Two schoolboys were allegedly disciplined after refusing to kneel down and “pray to Allah” during a religious education lesson.
A spokesman for Cheshire County Council said ‘Educating children in the beliefs of different faiths is part of Cheshire’s diversity curriculum’
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.
“Making them pray to Allah, who isn’t who they worship, is wrong and what got me is that they were told they were being disrespectful.”
There are significant, simple differences between understanding diverse cultures and requiring young minds to practice all the silly devices human beings get up to – in the name of religion. Sounds like the school cares more for indoctrination rather than building understanding.
Thanks, K B
Story highlights the authoritarian attitude of the British School System?
Seems to me repeatedly, across the board, in USA, in schools, at work, in government, etc, people (including the little kiddies) should be offered opportunities but rarely if ever forced to do anything.
Liberal Fascism? Yes, unfortunately so. A good idea taken too far.
You can and should learn about another religion without being forced to pray to a false god. Cults abound and everyone should be made aware of that.
Participating in a pretend worship ceremony isn’t education, it’s blasphemy. The children who took part must be beheaded. Kudos to the two who refused.
The teachers are told/ordered and they are following the orders/think thats best for the pupils? I dunno. But they should not be forced since they are not muslim. But kneeling and prostration should not be a strange thing for christians either because did not Jesus peace be upon him put his forehead to the ground (Matthew 26:39).No I do not think that the kids or whoever should be forced or tricked into saying or doing things .
All muslim males all over the world are circumcised, just like the jewish males and followers of Jesus used to be circumcised until Saul (a.k.a. Paul) said “circumcision is of the heart”.
Mister mustard, do you have a muslim ( a practicing muslim) colleague? If yes ask him more about muslims and Islam so you don’t make misinformed posts. I mean, come on, 1 out of 5 people on earth is muslim. There are a lot of business opportunities here.
I don’t get the picture above, was it nap time?
Quote – PeterR #18: All male Muslims are circumcised.
You sound like a fracking homo boy!
Sounds like a bad comparative religions class.. seems to be a common course in catholic affiliated/private schools here in the US. Learning about other religions so you have some degree of understanding is one thing.. but you don’t need to change your religion or be forced to participate in another religion’s practices to gain an understanding of what it’s all about.
Learning about other religions and their history is a good thing. It is ideal for those who want to take Theology in University. Students also have the right to pray anytime of the day.
But forcing students to pray to someone or something they don’t worship is an invasion of Human Rights. I applaud those two boys for taking a stand in the first place.