You are basically correct except, it was more than a demonstration. They were asked to actually pray to another God, not just have a prayer demonstrated to them. The use of the word "demostration" is just to make the parents seem unreasonable. Actively praying is not a demonstration.

You're right that there would have been some backlash if it Muslim students punished for not praying to the Christian god, but you can bet your life that the result would have been a public apology to the students and their families and the requirement for the staff to undergo sensitivity training. Policy would also be changed so that they would never be punished for refusing to pray to another god.


Personally I'm not for either side, but do want to point out that the reverse situation would have a 180 degree different result

And it is more than just learning about another religion. I would assume they had no problem with that, it is the actual praying that bothered them.

Can we get off the "What if it were Muslims" cant please.

We can all make our judgements, but not a one of us knows what the ethnic breakdown of the class is, and not a one of us knows what other religions have been taught so far.

It's entirely possible that there are Muslim kids in that class who three times a week take part in a religious assembly with a heavily Christian bias without any complaint.

It's wholly likely that those kids, if there are any in the school, will regularly recite the school prayer, which will be Christian.

We don't know and we're cheapened by the speculation.

Focus, people, focus.

There is no proof in the article that is was any more or less than a practical demonstration.

I also think that the boys wouldn't have refused had they not heard anti-Muslim sentiment at home. Obviously I can't provide evidence to back that up but I can't see a child, off their own back and with no outside prejudice, feeling uncomfortable with this. Kids are normally open-minded to new experiences and would normally see something like this as a bit of fun and something to liven up the class.

That's how my kids would view it anyway.

You seem to do this in pretty much every discussion, whether you know it to be true or not. I'm not saying it would or wouldn't be worse, because I'm not one to predict the outcome of hypothetical situations. I will say that I feel that every point of view has a number of people who ruin that point of view with extremism, no one more than another.

None of this would have ever happened if they would have been asked to pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Now there's a God we can all love! :D

I've been touched by his noodly appendage, and it's changed my life.

I don't care if it's roleplay or not. Forcing kids into any kind of religious ritual is unacceptable.

If my kid were in that class, I'd be screaming for that teacher's blood and/or termination.

If the teacher only had the kids do it who didn't have a problem with it, that would be an entirely different story. Scratch that. No matter what, this qualifies as the teacher leading students in prayer.

Mmmm... lunch... Crap! An hour and 12 minutes to go... :(

My statement is a prediction based on previous events. Obviously one can't know the exact outcome, but generally speaking that is the way that similar occurrences have ended up.

Yes, every viewpoint has its extremists. That is a given. I didn't say that wasn't true.

I simply said that if it was reversed, based on previous reports of similar complaints, there is an excellent chance that the result would have been as I stated, an apology and sensitivity training.

Now maybe that is because Muslims, as a rule suffer more prejudice than Christians - at least in the western world. Perhaps that is because many Muslims - as a rule are more strict in their religion then Christians and would - generally speaking - be more offended by praying to another God. Who knows.

The point is making predictions based on previous events is not a bad thing, nor something that should be admonished.

Also perhaps it would because of something Doggylives pointed out.

Generally speaking there is a greater chance (but not a certainty) that the kids and their parents refusal to pray in Arabic to Allah were based more on prejudice than on blasphemy grounds.

Whereas, generally speaking there is a greater chance (but not a certainty) that any hypothetical Muslim students who refused to pray to the Christian god in english or to make prayers to the God of Abraham in Hebrew would do so, strictly because it was against their religion.


edit:
For making a reasonable prediction you downvote me? You are quite the amusing little character.

It was the act of having to participate that is the dilemma here I think we can all agree. Whether it was a practical demonstration, actual, role-play or whatever, to make a child bow down in a religious ritual that isn't their own is wrong. I would like to give the teacher the benefit of the doubt and say it was meant to be a teaching tool, however, after learning in class and watching a video, they would already be informed and for them to have to act it out is going too far. Even if the teacher acted it out herself in front of them that would have been different. At 12 years old I can promise you there is NO WAY I would have gotten on my knees to another G-d and at my school, the teacher would probably have been fired for trying to force me to do it. But that's just where I'm from I guess.

This is exactly why generation after generation carries on in their narrow-minded, bigoted ways.

I hate organized religion but I wouldn't stop my kids from learning and making their own minds up. My rich tapestry of knowledge of various religions is the reason why I was able to come to an educated decision about my beliefs.

One reason I hate religion and the bible is the narrow-mindedness it promotes and the way it tries to take away freedom of choice and free-thinking.

You can only truly be a free-thinker if you are free to learn and think about all things not just the rigid beliefs you hold and that's what I want for my kids.

Amusing? o_0

I just thought of something...

If this school teaches about other religions by having the kids actively praying to other gods,

then I want to enroll in their sex education and drug awareness classes!!

Oh yeah...

I have absolutely no problem with students learning about different cultures and religions. I think that is a good thing that the students and society can benefit from.

I do have a problem with students being forced to participate in religious rituals.

I'm not lumping you in with the "idiots," Mr.P. I don't think you're an idiot at all.

I just don't think this event is worth the uproar it is receiving. What is this teaching the children? Now that this story has reached global news, I fear it's just going to spark additional religious intolerance and this whole dilemma is teaching the children involved the same.

In addition, my admittedly quick google search of the story came up with no results from a news source I'd trust, making me think the article is more sensationalist BS than anything.

Aren't you one of the ones who sees the pointlessness of discussing downvotes publicly?

I downvoted your comment because it makes a sweeping generalization based on stereotype (something you continue to do), and as they say, assumuption is the mother of all f**k ups.

The reason no one downvotes is because this is the kind of unnecessary reaction it receives, I expect such a thing from you least of all.

Which brings up an interesting question: Is the teacher hot?

The way I see it is, kids in cookery classes don't sit and read books about cooking, they cook. I'm all for a hands-on approach to learning as kids don't learn a lot from text books they learn through doing, seeing and participating.

In our area at least, teachers are doing more and more "hands-on" things in lessons as it's been proven to encourage learning and interest the kids more.

Perhaps the teacher saw it as a way to engage the kids and keep it interesting, lets face it RE lessons aren't exactly a laugh a minute, no?

I'm sorry, but you are incorrect.

This is a common misconception of those who do not believe in anything.

People complaining about downvoting is silly because it would take 10's of thousands of them to do so.

I wasn't complaining, I was just laughing at you. I didn't even retaliate in kind, because I saw your downvote as pathetic.

Also you really should learn about the laws of probability.

Making a prediction based on previous events is far different than making assumptions on a stereotype.

My prediction was based on previous events just as DL's prediction that there would also been more backlash and prejudicial statements against Muslims if it was reversed. His prediction also has a high chance of being accurate based on the way previous complaints have been received.

It isn't a "sweeping generalization". That is just more silliness and an attempt to change what was said.

The kids shouldnt have gotten a detention for not participating in the worship of another god. Im sorry, but it wont teach them anything. They saw a video, they talked about it. If the teacher wanted to demonstrate, she should have asked for volunteers, not made everyone participate. Hell, give them a few marks off their grade, but not detention. In the article it was stated that a child was told off for not doing it right. It sounds to me like the teacher expected perfection from the students when they only just learned it. You cant expect a child to be able to pronounce and recite everything right off the bat. I do think kids should have the opportunity to learn other religions, but they should not be forced to participate in the prayers, or even be forced to learn them if they dont want to.