so here's the thing...

I work in a private school/day care which is a faith-based school, not any religion in particular like a Presbyterian school or Catholic school. We're really kind of non-denominational but are Christian and those who put their children in the daycare are made aware of that right from the beginning. We'll say prayers before eating, we'll sing Bible songs along with the other songs, that kind of stuff. Well a parent recently came to my boss and asked that her child (who has been in this school a number of years without any previous problems) be taken out of the classroom anytime prayers, songs, bible stories etc. are going on. The parent is in her own words non-religious and takes offense at her child being exposed to anything that has to do with Christianity.

It's been really difficult for us to figure out how to resolve it to the satisfaction of both parties involved and it's sort of got me pondering the whole situation anyways because it is one that's been popping up a lot lately. So I thought I'd throw it up here for discussion.

My opinions on this is, personally if you don't want a child exposed to Christian teachings then don't put her or him in a private school that is openly based on such teachings to begin with and expect them to accommedate you. Simple as that.

It's not even so much about Atheist vs. Christian kind of a thing in my opinion. We also have three Jehovah Witnesses in our school who do not participate in pledging to the flag or holiday celebrations but the kids are very mature about it, they're never made to feel singled out about their faith. It's just accepted that they believe a certain way, they have never been made to feel embarassed about sticking to those beliefs and everyone accepts this and has had no problem with it.

I think it boils down to more of a matter of pushing beliefs on other people, expecting them to cater to your personal beliefs and that I don't accept no matter what creed you follow. That irritates me. It somehow sends the message that you are wrong or misguided for believing in something different from myself and that you have to believe how I believe. I have no problem with exposure to a variety of religions and schools of thought I think in fact that encourages a well-rounded individual. I'm also an art teacher for the school side and among other things I taught last year we also learned about Chinese culture and various philosophies which I very much enjoyed discussing with the kids about.

Anyways one of the compromises I suggested was to include more exposure to various religions in the regular school curriculum. But what are your thoughts on it?