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| Halloween iPhone-Desk Paper by arsgrafik on deviantArt |
It's that time of year again. You know. The time
that you can't mention. (Shhh! Hallowe'en.)
Yes, that time.
As a Pagan – a very loose Pagan, but a Pagan nonetheless –
Hallowe'en has a strong place in my feelings. It's a special time of
year. I feel closer to the dead and the not-yet-living and to the
threats and wonders of all of those things.
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| Temporary Altar by Bart Everson on Flickr |
But I keep
hearing reports that pupils aren't allowed to talk about this in my
children's school. It sounds as if some teachers allow it, while
others don't. As always with children, these things are unclear. To
be honest, it doesn't bother mine much. To them Hallowe'en is about
sweets – America's fault, I suppose – despite the fact that I
don't get sweets out on Hallowe'en. But this discrimination does
bother me.
The problem is
that my children attend a faith school. I know the words 'faith
school' conjure up images of extreme Muslim academies teaching small
children to be terrorists. At least, the tabloid papers would have it
that way. But probably most Muslim/Jewish/Church of England or other
religious schools are pretty much like the Church in Wales one my
children go to. A good, open, friendly school with good teaching and
a great learning environment.
But there are
issues. Despite some small evidence that they learn about other
faiths, Christianity has a very large place in their schooling. It's
the only faith that I hear my children talking about in relation to
school. And recently George got into trouble during prayers. They
accept him not putting his hands together and not saying the words,
but he was turning his back on the teacher. I explained that I could
tell him that it was rude to turn his back, and he shouldn't do it,
but I couldn't force him to pray.
'But this is
a Church in Wales school,' I was reminded.
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| Ibaraki Kasugaoka Church light cross by Bergmann |
'Yes, but it's
the only school in the area. We have no choice but to send our
children here. And forcing someone to pray makes a complete mockery
of prayer,' I reminded them.
My son's teacher,
a lovely woman, thankfully acknowledged this. What would I have done
if she didn't?
It seems that
there's not much I could do. Religious schools appear to be pretty
much exempt from discrimination laws. It's a confusing
subject to research (especially with a mild migraine and a
Lego-obsessed three year old in the room), and the Armchair
Backseatologist has done it much better here. But the National Secular Society's page
states, 'Many faith schools are granted exemptions from equality laws
which are meant to ensure that schools cannot discriminate against
pupils because of their religion or belief.'
There's something
very wrong in this. Discrimination is discrimination. Yes, some
discrimination can be positive – teaching children of different
abilities differently, for example. But surely it's wrong to say to a
child, 'You cannot express your faith in our school.' If their
argument is that they're not celebrating Hallowe'en as a part of
faith, then why is it a threat? If it is a part of faith, then surely
it's wrong to suppress it? I'm sure that if that faith was Judaism or
Islam they wouldn't be met with this response, but Hallowe'en
straddles an odd border between Paganism and Christianity, and it
apparently scares the Church in Wales. Discriminating against one
particular form of faith is even worse than discriminating against
them all.
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| There's Probably No God by Dan Etherington |
The result of
this attitude towards faith? Oscar, 8, not only believes there is no
god, but also that Jesus never existed, no matter how much evidence
there is that he was a historical figure. George's thoughts are going
the same way. They have been so pushed into the Christian faith that
they are revolted by it. Really, is this the way we want to introduce
our children to faith? My family has a wide spectrum of views
including Pagan, Baha'i, Judaism, and Christian (Church of England
and Church in Wales). There's probably even some Catholic somewhere
in the woodwork. I would like my
sons to grow up able to choose what to believe, whether that be a
religion or atheism, rather than either being indoctrinated into one
faith, or so sickened by it that they cannot believe in anything.
