Originally Posted by Tutela de Xaoc

Well, I am happy to hear that my idea is not held by myself alone. :)

And the same to you sir.

Originally Posted by kinyune

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To force kids to practice a religion other than their own (or a lack-there-of) is totally unfair. They shouldn't be forced to do things like that and I'm even Christian!
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I'm a bit disturbed by your phrase here, actually: somehow to me it implies that Christians are known for forcing other people to do things. Sadly, I think you're right -- Christianity tends towards evangelicism, in my experience, and because the U.S. was founded by a religious group, we've had some trouble disentangling church and state ever since. But moreover, it seems that you're distinguishing yourself from other Christians by stating that you don't believe in forcing religious practices, as if most others do.

I believe it's wrong to force people to perform rituals from religions not their own, but on the other hand religions are, in the theorists' eyes, made up of three segments: ritual, doctrine, and creed. Meaning "what you do," "what's written down," and "what you believe." As far as I understand, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are creed-centric, meaning that even if you go through the motions of Mass or Confession or daily prayer, unless you believe it doesn't count, right? So I'm wondering if it would be possible for individuals to tolerate saying words they don't believe, with the understanding that they are partaking of a different religion's ritual, kind of like a guest at a tea ceremony.

In regards to the girl forced to say prayer, the problem is the people doing the forcing, not the law or the group itself, IMO. Why are the adults so bothered by a girl sitting out? That's where the real trouble lies.

And my own religion is my own business, thankyouverymuch. :)

Interesting, it seems no Muslims have participated in the thread!
Well, I am a Muslim woman- and I practice my faith and wear hijab etc.
Forcing students to pray etc is wrong. In Canada we have catholic schools- and they make non-catholic students attend mass. I don't think this is right because tho it is a catholic school, the government funds them and the schools are open to all. You don't have to provide baptisim certs or anything. If its funded by the gov't (i.e. taxpayer dollars) then its a public institution and therefore they have no right subjugating and alienating one part of their student population.
In public schools, however, I feel that it's important to bring in classes like culture/religious diversity.

However, in private religious schools (i.e. independants from boards and where students pay) then students who attend have to understand that they follow the rules of that particular school. It just wouldn't make sense for a Christain student attending a Jewish school to not partake in any Jewish study because religious schooling exists for the fortification of that particular religion (i.e. Jewish Studies/Islamic Studies as part of course curricula).

I remember when I was 10 I was reading a book n religions with my friend and we came across a passage about athiests. To the both of us the idea that someone can't believe in a God was absolutely incredulous. Now, however, I can accept that there are. THough my personal view is that I can't really tolerate atheists. I just have very little respect for anyone who denies the existence of God.

I guess you could call me a "spiritual Atheist": I don't believe in any god, but I do believe in spirits and the elements and such.

Onto the main subject, I think it's wrong to force anybody to practice any religion they don't believe in. If I don't believe in God, you can't make me, and shouldn't try. If something you believe in is against somebody else's religion, you shouldn't try to force them to practice it anyway. I wouldn't try to force a Christian to support gay marriage if they didn't want to, and neither should anybody try to make me or anybody else pray to God if we don't want to.