She was telling me about how her son, age 6, got in trouble at school for saying the phrase “Oh my god.”
Yes, this does bother me. What is funny is her son was saying it as an exclamation, not as a praise. He still got in trouble for it. The school has a “no tolerance” policy on religion. No prayers. No religion. No pledge of allegiance. No god. No simple exclamations.
As you probably know, I do not support or follow any religion. (If you didn’t, now you know. You should probably go and actually read my quotes.) In schools, it is not right to force prayer, as some schools do. Schools should be a place of learning, a place of expanding knowledge. By forcing prayer, you are forcing a belief that someone has the choice to make.
Conversely, you cannot tell someone to not believe, mention, or have faith in a god or a religion. This is not an issue you can force. This is an issue decided by an individual, by using their conceptualization faculties, by using their reason, by using their mind. If they want to believe in a god, they are free to (as long as that belief does not hinder someone else’s right to pursue happiness and their own beliefs).
One of the beautiful things about being human, about having this ability to conceptualize abstract concepts is the ability to grow and learn with each other. We can talk, debate, and argue with each other and we are always growing. We are always teaching. We are always learning. I am very upset to think that either of these infringements on the human mind are allowed. I do not want anyone forced to pray to a god of someone else’s choice. I also do not want anyone forced to hold down and hide their belief. It is the same thing.
What really blows my mind about the situation I mentioned is that this was an exclamation! It was not a reference to a god or a religion! I’m sorry, I say “Oh my god” all the time. This phrase has proliferated our slang and this case shows what the thinking of limiting the visibility of a thought or an idea can cause. It can cause people to be held down and censored. So now these kids cannot even say the word “god.” Should they also not be allowed to say the word “I” because there are religions where the self is worshipped? Maybe even stop letting them talk about nature, because that is worshipped. Where does it stop?
This is just another example of the quick fix mentality I harp about. Our society does not always works towards lasting solutions. We have a tendency to go for the quick fix. Instead of dealing with the issue of religion and philosophy and science in schools, we say “just don’t talk about it.” That is the WORST thing we can do. When people can stop closing their minds, closing their reason, closing their sight, we have a hope of actually growing up. Right now, we have the mental orientation of a rebellious teenager, running away from their problems thinking they know it all. It’s time to grow up.