You Can't Have It Both Ways; Either Religious or Not

A mother pulls her children out of religious & moral education classes, then complains because they are excluded from the Christmas party. Despite what some may have you believe, Christmas is the designated day for the birth of Christ. I know this may be a shock for some since it has almost become a crime to mention the word Christmas.

A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy was banned from his school Christmas party because he does not believe in God. Douglas Stewart was asked to stay at home while his classmates were treated to jelly and ice-cream, followed by a visit from Santa and presents. Douglas's mother, Dawn Riddell, was informed that he was unwelcome at the celebration because she had withdrawn him from religious education classes at Cluny Primary School, in Buckie, Banffshire, earlier in the school term. Ms Riddell, 38, said the headteacher, Ian Davidson,had told her that as the youngster had no interest in religion, he could not celebrate the birth of Christ. She said yesterday: "It doesn't make any sense to me. "I've helped out at the Christmas party before and it's got absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. It's all about the kids getting excited about Santa and enjoying themselves. "Douglas was heartbroken that he couldn't go. It was cruel. There was no reason for him to be excluded." Ms Riddell explained that her family has no religious beliefs and she decided to withdraw her children from religious and moral education classes when they began to study Bible stories earlier this year. She wrote to the school asking for the boys to be exempt from the lessons, but was contacted by Mr Davidson and warned that the children could miss out on fun activities. On the day of the end-of-term party, Ms Riddell was again contacted by the headteacher to say that Douglas could not attend. She said: "Douglas had come home to get changed for the party. No-one had said anything to him, so as far as he knew he was going. "He was really upset when I told him he couldn't go back to school. He just lay on the rug and cried. It was such a shame, but there was nothing I could do."