So I'm not a fan of right wing groups...
So, I saw this today on my Facebook. It was about how Islam is being "forced" onto school children via "indoctrination". Which is all well and good, (well it isn't really let's face it), but it's just scaremongering, racist and frankly not true. It's a part of the curriculum because it's good to understand many religions in order to, ironically, prevent prejudice and fight any misconceptions that might be presented in the mainstream tabloid media. (+ the Daily Mail of course).
So here's what I wrote. I felt the need to give some balance. But if anyone would like to add to what I've written, then please feel free to comment and contribute.
"To play devil's advocate, and as someone who currently works in education, why would you want to? I can understand why some parents are uneasy about their kids participating in sex education but, frankly, this is insanely ridiculous.
If you take your child out of a lesson in which Islam is taught, then that child could potentially miss out some key facts about Islam that will help them understand who they are, what they believe, and how they choose to present their beliefs. That child could then grow up, meet a group of Muslims and believe that all of them are terrorists or something! (Or worse, become a member of a far right group...)
People like Britain First are very quick to point out things related to terrorism and security but, as this suggests, fail to understand that the key to understanding the terrorists and working with the Islamic community to fight them is by educating our children that not all Muslims want to kill you. Islam is no more violent or prone to terrorism than Christianity, Hinduism or any other religion worldwide.
If you're going to take Islam off the curriculum, then take off Buddhism, Christianity and every other religion learnt in school because if you take just Islam off then that's just picking on Muslims in a different way than shouting abuse in the street or writing stuff on social media.
RE is on the curriculum with the intention of educating, expanding understanding and helping children understand that, just because someone might be a different religion or skin colour, they're still a human deep down. Doing something like this only teaches your children that it's ok to de-humanise a certain group of people just because they look different or because a small minority are dirtying the name of that religion by killing in its name.
You have every right to do this should you wish to, but you'll be doing your children, your community and your country a great disservice in the long run. Stuff like this post and subsequent act only fuels religious intolerance further. Just look at (rather recent) history to see what happens if you let things like this happen."
Feel free to comment below if you'd like to add things.
