We're always being told we should respect other people's beliefs, but....

[Hakluyt]

.....what exactly does "respect" mean in this context? I am an atheist, and I am always happy to be challenged on my lack of belief, and am frequently told that I must have no moral compass and that I have to put up and shut up when Christianity imposes itself on me. I have also been told that I must have no sense of wonder- and, on on particularly memorable occasion, that I couldn't possibly have any charitable impulses!

But if I say anything even remotely "challenging" about faith or people of faith,bi am accused of disrespect. So, what exactly does respecting other people's beliefs mean?

And fwiw, i don't think they should. I've already said the law isn't followed and should be repealed.

100% of schools don't do it - either they ignore the law, or they've applied for a 'determination' - my DD's secondary has an excellent 'collective worship' policy which lays down how to have sensible inclusive assemblies. Religious assemblies are more the norm in primaries.

Your school should have a collective worship policy, you might want to read it and see how it's defined - may be like my DD's with any luck.

Clarification.

Its called smsc. Social, Moral, Spiritual, Cultural. Where a lesson has links to any one of them, the teacher should mention it. Ofsted can't give you top rating if you miss an opportunity to do so.

In my subject, as i said... When talking about ivf i might say "some people object because abc"

Or it might be as basic as "group work: build your social skills!"

That's all i can think you mean in regards to ofsted and religion.

Heck, Gove pretty much told schools not to bother teaching RE for goodnesss sake.

We have "inspirational" assemblies for sure. But never a mention of religion. In any of the non faith schools I've worked in. Usually things like extraordinary human achievement and the like.

Hak has anyone said to you that menstruating women are unclean and should not be allowed in the marital bed?

What did you say to them?

No honest scholar says Jesus definitely existed. They are agnostic about the matter - not enough data.

So, Honeysuckle, you think the collective worship business should be repealed? You're acknowledging then that that little bit of religious privilege needs to end. Good. I agree.

Dione, it was said on here in the last few weeks. I said it was misogynist and unacceptable.

Wow! What thread was it on?. Can you link?

No. I won"t link to someone else's thread.

I don't understand why you're surprised. You must know that this is not an uncommon view?

Could it be that you are not as knowledgable as you think you are?

NotDavidTennant- I have reported your post. Not on to link to another person's thread.

Hak? Why not, people link to other threads all the time!

Respect... You make it sound like i have "caved" or something. Fwiw, I'm glad we agree too.

Thanks NotDavid. That is quite an odd thread.

Hak, it is a very uncommon view and one that I have not heard in relation to Christianity until I read that post. Have you come across it IRL or on MN before?

Could it be that you are not as knowledgable as you think you are?
No Hak, I am well aware that there is a huge amount of stuff I don't know. Loads of it. Most of it in fact.

Are you feeling ok?

The person who started the thread started it for a particular reason- I probably shouldn't have used it as an example. - but I foolishly thought that me saying I wasn't going to link to the thread would have stopped others.

It is a view held by many mainstream religions -and the "churching" of women after childbirth was a regular feature of the Church of England in the not very distant past.

I think respecting others beliefs is not the same as agreeing with them
it is an acknowledgement that people have a right to their own beliefs and to live their lives in accordance with these beliefs and not to be discriminated against because of their beliefs
article 18 of united nations charter states
"Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in unity with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching. No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.”

I can respect vegetarians even though I am not one by not trying to persuade them to eat sausages calling them silly names etc
this can be applied to any religion or political group
it does not mean you can't debate the merits of vegetarianism or christianity the liberal democrats or disagree vehemently with those that believe that or even mockery in a certain context like humour
but it does mean you should not try and coerce them at pain of death or similar to change their beliefs; make it difficult for a certain group to hold public office or do certain jobs. mockery when it gets to the extent of r making their lives difficult or teeters on abusive or bullying is obviously not respectful

Honeysuckle Not caved, no. I was just pointing out that, when you think about it, ending religious privilege is the only really fair option and when it comes down to it, the majority of Christians and other religious groups do generally agree.

I think there tends to be a knee jerk assumption that atheists just want to ban religion and shut down churches...or even ban any mention of religion in schools. Certainly not true.

We just don't want it enshrined in law that our children have to worship a particular deity whether we or they like it or not. And the fact that many schools do ignore or work around it is not the point. Fact is they are forced to break a law that simply shouldn't exist.

Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),

Churching of women was a blessing for new mothers AFAIK. But you are not talking of blessings. You are talking about menstruating women not sharing beds. You didn't need to reference the thread, you could have given another example given how common it is in your life.

I am also uncomfortable with the fact that the only exemptions from EU laws around discrimination are to do with religious groups (being allowed to discriminate). Rights thing in previous post made me think of that.

I think they're the only ones anyway.

Oh maybe some jobs are allowed to discriminate on the grounds of sex as well.

But it's not a huge list.

Hi all,
we have had this thread reported because of the linking of the other thread, and we are going to go ahead and remove it. Not because linking isn't allowed, more just in case the OP thinks this latest one is about her.

Thank you, Helen.