[Grizabella]

Originally Posted by SillyEvee

It IS 5!
What does Julia think about this?

Anyway. I don't think religion should be a part of the curriculum, but in a school where many kids are religious and in a country where chunks of the Bible are common knowledge, I don't see anything wrong with using an example from the Bible. If it's used illustratively and not for religious education purposes.

O! Canada, which we sing every day in school until Grade 12 in Canada, mentions G-d.

G-d keep our land
Glorious and free.
O! Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
O! Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.

I remember there was a Jehova's witness in my class one year who never stood for the anthem. It wasn't an issue. Religion didn't come up much in any of my classes, I guess. That's the way I liked it. If it came up, we talked about it in a respectful way. I don't think it's wrong to talk about it EVER, just to present one religion as absolute truth.
Likewise, I don't think it's a problem to tell kids not to say "Jesus Christ!" as an exclamation. I was raised by two atheist parents who taught me not to "take the Lord's name in vain" because it upsets other people. For us, it was akin to not shouting out that Santa isn't real (we never believed in him in my family) cause it upsets some people.

In my high school, we never sung it - they played the anthem without the words. If we did sing it, they used the French lyrics, which have fewer refrences to God (it mentions a crucifix)Come to think of it, my school was ridiculously sensitive about religion.