Have we established the difference between the laws on religious promotion in the U.S. and the U.K.?
I would imagine that the kind of blatent religious propaganda to SIX YEAR OLD KIDS - in publicly funded schools - would be illegal in both...
I've made an appointment to see the head teacher about God and creation
by not bitter 76 Replies latest jw friends
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not bitter
This is from the school prospectus. From what I can tell, I don't stand much of a chance other than to keep my child out of lessons and assemplies when they teach this stuff which I will not do.
Religious Education is provided in school as part of the basic curriculum under the
guidelines of the 1988 Education Reform Act and in accordance with the statutory
requirements. The approach is multi cultural with a strong emphasis on Christianity.
The programmes of study, attainment targets and assessment are approved locally by
SACRE (Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education)
Collective worship in school is conducted through allocated assemblies, class
reflections and a weekly ‘Praise’ Assembly.
Visiting ‘speakers’, including Christian ministers and representatives from various
charities often take assemblies.
Any parent who wishes to exercise their right under the 1988 Education Reform Act
to withdraw their child from assemblies or RE lessons are asked to contact the
Headteacher in writing.
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james_woods
Well, if you can't move the kids to another school, then contacting the office may be all you can do.
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Band on the Run
There is separation of church and state in America. Before the states would ratify our constituion, the state ratification committees demanded an express prohibition on federal establishments of religion. The C of E was the main reason the ratifiers demanded this provision. For some reason I have yet to discover, there was no litigation on this matter until around the Civil War. As knowledge and pluralism grows in America, these cases have exploded in number and controversy. The Supreme Court found almost complete separation was necessary. One result was banning school prayer. The more recent trend with a majority of Catholic conservative justices is to accomodate religion much more so. When Obama nominates justices, the pendulum will swing the other way.
The Catholic majority has allowed much more religion in government by adopting a theory of "private choice" that can negate the governmental action. For example, religion programs can receive governmental funding in many cases if the client makes a choice between public and religion programs.
The Catholic justices do draw a bright line where accomodation is NOT allowed. Actual prosyletization is barred completely. It certainly sounds as though conversion is being sought here. The other criteria is a dramatic difference between religious messages for young children vs. college students. College students can filter religious remarks through their parents' teachings, their own belief, and a wide cultural tradition. Elementary school kids do not have such filters. They will believe anything. Personally, I was taught that Santa Claus was a pagan invention from the moment I was born. Other kids, though, sincerely believed in Santa Claus and the Easter bunny. If the teacher is preaching, she is abrogating the rights of parents. British tax payers have not endorsed her religious viewpoint through some sort of referendum. The designated curriculum should be taught,.
I still have a feeling it may be a classmate. In our present economy, I cannot understand an adult with a colleg education and teacher training risking her career for mini lessons on God. She is free to teach in a church Sunday School.
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not bitter
I'm meeting with the head in an hour. Feeling a bit apprehensive.
Here goes nothing
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THE GLADIATOR
james_woods Have we established the difference between the laws on religious promotion in the U.S. and the U.K.?
In the UK where I live, most schools have secular assemblies. They have religious studies which cover many religions including Muslims. Many towns have Roman Catholic and Church of England schools that teach Christianity and hold assemblies. Some town have been taken over by Muslims and have full religious indoctrination while teaching Muslims to hate everything about their host country, except out generous benefit system. What will I say when UK is Muslim with the possible exception of Scotland and Ireland? Praise Allah!
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andrekish
What IS being taught as Scientific Fact?
Unfortunately, as an avid follower of Richard Dawkins, it is obvious that he has no real proof either way in this debate. He stated on TV recently that he was waiting for the age of enlightenment when all religions are proved wrong and mankind developes into an age of scientific enlightenment. This is pure speculation on his part and bears no evidence to reality or what we are seeing on the ground.
Bear in mind that scientists are as much bound by their conditioning and what they want to believe as is everyone else on this planet.
Richard Dawkins cannot disprove the existence of a creator any more than he can disprove the arrive of next monday. Knowledge of a creator is beyond his grasp at present because he shackles himself to an athiestic scientific viewpoint and utterly discards and idea of religion. This alone means that he is sifting his facts and disregarding religion and therefore missing some of the most useful information available.
The old Judaic scrolls stated that the earth was round. And they were right.
And since Richard Dawkins will not entertain the ideas of esp, etc, he has closed his mind to the facts. As someone who repeated sees images of events that later occur I can categorically state from personal experience that these is so much more in this universe that science will never explain because, strangely, science doesn't believe it. You simply cannot discover the truth if you only examine half of the evidence. And remember, scientists are befuffled by the concept of an increasingly expanding universe and are groping for answers, even to the point of building a huge site underground just to check for a smashed atom and its relative particles.
The old Judic scrolls stated that man was dead and oblivious to everything once life had left the body. This doesn't contradict any scientific veiwpoint
Here in the UK last week on TV a group of school leavers were interviewed and all stated that 'nothing' was in existance prior to the big bang yet a recent meeting of the scientists at the cern labs (where the large hadron collider lives) asked those present which of them thought that the big bang was the beginning of everything. Not one scientist at that meeting believed the idea of nothing before the big bang. This is the most current scientific theory, and is utterly different to the stuff being taught in UK schools as FACT.
Overall, it truly does not matter what any child currently believes. All scientific knowledge is being constantly advanced and the veiwpoint that will be prevalent by the time your child is 21 will be totally different. So if the teachers cannot teach the truth then show your children the truth as you see it yourself. Your child's teachers are under contract to teach the current curricullem not the facts.
Perhaps ask yourself this question: Has anybody any true idea of exactly what is happening in this universe?
The answer is a definate 'No'.
Perhaps ask your child's headteacher if they have any true idea of what is happening in reality out there.
Their honest answer also has to be 'No'
Therefore it will have to be the parents of each child who sifts through the school curricullem and the democratic propaganda dished out by the state.