Making children attend Christian school assemblies undermines human rights, United Nations warns

[Oafman]

Making children attend Christian school assemblies undermines human rights, United Nations warns

Britain must stop forcing children to attend Christian school assemblies because it undermines their human rights, a United Nations committee has said in a controversial new report.

The authors called on ministers to repeal a law demanding a daily act of Christian worship at schools because it may contradict a child’s “freedom of thought, conscience and religion”.

The report was produced by an 18-person group of “independent experts” of "high moral character" including representatives from Bahrain, Russia and Egypt.

Lol. Possible slant from the journo there - perhaps the group contained people from countries with more human rights credibility?!
----
So, should compulsory Christian assemblies be banned?

Personally I think not. Confronting children with such obvious indoctrination is an effective tool for creating free thinkers.

 

[Thursday]

Making children attend Christian school assemblies undermines human rights, United Nations warns


Lol. Possible slant from the journo there - perhaps the group contained people from countries with more human rights credibility?!
----
So, should compulsory Christian assemblies be banned?

Personally I think not. Confronting children with such obvious indoctrination is an effective tool for creating free thinkers.

No one is forced to attend a Christian school, so this is a silly statement from the UN. Not the first time or the last!

 

[redleghunter]

Making children attend Christian school assemblies undermines human rights, United Nations warns


Lol. Possible slant from the journo there - perhaps the group contained people from countries with more human rights credibility?!
----
So, should compulsory Christian assemblies be banned?

Personally I think not. Confronting children with such obvious indoctrination is an effective tool for creating free thinkers.

The toothless UN trying to undermine UK sovereignty. Too funny.

Your country has the Church of England as their established church/religion. No way around that unless the monarchy abdicates.

 

[Oafman]

No one is forced to attend a Christian school, so this is a silly statement from the UN. Not the first time or the last!

They are if the school whose catchment area they are in is Christian.

Your country has the Church of England as their established church/religion. No way around that unless the monarchy abdicates.

We live in hope....

 

[redleghunter]

We live in hope....

Heh. Maybe you need a few Patrick Henry's to make that happen for you.

 

[brinny]

Whoa!

God have mercy!

Praying.

 

[That Guy 11200]

Making children attend Christian school assemblies undermines human rights, United Nations warns


Lol. Possible slant from the journo there - perhaps the group contained people from countries with more human rights credibility?!
----
So, should compulsory Christian assemblies be banned?

Personally I think not. Confronting children with such obvious indoctrination is an effective tool for creating free thinkers.

I agree. All the pointless prayers, that did nothing, all the silly hymns we had to sing (if we didn't we'd be made to stand up so that everyone could stare as we were told off) and every few months we would have a condescending Christian guy come in to talk to us like we were all 5 years old; it really solidified my atheism.

 

[bhillyard]

The report was about Britain. In England it is a legal requirement that all state schools start the day with an assembly that must be christian. It is not a matter of parents choosing a Christian school. The only way out would be to choose a private school that does not have christian assemblies.

 

[MennoSota]

Does this include compulsory prayers at the Mosque, the park, the...anywhere, in a Muslim country?

 

[amariselle]

Making children attend Christian school assemblies undermines human rights, United Nations warns


Lol. Possible slant from the journo there - perhaps the group contained people from countries with more human rights credibility?!
----
So, should compulsory Christian assemblies be banned?

Personally I think not. Confronting children with such obvious indoctrination is an effective tool for creating free thinkers.

I think children need to be taught that the Christian faith and following Jesus is their choice. That is how my parents raised me and my siblings. Jesus doesn't force anyone to believe in Him or accept Him, and we shouldn't either.

Also, Christianity isn't just about ritual or tradition, it needs to go beyond that. No one should be forced into it.

However, this also goes for other belief systems be they Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheistic etc.

 

[Oafman]

Does this include compulsory prayers at the Mosque, the park, the...anywhere, in a Muslim country?

I'm not sure if this report covered any other countries. I mean, it would be hard for them to know where to start with some of them.

 

[rambot]

I don't know what brittain has for the separation of church and state, so I wouldn't really want to comment.

It does bother me when countries with abysmal human rights records get an opportunity to play a higher moral card.

That said, there are not many countries with a blemish free human rights records...

 

[Redac]

I'm not sure if this report covered any other countries. I mean, it would be hard for them to know where to start with some of them.

Lol, apparently they decided that the UK was the best place to start when looking to correct human rights abuses.

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

Lol, apparently they decided that the UK was the best place to start when looking to correct human rights abuses.

Ever notice how they avoid all the countries we get oil or other "important" resources from that do human rights abuses? Funny that. Greed truly is one of the worse sins imaginable.

 

[Chesterton]

I agree. All the pointless prayers, that did nothing, all the silly hymns we had to sing (if we didn't we'd be made to stand up so that everyone could stare as we were told off) and every few months we would have a condescending Christian guy come in to talk to us like we were all 5 years old; it really solidified my atheism.

Really solidified your atheism. So...this is an argument for, or against?

 

[USincognito]

If any of you are actually interested, you can download the report and view the members of the panel.
Membership
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRC/Pages/Membership.aspx
MS Word copy of report
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layout...Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC/C/GBR/CO/5&Lang=en
Relevant section

Freedom of thought, conscience and religion

1. The Committee is concerned that pupils are required by law to take part in a daily religious worship which is “wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character” in publicly funded schools in England and Wales, and that children do not have the right to withdraw from such worship without parental permission before entering the sixth form. In Northern Ireland and Scotland, children do not have right to withdraw from collective worship without parental permission.​

 

[Chebles]

So forcing children to go to any government school is fine, but forcing children to go to a christian school is wrong?

 

[Rick Otto]

Lol. Possible slant from the journo there - perhaps the group contained people from countries with more human rights credibility?!
----
So, should compulsory Christian assemblies be banned?

Personally I think not. Confronting children with such obvious indoctrination is an effective tool for creating free thinkers.

Said the guy from the country with more people in prison than China has.

 

[Rick Otto]

Ever notice how they avoid all the countries we get oil or other "important" resources from that do human rights abuses? Funny that. Greed truly is one of the worse sins imaginable.

Good eye.

 

[Rick Otto]

I agree. All the pointless prayers, that did nothing, all the silly hymns we had to sing (if we didn't we'd be made to stand up so that everyone could stare as we were told off) and every few months we would have a condescending Christian guy come in to talk to us like we were all 5 years old; it really solidified my atheism.

I felt the same way, except it solidified my personal faith and confirmed my suspicions about "The One True Church".