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Post by cestlefun17 on Nov 9, 2011 10:16:57 GMT -5
It depends on the age of the child. If we're talking a 2nd grader, then it's more the parents' responsibility to make sure s/he makes up the work. If we're talking a high school senior, that's different. And I am wholly against measuring the performance of a school purely on the performance of the students. Poor student performance does not always indicate poor teacher performance. Provided that a teacher is doing his or her job capably, It is the combined responsibility of the parents and the student to make sure the student is doing his/her work. If a parent takes his child out of school for a day for religious observation, then it is their responsibility to make sure the child keeps up (depending on the age of the child, this balance will shift towards one or the other). Just because you are under 18 does not mean you are excused from all personal responsibility.
Okay, agreed. There just has to be some attestation that the student didn't just decide to unilaterally take the day off to goof around.
You cannot have the entire student body deciding what days it wants to take off! A "floating religious holiday system" just makes things more complicated. Not to mention that everyone is going to take many of the legal holidays off anyway...or the closest day off to the weekend (Veteran's Day is always on the 11th...if it falls on a Wednesday, how many people are going to choose Wednesday to not come to school? Friday? the following Monday? a combination of two or three?)
Everyone gets the legal holidays off, and if a certain very high percentage of the school is going to be out on a certain day for religious reasons then you should grant that day off as well, not to accomodate these people's religious beliefs but purely because it would be impractical to open the school. These days are announced ahead of time on the school calendar so everyone is on the same page. Any non-substantial religious minorities will have to find a way to balance their secular and religious obligations. And again, these days should not be seen as "days off" for the religious people who are demanding them. If they are asking the school to not open on these days for religious observance, and then they use that day as a vacation, then they lied. We are granting these people the ability not to go to school because they feel it would be a grave insult to God not to do x, y, and z on that day. They should be spending a substantial portion of that day engaged in their faith.
Nope. Sorry. Meditate on the weekends. We are giving these days off because there are some people of faith who find it so unconscionable to miss out on certain faith-based activities on a specific day of the year. "Meditation" just does not carry the same weight, and furthermore can be done on any day of the year.
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Post by N. De Plume on Nov 9, 2011 10:32:13 GMT -5
You cannot have the entire student body deciding what days it wants to take off! A "floating religious holiday system" just makes things more complicated. Aren’t we talking about a system where children can be taken out of school on religious holidays of their choice? I.E., a floating religious holiday system?. Spend a day in prayer. Spend a day in mediation. Same thing. |
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Post by Vene on Nov 9, 2011 12:18:26 GMT -5
Everyone gets the legal holidays off, and if a certain very high percentage of the school is going to be out on a certain day for religious reasons then you should grant that day off as well, not to accomodate these people's religious beliefs but purely because it would be impractical to open the school. These days are announced ahead of time on the school calendar so everyone is on the same page. In other words, exactly what this school did. |
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vesus
New Member
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Post by vesus on Nov 9, 2011 14:39:34 GMT -5
Notice how the brain dead Rapture Ready fundy snuck this in at the end of his rant:
"One of my biggest concerns is that there will be so much fraud in next year's election that our country will be completely destroyed"
Obviously he's just smart enough to realize that none of the theocrats/dullards/"businessmen" in the GOP has much of a chance of winning a general election. So of course, let's blame election fraud NOW before Obama wins in 2012. These people are so predictable.
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Post by cestlefun17 on Nov 10, 2011 3:01:09 GMT -5
I guess I was confused. I thought you were talking about getting rid of all holidays (including the secular ones) and instead giving each student x number of days to take off during the year when they chose.
No it isn't. A religious holiday must be observed on a specific day of the year and cannot be moved in relation to the school's schedule. "Meditation time" can be easily moved so as not to interfere with the school's schedule. Also, religious people honestly believe that God will rain fire down upon their house or put sugar in the salt-shaker if they don't perform these religious rituals. Atheists who meditate do not have the same philosophical urgency. And again, atheists are not "missing out" on anything. Religious people are getting a "day off" from a day of studying in school to replace it with a day of serious, deep, religious observation.
Right, although I'm not so sure if 20% (presuming that 100% of the 20% Muslim population were seriously devout and planned on not going to school) reaches that threshold. A lot depends on how multi-ethnic the district is. If you have a 20% Muslim population and an 80% non-denominational Christian population, then there won't be very many religious holidays to have to consider. However, giving a 20% Muslim population their holiday off would mean giving a 20% Jewish population their holidays off, and a 20% Catholic population their holiday off (namely Good Friday, which my district also usually granted)
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Post by Yla on Nov 10, 2011 7:25:48 GMT -5
It depends on the age of the child. If we're talking a 2nd grader, then it's more the parents' responsibility to make sure s/he makes up the work. If we're talking a high school senior, that's different. And I am wholly against measuring the performance of a school purely on the performance of the students. Poor student performance does not always indicate poor teacher performance. Provided that a teacher is doing his or her job capably, It is the combined responsibility of the parents and the student to make sure the student is doing his/her work. If a parent takes his child out of school for a day for religious observation, then it is their responsibility to make sure the child keeps up (depending on the age of the child, this balance will shift towards one or the other). Just because you are under 18 does not mean you are excused from all personal responsibility. You missed my point. You're asking 'Why should the school do that, it's not their responsibility?' I'm asking 'Why shouldn't they, it doesn't cost them much and helps a lot.' You are aware that most of the legal holidays are religious holidays? |
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Post by cestlefun17 on Nov 10, 2011 9:39:04 GMT -5
Because it's the principle of the matter. If you want to put your religious obligations over your secular ones, that's fine, except you, not the government, need to be responsible for making sure your secular obligations are fulfilled. Granting religious holidays can also land school districts in hot water unless there is a secular (i.e. pratical) reason to grant the day off (see: ffrf.org/faq/state-church/good-friday-closings/) All of the United States federal holidays are secular: New Year's Day Martin Luther King, Jr. Day George Washington's Birthday Memorial Day Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day Veterans' Day Thanksgiving Christmas (which has a secular and religious tradition) I understand that different countries have different policies as to church/state separation. I can only speak for the United States: it is inappropriate to grant religious holidays off unless there is a pratical, secular reason to do so. |
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