Daughter made to write 'I believe in god' in school

[chickensaladagain]

Dd was in an ethics, philosophy & religion

She had to write a number of statements then say whether they were fact opinion or belief

One of the sentences was 'I believe in god'

She objected as it wasn't true but was told to stop making a fuss

We are a family of atheists -I don't pull my dcs out of any assemblies etc because I think it's important culturally for them to understand religion but surely having to write 'I believe in god' isn't appropriate?

This is not a church school btw

Sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick, but she could have written it down and then answered that this is an opinion or a belief rather than a fact? I think this is acceptable for an atheist and a little bit different to what the thread title implies. Or was she asked to write it down as a fact? That would be unacceptable imo.

Also could she have written it in speech marks or inverted commas? Then it's quite clear that it's not her 'voice' saying it iyswim.

It was a statement to discuss. She could then write why she thought it was wrong. Stop making a fuss

What AwfulDaughter said. Sounds like she didn't understand the exercise.

If it was a statement that then went on to merit discussion then YABU. If it was a fact that she was just told to write down then YANBU.

Definitely an overreaction.

But I suppose that's what teenagers do :)

She wasn't writing that she believes in god. She was writing the statement as part of an exercise.

Mountain and molehill spring to mind here.

If she had the option to say 'I believe in God' was a belief then what's the issue? Was she somehow unclean just from writing it?

You may be a family of atheists, but you don't sound very rational about it.

You've just written it yourself. It's not like when people write G-d because their religion forbids them from writing God.

Did you actually read your second sentence? Was the statement a belief(not specifically a belief she has-just one that someone may have) or an opinion that can be held?
If it still doesn't make sense, substitute the word ghosts for god (which is what my DD is discussing in PPRE, or fairies or unicorns (discussing-not being told it's true)). Ok it may not, to her, be true, but it is examining beliefs-why different people have them, to understand how people get on(or don't) in our world.
she wasn't being asked to say she believed in god-just to look at why others do.

There was no discussion

The statement was written and then followed with the word 'belief'

Dd feels that it looks from that, that she believes in god

I don't stop her attending the broadly Christian assemblies because they aren't generally religious and the odd nod to it she can ignore

Your daughter clearly lacked the maturity to understand that 'a belief' rather than 'my belief' was implied.

How old is she?

We are perfectly rational

We are atheists but we respect other people's beliefs
I like to understand religious and cultural differences and respect them

When the dcs were little we didn't correct them if they stated something about Jesus for example as fact -it's up to them to make their own decisions about religion, dd1 is an atheist, dd2 isn't sure

Would it have bothered you if she had been asked to write "I believe in fairies" fact/opinion/belief. Or "I like watching cricket"? Because I doubt it would, tbh. You/she are just hung up about religion / being atheist.

If it bothers her that much, she can write a disclaimer at the top or bottom of the page.

It was an exercise in thinking about what people say and what their reasons are, and about the differences between facts, opinions, and beliefs - a perfectly valid topic to consider in that class.

Eh? It was a load of statements that then had to be analysed and discussed. It didn't mean she believed it and why would she or you think that?

When we writes about buying bread in the Boulangerie in French or going to the cinema in German do you both think this means she is actually doing this?

It was an exercise. Not a manifesto or creed.

When she writes

There were several statements about football & flowers being pretty etc

That was the only one pointing to religion

There was no reason why it couldn't have been some people rather than I

It sounds like she spectacularly missed the point, or isn't yet capable of understanding what is belief (as opposed to fact or opinion).

K8 it wasn't a discussion, they were copying off the board

She is fully aware what a belief is

She is also very clear about what her own beliefs are

Well the statement 'some people believe in God' would be a fact, 'I believe in God' needs the response 'belief'.

A totally different thing.