Crucifix banned by school in Australia

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Christianity is dead in France, we are a secular democracy, there is no mention of God in our hymn, no God on our money and God is nowhere here, churches are beautiful museum of the past.

Just so we all understand, are you saying this is a good thing or a bad thing?

One person's clearly biased opinion, that may not be reflective of the national state of opinion.

What's interesting is that this isn't really a discipline issue. School uniforms certainly play an important role in creating and enforcing school discipline, but it would be ridiculous to suggest that discipline starts and ends with that. Has a lot to do with teaching methods as anything else.

I went to a (frankly crappy) public school that had a uniform code, but many of the kids still ran riot. One idiot I remember punched the teacher in the face in the middle of our geography class. Guy didn't even get expelled, though it said a lot about the teacher that he was able to get the class back in order and carry on the lesson as though nothing had happened.

[kittykatwoman 0]

OUps i should have quoted, i was answering to charlesandnessa.

"Christianity is dead in France, we are a secular democracy, there is no mention of God in our hymn, no God on our money and God is nowhere here, churches are beautiful museum of the past."

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

OUps i should have quoted, i was answering to charlesandnessa.

"Christianity is dead in France, we are a secular democracy, there is no mention of God in our hymn, no God on our money and God is nowhere here, churches are beautiful museum of the past."

Most importantly, you are not what?

Dead?

Saddened?

Secular?

What?

[Jenn! 918]

OUps i should have quoted, i was answering to charlesandnessa.

"Christianity is dead in France, we are a secular democracy, there is no mention of God in our hymn, no God on our money and God is nowhere here, churches are beautiful museum of the past."

Most importantly, you are not what?

Dead?

Saddened?

Secular?

What?

saddened.

made sense to me...

[kittykatwoman 0]

okayyy let's explain it again...

It saddens her that we are not mentioning God anywhere and i answered most importantly we are not SADDEN by being secular, it's not an issue for a lot of people.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

okayyy let's explain it again...

It saddens her that we are not mentioning God anywhere and i answered most importantly we are not SADDEN by being secular, it's not an issue for a lot of people.

Got it. Thank you.

OUps i should have quoted, i was answering to charlesandnessa.

"Christianity is dead in France, we are a secular democracy, there is no mention of God in our hymn, no God on our money and God is nowhere here, churches are beautiful museum of the past."

Most importantly, you are not what?

Dead?

Saddened?

Secular?

What?

saddened.

made sense to me...

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The constitution both protects and prohibits many religious behaviors in public schools.

Students' rights of free religious expression are not not necessarily automatic given. Some teachers, principals and school boards are not familiar with such legal matters. Sometimes, freedoms have to be fought for.

The same First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that guarantees students freedom of religious expression also restricts religious expression by teachers.

Many infringements on a student's religious freedom are clearly unconstitutional, and based on ignorance of the law by the teacher, principal and/or school board. Such disputes are usually resolved when the school is informed of student's rights. Many Christian litigation groups are actively involved in such resolutions. The Rutherford Institute 2 is believed to be the largest such organization. They have stated: "[M]any cases can be solved with a strong and professional letter from an attorney, a legal memorandum from our office, or a phone call from a staff member." Although it is a very conservative Christian group, they occasionally take on cases which support the rights of non-Christians. The American Civil Liberties Union is a secular group that also fights for students' constitutional rights. 3 They have a section of their web sites specifically directed to student concerns. 4

There are signs that the American public is becoming more tolerant of students' religious speech as expressed in their selection of jewelry and clothing. This may be because of:

bullet The reduction in the numbers of adult Americans who identify themselves as Christians. This percentage is dropping about one percentage point per year recently.

An increase in the numbers of religiously unaffiliated adults.

An increase in the religious diversity. The U.S. is now regarded as the most religiously diverse nation in the world.

The increased variety and membership of minority religions. Wicca, for example, is doubling in size about every 30 months.

Statements by political leaders, largely after 9-11, which have promoted religious tolerance and freedom for religious minorities.

A Dallas-Ft. Worth TV station, NBC5i.com, conducted an opinion poll over the Waxahachie, TX case in 2002-AUG. Those who voted were 77% in favor of students being "allowed to wear a pentacle or pentagram to school."

Edited August 21, 2006 by Steven_and_Jinky

[Alex+R 0]

okayyy let's explain it again...

It saddens her that we are not mentioning God anywhere and i answered most importantly we are not SADDEN by being secular, it's not an issue for a lot of people.

Well, I wish we were secular. I'm not religious and I hate having religion foisted on me. Nobody said Christians weren't allowed to be Christian in France.

[danae 0]

In france, religion is a private thing, it stays home not that it doesn't exist...

For those who know our history, our philosophs and our culture, it's easy to understand.

No proselistism and no ostentatious sign, if people want their kids to be in religious school, they have to go in private schools but not in the state one.

Christianity is dead in France, we are a secular democracy, there is no mention of God in our hymn, no God on our money and God is nowhere here, churches are beautiful museum of the past.

I had no idea this was the situation in France. Thanks for sharing

I never felt the urge to visit France all the time I was in living in the UK- but heck maybe I should have! Sounds like my kinda place

[kittykatwoman 0]

I will miss that from France and the first on my husband's list too after french stick bread haha

[almaty 19]

the french are right thinking type of folks

[mawilson 2,133]

Christianity is dead in France, we are a secular democracy, there is no mention of God in our hymn, no God on our money and God is nowhere here, churches are beautiful museum of the past.

and i find that saddening.

What I find saddening is that while Christianity is dead in France, Islam is very much alive.

[kittykatwoman 0]

Christianity is dead in France, we are a secular democracy, there is no mention of God in our hymn, no God on our money and God is nowhere here, churches are beautiful museum of the past.

and i find that saddening.

What I find saddening is that while Christianity is dead in France, Islam is very much alive.

The last laws voted by our governement was to maintain this all secularity with the muslim community, we thought by then that if there were no war in Irak and the crisis in the middle east we would have been the perfect ennemies of Islam and would have to 'fear' the punishment

Thank you almaty, i don't often get compliments for being French

[PlatyPius 5]

It seems pretty obvious to me. The school has a "no visible necklaces" policy. They can do that if they want. Would her necklace somehow mean less to her if she wore it under her shirt? The fact that she's making a fuss about it - that it can't be DISPLAYED - tells me something.

Back in the days when I wore a pentagram, I HAD to wear it under my shirt unless I wanted to be constantly harassed and told I was going to hell. Odds are, she would be one of the first to do the same to a student wearing a pentagram.

Ideally, people would be able to wear whatever they want freely and openly - cross, pentagram, hammer of Thor, star of David, whatever. However, since some can't do so without ridicule and harassment, I agree with the "no visible necklaces" policy.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Ideally, people would be able to wear whatever they want freely and openly - cross, pentagram, hammer of Thor, star of David, whatever. However, since some can't do so without ridicule and harassment, I agree with the "no visible necklaces" policy.