Just recently there was a story on the O' Reilly Factor about special accommodations being made for Muslim students. The students in a small high school (I forget which town) in the USA were being taken aside during non-class hours and allowed to pray during recess time.
Thank god for Bill who can Spin around a story like a bloody top. Accusations of burgeoning Madrassas made by the guests were some of the high/low points of the discussion. The perception is that much of liberal America supports such actions. The ACLU will never rise against minorities but rather wants to scare white Christians shitless. The ACLU does have a double standard. Extreme Political Correctness seems to be the mantra of the ACLU.
Moving on i think the issue of religion in school is fair as long as the practise maintains that there are people of many different faiths. In fact I laughed at the silliness of all this. I agree with a separation of Church and State when it comes to matters of executive decision making (e.g. the crusades or jihad).
I grew up in a Muslim country filled with expats. We had Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Janis, Farsis, etc. As children, we made fun of accents and race but never stooped to the level of insulting religions. When we prayed in class it was a general prayer (pray to your respective gods). We cannot turn something as innocent as children praying into our political battles.
Atheists can meditate if they want to, but denying kids religion in the classroom to achieve some P.C. euphoria is ridiculous. Prayer and/or Silence for 5 minutes in class should be encouraged. Its really simple. Show no favoritism to one religion, but understanding for all, including those with no religion.
I am not very religious but lets keep Political Correctness to personal discretion and not the Government's.
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7 comments:
i somewhat disagree with what you are saying. Why does prayer have to be a part of the school system? There are times and places for prayer and times and places for education and I don't see why those 2 have to ever overlap. If you DO want them to overlap there are special schools made available that offer such services. Why would I suppose want to waste 10 min of a math class to meditate if I am not into religion or meditation. A public school is impartial to religion for that reason. Teach me what I need to learn to be successful and what is relevant. Teachers are not experts in religion, sure if I were taking a theology class lets say in college then I'd think prayer would be perfectly acceptable in that class in an educational standpoint but for basic classes in high school or middle school, I don't think it is a good idea. The number one reason prayer should not be introduced into the school system regardless of beliefs is that it is unfair for the children who have minority beliefs. By that I mean in the US I think it is accepted that there is a majority and as a kid I don't know right from wrong or the differences between one religion and the other. So hell might as well start following my best friends religion since everyone follows that one. Kids minds are very pliable and therefore ideas like this need careful attention to because what seems harmless could create huge problems in the household. So that is why I think schools should remain places of learning and keep out the things that are distractions. Mainly you wouldnt be talking about politics in a math class since it doesnt fit. Teachers don't share their political standpoint for this reason as well. Only in history classes will you see politics even mentioned. Even then it is to debate the topics and not to take one side or the other. Religion would be a matter of taking sides and kids afterall really dont have a religion. They follow their parents religion because they dont know any better as they grow up. Leave the political debates for the history classes, and similarly the religion discussion/prayer for theology classes.
"As children, we made fun of accents and race but never stooped to the level of insulting religions. "
I have a huge problem with this line. Since when is it ok to make fun of race and accents but not religion. Religion is more or less a choice, so I would consider making fun or race or or accents stooping down to a VERY low level. I would personally much rather have someone mock my religion or beliefs since many interpretations could be made about religion. It is a belief afterall, and it is MY belief which could be wrong.
My race is uncontrolable, so you making fun of me being white, black or any other color is tremendously stooping down to a low level. Same goes with accents.
I agree with you that certain topics with political correctness are ridiculous, but this is one case where indivudual rights need to be controled for the rights of the rest of society. My religion, the one I just made up says I must light a piece of paper on fire at 12 every day. Is this fair? So now other kids can watch me light the piece of paper on fire as long as it is clear they do not have to if they dont believe in my ritual. Where does it end? People who have to light insense for their religion certain times of days are not able to do so, or there are many real examples of this and not my burning of paper.
Also you can apply this to non religious topic. let me use your sentence and replace certain words...
Eqaulity Activists can listen if they want to, but denying kids the right to talk about other races in a bad way in the classroom to achieve some P.C. euphoria is ridiculous.
Kids who dont swear can listen if they want to, but denying kids the right to swear in the classroom to achieve some P.C. euphoria is ridiculous.
non-smokers can sit there waste time if they want to, but denying kids the right to take a break to smoke to achieve some P.C. euphoria is ridiculous.
I think you get the idea....
Response to Anon @ 3:04PM
I agree of course that there is a majority in the US. The point I was trying to make was not geared towards any particular religion. I also do not advocate prayer/meditation during class hours.
I think trivialization the very mention of religion in public school doesn't help the cause of diversity and understanding which might be a reason cultural knowledge isn't a big part of a public school education. In fact this is one of the downfalls of PC. White Christian Americans are just plained scared because of PC in the school system.
I think the issue of religion in the classroom has been over-amped. I think that it solves more problems than it creates in terms of understanding and diversity. It encourages discourse: a kid might see his classmate has a different way of praying and ask him a question about it. This discourse in an essential part of the schooling experience in my opinion - not just what you learn to be successful
I grew up in a place where Muslims were the majority. Because we had these few minutes of prayer in the morning, and just seeing how differently people pray (sign of the cross for Christians, the hands facing above for Muslims) gave us kids a perspective on how different and diverse the world is.
On a separate note, I find it hypocritical that the public schools are funding foot-washes for Muslim students. In a Muslim majority country with a Sharia court, there were no foot-washes in our school.
Response to Anon @ 3:25PM
Ok I probably shouldn't have used "race" - it may have a totally different context in the US. It was equal opportunity ethnic slurs all around the place back home. All very innocent "Simpsons" stuff.I remember making some good natured fun of Filipinos and they fired back on the other end as well! We were making fun about each other's cuisines! Once again, I think these back-and-forths were just an attempt for us kids to understand other sides of the human equation. This is what I meant by "race". My mistake.
On the viewpoint of rituals. I really am not advocating ritual prayer. My religion encourages asking blessings from the eldest person. And it would be just plain funny to go and ask the teacher for a blessing. So, I think you used hyperbole with the paper ritual. I am not advocating rituals. The buck stops at five minutes of meditation/prayer which appeases everyone and promotes a sense of understanding. I can't go for mass, Muslims can't go to the Masjid and Hindus can't go to the temple etc. during class time. The buck stops there as it does in many non-secular countries as well.
Smoking is separate topic which I hope to address in the future. Smoke breaks are discouraged in the workplace which I am learning the hard way!
Oh and thanks for the comments to Anon at 3:04pm and 3:25pm. Greatly appreciated!
Religion is obviously a part of your culture and sure there are ways for kids to become more diverse and learning about religion is one of them, but there are so many better ways to go about learning about religion than watching your friend pray to their god. What do you say to the kids that are confused (every kid is confused, you didnt know what you were doing when you were a kid and your parents told you to pray). I was taught one way, and everyone else is doing something else, I shouldn't have to feel left out for once again another topic. I already have a different culture than the rest of everyone in my school being the minority, I dont eat the same type of food, might dress differently, hair style is different, dating rules/practices are different and as if all of that is not hard enough to grow up with, you want to add a very controversial topic into the mix.
There are about a million stereotypes you have to break before anyone would give 2 shits about how everyone else prays. Majority of the kids in middle school or high school even hear indian food and think, curry. One single word comes to their mind and you are telling me that is diverse? That those kids are learning about different cultures because you have different people mixed in there. I dont think that's how it works exactly in a minority/majority situation especially when you are in a minority. Maybe this worked for you back in Dubai but going to school here was quite different for a reason. I understand that that PC is the reason that you wrote this entry. Even yourself said you made fun of "race" and whatever else, and yes that would be PC here, but it seems that you value religion higher than the other aspects and even that is not funny to comment on where you were from. So religion was stooping down to a certain level when it came time for mocking because it was not PC to do so? That's basically the only reason I could think of where it would be ok to comment on accents but not religion. So if religion bashing, even in a joking way, was not PC there, why do you expect it to be here?
In addition, you can not put a time to prayer. If I am praying, I do not worry about my surroundings, it is somewhat like a meditative state, there is no oh 5 minutes are up and therefore you must stop praying. And once you begin this process, who says where the buck stops. The buck keeps going and eventually public schools turn into places of randomness rather than education.
Why set the rules of you not being allowed mass and others not allowed their more extensive religios options? Why set any rules for that matter if you prevent people from fully allowing themselves to practice their religion? If you start at all, you should be flexible because religion isnt an on off game where there are set bounds.
My solution to this would be to take some time out of your lunch break or something if you want to pray, go to the library and go ahead and pray. HOWEVER this doesnt need to turn into a huge drama performance of prayer. Do it on your own terms when you feel like it is appropriate and when it is not a distraction to the primary function of a public school. I dont think many people would have problems with that. As for an organized times where non religions people can meditate and watch those that are are gung ho is absolutely ridiculous.
Also, i agree the foot washing bathrooms are absolutely ridiculous but that was done for sanitary reasons more than anything else. You can't really ban people from washing their feet or hands, and the feet washing became a HUGE mess in the situation you were referring to as you can imagine, so they went ahead and made feet washing basins. That is really no different that putting Spanish signs in a high prevalent Spanish speaking area or having dual language voting cards in areas for public convinience. I agree it is ridiculous, but I would rather people not wash their feet and make a mess while I'm washing my hands or just using the bathroom.
Reply to Anon @ 12:13 AM
Religion is important but does not play a big role in my life.
I still think that learning about diversity should be an active experience. Sure there are going to be some battle scars but as individuals we come out stronger.
In my defense, I like being the odd one out at times. It gives me a chance to explain my story and add to another individuals knowledge. I truly believe in this kind of interaction.
The reason religion is beyond the bounds of PC, for me, is because of the complex history (ala crusades,forced conversions, war etc.). But you make a valid point about this. I will reconsider this in the future. Complex histories are of course applicable to culture as well and I see how my point is conflicting
Thanks for sharing your views!
"In my defense, I like being the odd one out at times. It gives me a chance to explain my story and add to another individuals knowledge. I truly believe in this kind of interaction."
I also agree with this now being older and realize what advantages there are for not being in the majority even though there are many disadvantages that come with it. But you are right that NOW when you are 22 or however old I also enjoy that, but I was refering to kids in grade school through early years of high school when it was important to be "cool" and such.
Regardless this was a good conversation topic. Onward to the next one ;).
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