Calling atheists (and anyone else with an opinion) - am I right to get a bit peed off about this?

[Tinker]

Eldest daughter goes to a state school, no relgious affiliation. However, it does seem to hasve close (too close, for my liking) ties with a local church - Christian. Have tolerated that.

Yesterday, she came home very excited, telling me their school had been picked to sing on a cd. On closer inspection of the leaflet, and then reading the website, it's a Christian thing. I won't stop her doing it but I am a bit peed off that a) I wasn't told about it and b) I feel they are using kids to promote Chritianity.

I'm going to investigate the site (popconnections.co.uk) a bit more when I get a chance and will write to the head but just wanted some perspective on this. Anyone else know about them? Am I over-reacting?

Trouble is, the songs are so damn catchy!

That's how they get you. Pop indoctrination

yummymuummy:" since there is no evidence to suggest child abuse is more prevalent by priests than other ministers"
The Catholic church has admitted that it both shilded paedophiles and helped them move to places where the authorities might not find them. It accepts that perhaps the legal settlements which imposed silence upon the parents are "open to misinterpretation".
You know this, I know this.
I know that you know. Why do you embarass yourself defending the indefensible ?

I'm a bit disapointed. Notmally people who defend this peadophile cult move to "but this happened in the past" by this point.

DC - one little personal question as I am deeply intrigued as to exactly where this intense hatred of the Catholic Church and priests has come from.

Were you abused by a priest?

no, though I found out much later that one of them fancied me something rotten when I was 10. Quite bizarre I was a remarkably ugly kid.

Huh?! I'm not defending Catholic Priests. I'm simply saying there are no stats to suggest they do it more than other ministers. You still haven't been able to prove that either. Even if they admit to concealing abuse as an organisation, it doesn't prove it's more common - only more insidious IYSWIM. Sorry you had that experience, but I think it's clouding your judgement.

Have to wait for abusive info to come tumbling out of other religions closets!
I am in Ireland and it is terribly sad listeningg to the fall out..so many victims and their lives devastated.
Imo the Catholic church is about oppression,keeping the massses down,poor and ignorant which is promoted through fear through the Church..whilst they are corpulent,smug,selfish,rich bastards.
I am sure there are 1 or maybe 2 exceptions.

Yeah doobydoo I dislike all organised religion. Was just trying to make the point that one isn't worse than another esp. when it comes to paedophilia.

He will accuse you of funding the Catholic Church in a minute, pm

(Sigh)I know JanH. He surely cannot be that illogical.....it must be for a reaction. Right?! If not, I give up

I think I need some of those self-editing genes JanH. Would delete my bullshit antennae

Am loving this. Go plummy

Feeling ever so guilty at the fact that tinker's thread has been usurped. Erm......sorry

Um.. well have skimmed the thread and think I am with, um, Pruni? As an atheist sending my child to a non religious school I have to admit I'd be more than a little irritated by her getting involved in a Christian CD, something which wasn't even run by me. [I would be tempted to ban her from taking part, due to my own annoyance, but would no doubt let it pass!]

Plus it would only embarrass her as she gets older , still, could be a good thing to get out in front of boyfriends...

Am still lurking my own thread and enjoying it. Very excited that it's got 165 posts and

My partner thought I was making a bit of a fuss about nothing re writing to the head but having endured one og the concerts, is all behind me now.

Can't comment too much on Catholic priests and paedophilia but our priest always used to grab my brothers' thighs in an uninvited manner.

I date from an era when pretty much all schools obeyed the law specifying a "communal act of worship".
We sung some tune, and received homilies from the less atheist teachers about how it might be nicer to be less bad to each other.

Yet those generations each grew up less religious than the last. We're now at the stage where an average Brit is statistically about as likely to enjoy lesbian sex than attend a christian church in any given week.
Don't recall singing about that in assembly.

We didn't sing about drinking beer, that's pretty common too, and I'm pretty sure that there were no songs of the form "heavenly father could you so arrange the development of technology so that we could chat about you on the Internet".

The invidious influences of Chrisitanity upon kids aren't sub standard music. It's sloppy thinking and censorship, it's saying to kids "you can't think that", or "ignoring the facts is a virtue called 'faith'".

My daughter goes to a private nursery but will start at the State Nursery/Infants next year which is Catholic.My husband and I are also Catholic.

Her current nursery has pictures and artwork up all over about evry kind of Religous festival except the Christian ones.This is especillay odd when no muslims or jews attend the nursery. At Easter I asked the manager why there was no artwork showing the Easter Festval and she replied "but there are bunnies and chicks everywhere!"

Everyone is entitled to thier own opinions and although I am a practising Catholic I accecpt this. But it amazes me that so many people are 'Anti Christianity' when the teachings hold so much for young children and there are so many other things that worry me more (and they after all will always make up thier own minds) Many of my friends are Lapsed Catholics but still send thier children to Catholic Schools simply because in our area they are the better schools!

Its late am off to bed.(cant sleep just had op today and slept all day and paying for it now)

How do you know for a fact there's no Moslems or Jews ?
You might be able to help me answer a question that's dogged me for a while.

Clearly your faith matters to you, so why bother at all with school for this ?
I wouldn't.
Obviously there's advanced issues in any faith, but I assume you're more than competent to teach a 4 yo the basics ?
Why do you want the school to teach your child Christianity, or specifically Catholicism ?
Would you like this teacher to explain the difference in doctrine between Cathloicism, anglo-catholics, protestants and baptist ?
(a distant cousin of mine is a sort of Catholic physical immortalist: you sin, you die.)
Think they'll do that the way you would like ?
I got taught that Protestants were all at least as bad as Ian Paisley. Want that ?
Like a lot of people I was taught Christianity from the age of 4, and one only has to look at church attendences to see that didn't have the desried effect.
Also, the bit about chicks must tell you of the quality of religious education they're going to get. I went to a Catholic junior school, we did chicks as well as the blood and gore (quite literally).
You're right there is a hostility towards
Christianity, both implicit and explicit.
I've not seen a survey but teachers (and doctors) seem to be the most frequently atheist people I meet. I can see why doctors find it hard to believe in the Abrahamic God, but have no explanation for teachers.
The social context is that our history is stained by repeated blodletting between different factions of Christianity. Unlike much of Europe we've never had Islam or any other religion ruling us, so it's very easy to see the most common religion as inherently oppressive.
Other faiths are taught as part of the general fuzzy "multi-cultural" attempt to get us all to be nice to each other via "understanding". I wish useful subjects got the thoroughness applied to this. You talk of the lack of Moslems & Jews, but my kids (and I assume yours) will also be taught about the beiefs Australian aborigines which are rather rare in Essex.
Although there are a lot of Christians still, it is only on of several dozen religions that people will encounter in their life. So on that basis, it's lucky to get as much as it does (or unlucky if you look at the way it's taught).

Her current nursery has pictures and artwork up all over about evry kind of Religous festival except the Christian ones.This is especillay odd when no muslims or jews attend the nursery. At Easter I asked the manager why there was no artwork showing the Easter Festval and she replied "but there are bunnies and chicks everywhere!"

Everyone is entitled to thier own opinions and although I am a practising Catholic I accecpt this. But it amazes me that so many people are 'Anti Christianity' when the teachings hold so much for young children and there are so many other things that worry me more (and they after all will always make up thier own minds) Many of my friends are Lapsed Catholics but still send thier children to Catholic Schools simply because in our area they are the better schools!

Its late am off to bed.(cant sleep just had op today and slept all day and paying for it now)