I seem to have forgotten how to do this, it's been quite a while since a discussion or a piece of news has annoyed me so much I have felt the need to write it down and get my view out there. Sometimes it just needs to be done because sometimes there really is no conclusion for a discussion because everyone is just so stuck in their own ways. I'll quite happily raise my hands on this one and admit that I am ridiculously stubborn.
Recently the news coverage of prayers been banned at council meetings in Bideford and the subsequent appeals against this have brought up a few discussion in my house. One of such however lead to my little brother who is nine telling us that a Pastor had been to their school earlier this week to talk to them about Christianity. This is something that has bothered me for a while with the school he goes to, many a time I have been to watch a school assembly and have watched the children be told to "close their eyes and put their hands together" for prayer time. My younger brother and sister don't go to a church school, in fact there is a church of England school not five minutes from there and the parentals made a particular decision not to send them there because of the religious influence.
I don't have a problem with religion being taught in school, I think it's an important part of developing an understanding of other people's beliefs and lessons in tolerance. I do however have a problem when the only religion seeming to have a representative in the school being Christianity. Maybe it would be less of an issue if other religious leaders were sometimes present in the school to talk about their beliefs but as far as I know they aren't.
I went a different primary school many a year ago but the policy seemed to be the same. I recall a man coming in with felt pictures to tell us about Bible stories and going to church to sing hymns, but I always remember feeling quite awkward. I never wanted to pray or sing about how great god was because at quite a young age despite attending church and going to Sunday school I had decided that I didn't really believe in god. I hate to think that other children who have chosen not to believe in a god or have been raised with different religious beliefs are being made to feel awkward or pressured in schools because of prayer time.
Religion should be a personal choice and I feel that if a parent feels a child needs religion in their life they can attend church or send them to a school associated with a particular religious denomination. It shouldn't be expected that there will be preaching in schools so continue to teach religious studies but teach it impartially. Lessons can be taught without the presence of a god and there are so many stories not from religious teaching with moral implications, in fact I might go fetch out a book of fairy tales and demand a preaching spot in the school's next assembly.
tx
