Religion, who the hell cares?
Religion, who the hell cares?
Recently, I was told that kids were no longer allowed to sing Christmas carols in school. I had a feeling that our schools were getting nuttier, but this?
Seriously, what? Who cares? Why do parents care soooo much?
Were they not kids themselves once? DId they remember being brainwashed by “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Did “What child is This?” cause them to pray for hours on end in the 3rd grade? Or, were they perhaps like myself and had no clue what we were REALLY singing about but simply enjoyed the songs for the melody and the way the lyrics flowed from our mouths?
I seriously don’t understand why some people treat anything remotely religious likes its the plague. What’s wrong with learning about Jesus? He doesn’t seem all that bad. We could even look at the Bible as history if you want. What if the kids learn about morals? Who cares how they learn morals? What’s the big deal. Jesus seemed like a really cool guy, that’s the impression that I received as a child.
When I was in public school on Thursdays we were bussed to church school. We called it Thursday school. How odd is that? A public School bussing kids to church during school hours? Nowadays, that would give parents heart attacks. We were divided into 2 groups, the catholics were bussed to the catholic church and the protestants to the protestant church. Guess what, I wasn’t brain washed, no one was. In fact, we had a blast. All I remember is singing and making crafts and hanging out with kids from other schools. At Christmastime we would do little shows. We ate brownies and cookies and drank punch. (Another thing that has been banned from school, the eating of treats)
I really don’t see what the big deal is. Of course, there is the other side to religion. There are the religious fanatics. C’mon, do you honestly think that your 4th grade son is going to be recruited into some giant cult like church for singing “Away in a Manger” at Christmas?
What’s wrong with learning about Jesus? He has some really great stories. He can teach you about kindness.
What about Gandhi? Can we not learn about Gandhi? Gandhi is religious. Gandhi was kind too. What about Mother Theresa? She was catholic, should her life story be banned from school?
Where is the Christmas tree now? Are we allowed a tree? Is Santa banned? Where has the magic of Christmas gone?
Are we depriving our youth of what we grew up on due to our own ignorance and fears regarding religion as adults?
Because religion didn’t help us in our own adult lives we think it won’t help our kids. Isn’t it their decision to make? We keep them from learning about religion like its a plague. They are kids, children. All they care about is the next fun thing. Perhaps the parents are too damn lazy to help their children understand that religion exists so instead of helping them learn about it they simply take it away and plop them in front of the television to learn if Sponge Bob lost his Square pants.
But, what if its just the one parent with the one kid in class? This I don’t understand. There is one atheist in class and now no one can sing Christmas carols? Why can’t the atheist learn about Christmas carols as historical pieces of music? Why can’t the parent tell their atheist kid (who by the way didn’t choose to be atheist yet cause he is just a kid) their belief and that there is more than one view of the world. What about a Jewish child? Can’t we sing the dradle song and learn about Judaism? Kwanzaa, teach me about Kwanzaa.
Okay, so what if the atheist kid sings “O little Town of Bethlehem.”
I have a feeling the kid won’t lose it. In fact, he might learn some pretty song that he probably won’t understand but when he grows older he would have been exposed to something and have fond memories of singing this carol. Perhaps he learns about the Dradle song and Hanukkah, perhaps Kwanzaa. Perhaps, we will end up with a kid in our society that is well informed & fulfilled because he got to sing “O little Town” and the "dradle" song. He’ll be nostalgic when he hears those pieces. He’ll have memories. Right now all anyone is doing is robbing children of good memories. I remember the Christmas our class sang “O little town of Bethlehem” will he?
Recently, I was told that kids were no longer allowed to sing Christmas carols in school. I had a feeling that our schools were getting nuttier, but this?
Seriously, what? Who cares? Why do parents care soooo much?
Were they not kids themselves once? DId they remember being brainwashed by “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Did “What child is This?” cause them to pray for hours on end in the 3rd grade? Or, were they perhaps like myself and had no clue what we were REALLY singing about but simply enjoyed the songs for the melody and the way the lyrics flowed from our mouths?
I seriously don’t understand why some people treat anything remotely religious likes its the plague. What’s wrong with learning about Jesus? He doesn’t seem all that bad. We could even look at the Bible as history if you want. What if the kids learn about morals? Who cares how they learn morals? What’s the big deal. Jesus seemed like a really cool guy, that’s the impression that I received as a child.
When I was in public school on Thursdays we were bussed to church school. We called it Thursday school. How odd is that? A public School bussing kids to church during school hours? Nowadays, that would give parents heart attacks. We were divided into 2 groups, the catholics were bussed to the catholic church and the protestants to the protestant church. Guess what, I wasn’t brain washed, no one was. In fact, we had a blast. All I remember is singing and making crafts and hanging out with kids from other schools. At Christmastime we would do little shows. We ate brownies and cookies and drank punch. (Another thing that has been banned from school, the eating of treats)
I really don’t see what the big deal is. Of course, there is the other side to religion. There are the religious fanatics. C’mon, do you honestly think that your 4th grade son is going to be recruited into some giant cult like church for singing “Away in a Manger” at Christmas?
What’s wrong with learning about Jesus? He has some really great stories. He can teach you about kindness.
What about Gandhi? Can we not learn about Gandhi? Gandhi is religious. Gandhi was kind too. What about Mother Theresa? She was catholic, should her life story be banned from school?
Where is the Christmas tree now? Are we allowed a tree? Is Santa banned? Where has the magic of Christmas gone?
Are we depriving our youth of what we grew up on due to our own ignorance and fears regarding religion as adults?
Because religion didn’t help us in our own adult lives we think it won’t help our kids. Isn’t it their decision to make? We keep them from learning about religion like its a plague. They are kids, children. All they care about is the next fun thing. Perhaps the parents are too damn lazy to help their children understand that religion exists so instead of helping them learn about it they simply take it away and plop them in front of the television to learn if Sponge Bob lost his Square pants.
But, what if its just the one parent with the one kid in class? This I don’t understand. There is one atheist in class and now no one can sing Christmas carols? Why can’t the atheist learn about Christmas carols as historical pieces of music? Why can’t the parent tell their atheist kid (who by the way didn’t choose to be atheist yet cause he is just a kid) their belief and that there is more than one view of the world. What about a Jewish child? Can’t we sing the dradle song and learn about Judaism? Kwanzaa, teach me about Kwanzaa.
Okay, so what if the atheist kid sings “O little Town of Bethlehem.”
I have a feeling the kid won’t lose it. In fact, he might learn some pretty song that he probably won’t understand but when he grows older he would have been exposed to something and have fond memories of singing this carol. Perhaps he learns about the Dradle song and Hanukkah, perhaps Kwanzaa. Perhaps, we will end up with a kid in our society that is well informed & fulfilled because he got to sing “O little Town” and the "dradle" song. He’ll be nostalgic when he hears those pieces. He’ll have memories. Right now all anyone is doing is robbing children of good memories. I remember the Christmas our class sang “O little town of Bethlehem” will he?
posted by Haley at 5:09 PM
2 Comments:
It was nice to see someone voicing the same feelings I have had for some time now. You put it better than I ever could. I hope you sent this to be published some where so more people could read it and perhaps some common sense can be restored soon.
Thanks Tim! I'll keep on writing.
It's all true and ridiculous. Friends had an office party and it couldn't be called even "holiday" party it had to be called end of the year party. Well everyone called it a Christmas/Hanukkah party anyway. Hope you had a great holiday season!
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