The teacher from Batley is still in hiding

[Nicetrynigel]

Teacher Batley
His life ruined because a bunch of thugs decided they didn't like what he was teaching in his RE lesson.
This and the Labour MP's request for bhalsphey laws against those of the Abrahamic faith have made me concerned.

People should be free to offer an view against another's religion. It's scary that we are being a country where people thing being offended gives them a right to made death threats.

He put up offensive caricatures during a religious lesson. He fucked about and found out, quite frankly.
Welcome to multicultural Britain. Where no-one is allowed to be offended.
As a Christian, I am totally bemused by this. Christianity is ridiculed all the time and yet, strangely, we don't drive people into hiding. Or decapitate them.

I'd be interested to hear what part of the protesters returning the next day suggested the police approach was "working"

Or why the "engage, explain, encourage and enforce" principle has been so quickly cast aside when anti muslim protests are involved

I agree. That teacher in Batley, Charlie Hebdo, Theo van Gogh, threats against people like Salman Rushdie and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
And these are just some of the more prominent examples.
At some point you can’t just keep pretending that it’s just “one incident” and that all of these are absolutely unique cases, nothing whatsoever in common, nothing to see here.

If a RE teacher doesn’t understand the sensitivities around the blasphemous pictures then they need more education / training. That’s the fault of the school.
No.
It's the fault of an intolerant religion

And that anyone who questions it is racist…
I think the tide is turning and people want to talk

The Mormons (LDS) are well hard. I suppose you’d have the hide of a rhino if you did a two year missionary proselytising they usually carry out.

A dark side too, though. I know it is the FLDS, but Warren Jeffs seems to have had tyrannical bent. I think they are having problems in their church on something similar to trafficking of young girls. Illegal child marriages of underage girls.

Why was it an arrogant post?

For all our faults, Europe has spent the last few centuries of its history ridding ourselves of this (largely) and - hey presto- we're back in the Middle Ages again.

How do you manage to drag a “terminally ill child” into this?
PP was talking about people not taking their own religious beliefs too seriously.

So, do we have a requirement to treat all religions exactly the same

Errrr… yes?

Well said.

We haven't learned anything and who could possibly defend a religion that has spawned the likes of the London bus bombings, the London tube bombings, Lee Rigby, Ariana Grande concert, London Bridge attack not to mention 43,000 on watch list. The mind boggles.

Did anyone receive death treats or had to go into hiding because of the Olympic opening ceremony?

In your opinion are all Muslims extremists and ready to commit atrocities?

Where do we go with that? What about all people, do we treat them the same?

Surely not all but 43,000 on the watch list!

That's 40 in every town in the UK

No, not all, but all those who don't understand that the Charlie Hebdo caricature is legal in the UK and can be used in a specific context (like teaching about discussing blasphemy) are extremists.

State Catholic schools take non catholics aswell. They gave over their buildings and rights to just teach just catholics in the 70s and became comprehensive.
Whilst priority is given to Catholics at entry they cannot deny non Catholics if places are not filled
They also have to teach the state curriculum.
Perhaps Muslim schools will not agree to do the same and hence are denied state funding.

Shouldn’t exist according to who? And does everyone else have to agree with those who don’t want a particular image to exist?

Yeah, if you think ’engage, explain and encourage’ is appropriate action when people are threatening others and forcing a school to close, then yes, they ‘did something’. The fire brigade could turn up and talk about fire safety outside a burning building and you could say they did something, too.

My principal point was that a group of women threatening nobody and getting in nobody’s way in an open space in the same month as the Batley incident were arrested under COVID laws. Meanwhile no action was taken against a group of men threatening people and forcing a school to close, on TOP of violating the law the women were arrested over. People can fiddle with wording all they like, but that remains a huge double standard. You can pretend not to see the problem if it suits you.

I thought it was just not acceptable to show drawings of Mohamed and it was extremely insulting to people in islam. Surely the teacher must have known that he'd get in trouble.
Why bother do it? I don't see why you'd need to in an RE class. Mohamed is not pictured visually. That's I was taught in RE. That's part of the religion. It could only have been offensive. There is no other reason to do it.

Great idea. Let’s never challenge anything in case it offends someone.

@TENSsion but why be insulting to an entire religion. What lesson is the teacher trying to convey? I thought RE taught you the traditions of each religion, not drawing Mohamed is one of them. So what, why does someone need to draw him? Shall people draw swastikas during lessons about Judaism?

Yes. There were death threats and rape threats. There is a hearing due next year.