Does anyone remove their children from the religious bits at school?

[WigWamBam]

I am Pagan (for want of a better description), and although I would like to bring dd up to have an understanding of world religions, I don't really intend to bring her up with any sort of God in our lives. When she is old enough to make up her own mind then that's fine, but she's only 4 at the moment.

I'm getting a bit concerned about the amount of overtly religious stuff that she's getting at school. It's not a faith school, just a bog standard ordinary state primary. As well as the daily prayer and so on, she's now telling me about other things that have been happening and it seems that twice a week they have visitors from local churches, and the indoctrination has started. Yesterday they were being taught about the promises that God makes to us, and at one point she was asked to make a promise to God. I have no problem with her learning about what some people believe God is and what they believe he does, but from what she tells me this is being presented as undisputed truth, and it makes me uneasy.

I've talked to her before about God and about what certain other religions believe, but from an angle that this is what some people believe, but Mummy and Daddy don't believe that. Now she's being told (by people she believes only teach things that are true) that God is categorically real, and that she has to make promises to him.

I considered taking her out of the religious aspects right from the start, but was assured that it was only a daily prayer ... which is obviously not the case. I'm now considering it again, but I'm not sure whether it would single her out as being different if she wasn't taking part.

I'm not interested in getting into a debate about religion, or whether I'm wrong to feel the way I feel; I just wondered if there's anyone out there who removes their child from the religious aspects, and what the upshot from it has been. I don't want my child taught that things we don't believe in are the truth, but then again I don't want her bullied if I take her away from it.

The less fortunate in society can have faith as well. Not all Christians, Muslims, Jews etc are wealthy.

I begged my athiest mum to let me go to Sunday School, which she did, and got bored very quickly Gomez so it's a workable plan.

However, I grew up resenting that I was indoctrinated into believing that anyone with any degree of spirituality was a complete loon. I had to rfediscover my own spirituality in my 30s.

Lacrimosa-agree entirely with that point

the poorer members of religious may have faith, certainly, but it appears not to help them in getting into a faith school. however, being middle class does appear to help immensely.

...and faith schools are normally over subscribed so therefore would not have places for the children of refugee/asylum seeker families. They normally get placed in the worse schools as these usually have the places to accomodate them.

Spidermama I am a Humanist and I would never dreanm of telling anyone that anyone with spirituality is a loon I am sad for you but maybe humanism is a term that if more people knew would use instead of Atheist, a lot of kids are brought up with the wrong definition of that, just out of curiosoty do you have a faith now?

Would this be refugee/asylum seeker families of that faith.
Sorry baby waking up so have to leave it here.
Bet WWB didn't expect her thread to produce such a debate!

Oliveoil and fennel, you are being a touch cynical methinks. Certainly in my children's school (RC) there are numerous children taken by the school on the request of the parish priest 'for pastoral reasons', including sundry refugee and traveller children.

cynicism fostered by a recently published report on the subject, frogs. before that i wouldn't have guessed this was so.

even if they are oversubscribed and full?

Moi cynical? How dare you.

It is a sad fact here, that they end up in the worst schools. Councils have to get them a school place, and they end up in the worst ones as they are not full.

ahhhh KateF, the baby-waking-up chestnut. We have heard it all before.

x

gomez - yes, absolutely. I am just engaged in a small side debate here with KateF about choice and interfaith relations...
well I think the argument that CofE schools provide a choice is a red herring.
what they do is discriminate on the grounds of the faith of a child's parents, which to be is wholly indefensible.
they provide a choice only to those who want a religious education, at he expense of those who do not. who have NO choice except to educate privately.
and, in reality, any semblance of choice is a chimera for anyone outside urban areas. in many rural areas, if the local school is CofE then the "choice" is to try and get the child into anotehr school, which may be several miles away. or, often, all the schools in an area are CofE. my nearest non CofE school is several miles away AND oversubscribed. My choices are ridiculously limited.

Aside from everything else,as a Western European,my culture is underpinned by Christianity-politices,art,literature,architecture.

That is one of many reasons why it matters to know about Christianity.

I don't want my children to be ignorant of this.
(Was amazed at the gaping holes in the education of the very intelligent university students I taught in an excellent uni in Russia-direct result of Communism.)

oliveoil-Iam shocked that you could think so . I am back typing one handed as I b/feed dd3! But do have to do school run soon

My Dbro and dsis's RC primary has the largest proportion of ethnic minority/ English as a second language kids in their rural community because the town has become a magnet for Christian refugees from Pakistan who have been persecuted for their faith. The school is exceeding recommended class sizes to ensure that they take these kids in.

I think studies have shown there is actually quite a difference between the proportion of refugee/lower income families in RC schools and CofE ones. After all many RC schools were founded to serve immigrant communities who ended up in deprived areas.

another chestnut (school run)

I have to go and sort some invoices out so will leave you all to it.

xx

FWIW I absolutely agree with you moondog
to grow up with an ignorance of Christianity would be a monstrous omission, and would leave one with a huge gap in one's appreciation of much of Western art and culture
and bloody baffled in most rooms of the National Gallery
BUt that is an argument for religious EDUCATION again, not observance

SM - thanks for your comments on the spitituality/complete loon trap as in all honesty it is one DH and I may be guilty of falling into. It is an area of peoples 'personalities' I have a real problem understanding as I can't connect with it at all.

Thanks.

harpsi- I agree honestly. I am in a town where there is one CofE lower school and seven not so I didn't realise the lack of choice others have. It was similar in my home town so I'm a bit out of my depth now

(oh yes KateF feel free to shorten my name. I am dodging a little your qusetion of whether I respect other faiths. there are some faiths that I would struggle to respect, because I find their basic tenets deeply offensive.)

Moondog - can only agree but there is a very real difference between education and worship that you are not including/addressing in this.

BUT I absolutely respect the work done by many people of faith. AND I believe very strongly in religious tolerance. and YES I am fudging the issue...
like gomez, I struggle with this a bit... in friends and family.

Phew - so pleaed not just me then .

We used to have kids removed from the school I went to (Plymouth Brethren, unusual to see someone else has heard of them!) and they weren't seen as lower, or worse- different iguess, but no more than if they had worn glasses, or had red hair, or an accent. if you feel really upset, take him out or ask them to provide more balance.

I'm in this situation sort of: the only school open to my boys when we moved here was a hyper-religious C of W one. I can't realistically take them out because that would be EVERYTHING but at the same time I feel I have beed corralled into something I wouldn't choose. They (my boys) have become very devout. Dh is an atheist, I am exploring Buddhism as an option and I am studying World Religions. they refuse to do any non-biblical religions at school, they get away with judaism for the required other study.

yes gomez I find it really hard
two of my sisters have become very devout, and I find it so very hard to understand
we just avoid the subject tbh