches our views/religion so we have to send our children elsewhere and accept that they will be taught things we dont agree with

OP posts:
SueBaroo · 26/09/2007 22:51

several millenia? Given that creationists think that the world has only existed for several millenia, I'd say that was a generous timeframe.

Unless you meant non-christian creation myths too...

ChantillyLace · 26/09/2007 22:53

harpsi - where do I sign???!

NG - I would have hated that! Perhaps we should start up our own 'no religion necessary' schools!!

Ive chosen dd3s school on the basis of its results, I presume it's C of E but will interrogate the relevant people to discover how much religion is taught and how much is drummed in!!

Original poster
KristinaM · 26/09/2007 22:53

sorry slow typing again

goodnight HCC

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread