to not allow my child to do a reading in church?

[GooseyLoosey]

Dh and I are atheists. The dcs attend the local school which is C of E (although wholly state funded). There are no alternative non-C of E schools locally.

The school tends towards being very religious and there is a special Easter service in church for the school this week. Ds (5) has been given a reading to do at this service. It includes many "Praise God" and "God is good" type statements.

I don't wish to over react but getting ds to actively participate in an act of worship may be a step too far for me. AIBU to object and to consider telling them to get someone else to do this?

BOF - you should be proud of your dd, well done her. I do not have any problems whatsoever with my children learning about religion, indeed their education would be sadly lacking if they did not. It is actively participating in an act of worship that I was not so sure about.

HFTB

Why would you do a pagan version of Christmas if you were an athiest? Paganism is still religious.

Well, you see, the rational person can happily celebrate Xmas and Easter with DC and use them as a useful cultural/historical educational opportunity by explaining that they are ancient druid/roman/norse festivals which were colonised and rearranged by the next set of mythologies to be dreamed up (only with older DC to you need to go into the whys and wherefores of monotheism generally having overrun the pantheistic religions) and that it's enjoyable to mark the turning of the seasons with various patchwork traditions...

SGB

But why remove the Christian element? Why not just have a patchwork of all the religions including Christianity?

Great quote from Hanif Kureishi on BBC News site this weekend: "God is mankind's finest creation."

I also think celebrating Christmas as an example of something other people believe in and you don't isn't enough. You have to find something you do believe in and make that your celebration.

I didn;t mean that I would remove the christian element, just treat it in the same way as the norse/roman/celtic elements. Because there isn't any difference in importance, after all. And WRT the turning of the seasons, we also celebrate St Geoges Day and May Day and Halloween and Midsummer.

OK, I haven't read the whole thread, but think YABU. My DS1 goes to the local C of E school (we are CofE). However, the area I live in has quite a high number of Muslim families, and therfore quite a lot of the children at the school are Muslim. Yet at Christmas, many of these Muslim children took part in the Nativity assembly, reading passages from the bible, either in English, or translated into various languages. The reception class acted the story out. As far as I know none of the children's parents objected to this. As was mentioned by a PP, if you don't believe in God then it is no different to reading a fairy story.

GL, I think that the reason why some people flinch at telling a young child that God does not exist is precisely because it can't be a factual statement (like gravity making things fall or snow being cold).

You have a belief one way or the other - God exists/God doesn't exist - and there is a distinction between explaining your belief system to your child and stating that belief system as fact iyswim.

To the OP YABU if when you registered your child at the school you did not set out to them what elements you wanted your child to be excluded from. To object to a note in the bag if you have not said that you wanted to be asked in advance etc is unreasonable.

It is a factual statement in that, without evidence to support the opposite, it is the default position.

The person making the positive claim is the one who needs to justify it.

If you say dragons exist, I am entitled to say they do not, and tell my children they do not, unless and until you show me some evidence (note: not proof, just some evidence) that they do.

The difference between statements concerning no God and statements concerning gravity is that the former is a fact and the latter is a scientific fact and theory.

Hope,

I don't believe in the beliefs of the Romans/Norse/Druids either, so I have interest in celebrating thier Gods either. I think you can find other things in it that are not about religion at all.

That should have been NO interest!

Sorry.

Would agree totally with UnquietDad - the non-existence of God is far more than an one opinion versus the alternative opinion that God does exist. The non-existence of God does not require faith and is therefore the rational starting point (to me).

MillyR: but actually we can happily celebrate all the festivals, enjoy all the good bits, stick two fingers up at the superstitious bits and you can't stop us.
I sometimes wonder if the reason some superstitious people are so desperate to assert that fairies/flying casserole dishes/imaginary friends are really real is because they know, deep down, that it's a load of old cock but to admit that might be to harm their own privileged status.

Milly - why does a celebration have to be founded on a belief? I celebrate my birthday each year and those of my family but the celebration does not require any underlying faith in anything other than birthday cake tastes nice and parties are fun.

SGB

I have no interest in stopping you. I just think that for me personally, I do not consider myself religious, and I am keen to bring my children up to believe and celebrate non-religious ideas. I would not want to be involved in something as a major part of our lives if I could find no meaning in it.

GL

I am not saying it has to be a religious belief.

Gah! Some atheists drive me mental. Why celebrate christmas if you don't believe in it? My SIL and DB claim to be card-carrying atheists, repeatedly denigrate anyone with religious beliefs, go on about the fairy story malarky (there are times when it's like they're quoting the gospel of Dawkins word for word) but: still celebrate xmas, expect everyone else to celebrate it along with them (I don't celebrate xmas, as I'm not Christian) and are making plans to celebrate easter!

I am fine with people believing there is no G-d, but when they fail to follow the strength of their convictions, and add into that mocking those who do, it drives me up the blimmin' wall.

Rant over.

I agree with UnquietDad and GooseyLoosey...without proof, non-belief is the most sensible starting point.

I celebraate Christmas because midwinter is a festival of peace and I celebrate Easter as a a festival of new life. I believe in both.