Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Summer Wine]

When liberalism supporters supported the removal of teaching about christianity in schools and the teaching of christmas and easter was considered to be distasteful.

Is this what you had in mind to replace it with?

(edit) I had hoped to post a quote, but posted something I wrote - sorry

I hope this works

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2247388/Schoolboys-disciplined-for-'refusing-to-pray-to-Allah'.html

Quote:

It was claimed that the boys, from a year seven class of 11 and 12-year-olds, were given detention after refusing to take part in a practical demonstration of how Allah is worshipped. Yesterday parents accused the school of breaching their human rights by forcing them to take part in the exercise. One, Sharon Luinen, said: "This isn't right, it's taking things too far. I understand that they have to learn about other religions. I can live with that but it is taking it a step too far to be punished because they wouldn't join in Muslim prayer.

[mises]

There isn't even much sense in trying to figure it out anymore.

[Big_Bird]

Pah. A storm in a teacup. The boys got into trouble because they didn't do what the teacher told them to do. Standard.

Secondly, I don't see anything about her trying to convert them Islam. She was just doing a role play, though in this climate it seems an ill advised topic. The RI curiculum demands that they learn about a lot of different religions. On that day, it was Islam.

The country is not going to fall apart over something so trivial, but what else would you expect from The Daily Torygraph.

[ED209]

[Ya-ta Boy]

It sounds like the spirit of ecumenicalism is dead in at least one school district.

The bowing was probably ill-advised. I have to wonder what was done on the days they studied other religions.

As a newbie teacher I tried teaching about various religions, but soon cut waaaaay back. The squabbling between the various Protestant denominations, Mormons and Catholic kids was just too disruptive. Overly-sensitive Christians have a lot to answer for for the low state of history of religion education in the US. I suspect it's the same elsewhere.

[Adventurer]

I used to teach geography, and my colleagues commented on how I taught about religions. All I did was have different student make posters with different synagogues from different parts of the world while listing the beliefs of Judaism, if they were do a report on Judaism, I did the same if they did it on Islam, and there were those who did it on Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christianity since we were doing the Middle East for that unit. I thought since kids are so ignorant about Judaism, Eastern Christians, and Muslims that they should learn about the subject in depth, but I would never have someone repeat Eastern Christian prayers or have them say the Kaddish or whatever. That is absolutely ridiculous. I didn't hide my beliefs. You should not make kids wear kippas and do Jewish prayers or have people do Muslim prayers and have them put water to perform ablution. They are not Muslims, and also Muslims wouldn't approve of that anyway. Only Muslims are supposed to perform Muslim prayers, and these kids were born Christian, so even Muslims would disapprove. Why is the OP assuming the Muslims would want this? They don't like non-Muslims praying their prayers if they didn't convert, from what I understand just as an Orthodox Church doesn't want Catholics taking communion in their churches.

[Pligganease]

[mises]

[Big_Bird]

[ED209]

[Adventurer]

It is absolutely unacceptable to have Christian kids going into Muslim prayers. The teacher should have informed the parents. One should not incorporate religion that way. It is one thing if a teacher is open about her beliefs whatever they are and proud of them, but it one thing to pressure students to follow her beliefs whether they are Conservative or
Liberal views.

In Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan Christians do not have to attend Muslim classes. They can if they want. They get tested on Christianity. There isn't a separation of church and state, so the Christians have to take Christian tests and the Muslim born kids take their tests. So if in those Muslim countries they are not having Christians doing the prayers, it is even more insane to have a British teacher do what Muslims don't do to the Christians in their own countries. That teacher went way too far.
It is one thing to explain the prayers and what is said by Muslims or Buddhists, but one thing having them go through the motions.

[Big_Bird]

Adventurer, I don't think this teacher was a muslim. She wasn't trying to get the kids to pray for real. She teaches religious studies and was teaching kids about various religions. This lesson was about Islam. What she did was ill-advised in this political climate, but she was probably just trying to make it more interesting for the class, and appealing to various learning styles like a good teacher should. If she had got the kids to dance around in a circle while role playing an aboriginal corroborree, or dance around the maypole in a mock pagan ritual, no-one would have given a flying toss. It's the sexy muslim factor that's getting everyone so hard.

If I were a kid, I would have found it an interesting lesson.

[patongpanda]

[Adventurer]