DS's RE homework: "What do you think God looks like?"

[whippet]

He is (of his own volition) a 'devout atheist' .

I must admit, I am a bit about the homework (and dislike this particular evangelical teacher...) but I nevertheless think he should do some waffle about children thinking of an old man with a long white beard in the clouds, and some people believing God is like the air, ro light all around us, blah, blah...

He says he wants to hand in a blank piece of paper with just the title....

It's a crap homework because it's such a closed task, making presumptions on so many levels.

A brainstorm cloud type thing with words you think of when you think of god would be better, as it gives scope for atheists and believers alike and gives the opportunity to include thing like 'kind, cruel, judgmental, everywhere, make believe...' instead of a physical description which is, quite frankly, meaningless.

or a job advert for " a god"

GOD WANTED
must be..
hours - are 24/7

Sure my child could draw nothing and give it to the teacher, but it would still feel like we were being marginalised/excluded.

If he is supposed to be writing, I think he could put a few sentences about what he DOES believe in, if not God. (Love, society having shared rules, caring for family, survival of the fittest, taking care of weaker/poorer people?). I'm guessing the intention of the homework is to make them think a bit about the concept of God. If he has shown he's done a bit of thinking about what he does believe in, then I think this should be acceptable to his teacher. I'd also think it would be acceptable if he wanted to say he "worshipped" a football team or similar - as long as he puts a bit of flesh on the explanation, not just a single sentence.

oh get over yourself ;)f
go and find something real to worry about

I'd hand in a reasonably lengthy note explaining that I don't think God looks like anything, because I do not believe that God exists, and that as it is my right as a human being to have my beliefs respected, I do not expect to be held up as an example to the class.

Why do Atheist children have to 'think about the concept of God'?

I don't think about the concept of the tooth fairy, it's a story. I don't think about the concept of the bogeyman, it's a story, I don't think about the concept of fairies because they are a story and I don't expect to be asked to think about the concept of something so damned subjective as someone else's god!

but they do have to analyse stories in english dont they

TBH I would prefer if they didn't have to do RE in school at all. There are so many other things that it would be better to spend school time on. But nobody ever asked me

not accept they the stories are true though.

They should have started with homework with "Imagine you believe in a God. Draw a picture of this God"

If it was an exam, I would strongly advise him to play along and write something 'suitable'.

But for homework - nah!

Well, if they are studying RE then "thinking about the concept of God" is part of the deal, surely? You can't really talk about religion, even in the broadest way of "Some people believe X and that is why they do Y" without some kind of concept of what religions are about, and that for most includes the concept of one or more gods.

But isn't it interesting and educational for them to have to think about it?
A large proportion of the world IS religious and so it can teach a lot about moral values and faith others' have. I'm an atheist, no idea what ds 1 and 2 will be yet.

others, not others'.

RS in most schools is largely an ethics exam with some comparative religion thrown in. it can cover all teh citizenship stuff too

UNless you are at a church school it will be pretty low key on the god stuff

colditz - but "imagine you believe in a god" is as insulting to children who do believe, as "describe god" is to children who don't. I agree it could have been better worded - "If you believe in one or more gods, describe what you think he/she/it/they look like. Otherwise describe what you think others might think their god(s) look like or discuss why this is a meaningless question". But teachers don't always take the time to go into quite that much detail

One of my young cousins had this homework when she was about 9 or 10.

She drew a giant, long-lashed eyeball sitting on a cloud.

It was absolutely HYSTERICAL. Even the teacher couldn't hold back the sniggers.

To be totally fair, it does ask "what do you think God looks like" rather than the more direct "what does God look like". So I think there is potentially scope for a description as to why no picture has been provided.

I also think it's really important children have RE / RS lessons, on the basis that religion is hugely important in many people's lives and children need to understand how that impacts them or other people etc. In all of this I speak as a complete athiest...

wow - lots of interesting responses - thanks!

Just to add some perspective, both DS and I have some issues with this teacher as she is an evangelical Christian, and seems to have a problem separating this appropriately from her job as RE teacher.
She runs the school Operation Christmas Child shoebox appeal (which we have always opted out of) and has been known to tell children off for 'not praying' in assembly
She has also said things in class like "Of course God exists - there is lots of evidence throughout history" (but declined to explain what the evidence was...)

DS is in his last few weeks of term at this school, so I'm not keen to get into any fights at this stage. I suspect we will opt for something 'vanilla' (although the temptation to put a pic of the book 'The God Delusion' is strong .

My friend's dd answered this, "He looks like a little puff." Sort of cloudy, I think she meant ...

I feel that if you set such a task for homework, then you should be prepared to accept whatever answers you are given in return! Let us know if that happens Whippet!