I am myself, an atheist. I also work for a government entity and I believe in the separation of church and state. However, I have several employees who tell me god bless you, merry Christmas, happy Easter, etc. I also get people telling me happy Hanukkah, Yonkipur, Roshashanah etc. 
 
I think that by being aware of different religious practices and accepting blessings, best wishes, etc I am not tolerating the promotion of religion in a lay place. I have talked to my staff about what separation of church and state entails and they seem to understand while keeping their deep faith.
 
For example, public prayer in the classroom, daily display of religious symbols would be violations of the separation. However, wishing a blessed day to someone or expressing religious sentiment on a holy day are different things that show tolerance to difference and the opportunity for us to learn, Especially if we are trying to promote diversity and learn from others. 
 
I am totally ignorant of Islam so this is a first for me. The best wishes sent represent an opportunity for me to learn about the beliefs of others. If Muslims wanted to pray daily in a public space and bring religious texts to the classrooms, I would suggest that they don't do that. However, if a Muslim wants to wish me a blessed day, especially on one of their holidays, I thank them and would want to encourage everyone regardless of the religion to do so. 
 
In fact, it is not uncommon for this to happen. Messages during December are often signed with happy holydays, merry xmas, happy new year, etc. 
 
Andres
 
 
Please visit my art website at:
http://www.geocities.com/andresmuro/art.html

________________________________

From: diversity-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Daphne Greenberg
Sent: Wed 9/3/2008 7:26 PM
To: diversity at nifl.gov
Subject: [Diversity 135] religion on this discussion list



One of the examples of suitable topics for this discussion list, from the posted description on the NIFL Web page
(http://nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/diversity/about_diversity.html), is "religious differences and adult literacy classrooms". So Ochieng's original post (especially with the introductory sentence) seems on topic to me. I see two possible examples of utilizing the rich information provided by Ochieng. One example would be directed at programs who wanted to focus this month on understanding the Muslim faith. To do so would be similar to programs deciding to focus on another month on the Jewish faith (during their high holiday season), the Christian faith (during Christmas), women (during Women's month) or African Americans  (during African American month). This would be especially appropriate for ESL programs that want to introduce their students to the different peoples that make up our country. As another example, it seems to me that her post lists a few of the types of issues that could be discussed, read about, written about in an ABE class: "injustices, inequality, wrongs
 visited upon the poor and vulnerable, unity of the ummah, corruption, leadership, marginalization, environment, prejudices and stereotypes, etc. " Both of these examples seem to me to be reasonable and worthwhile for the Diversity and Literacy discussion list.

Perhaps some people may take issue to the following phrases and sentences:

"blessed opportunity" , "mercy and forgiveness from Allah" and especially "May Allah (SWT) grant all of us us the ibadah(devotion) of the night of Qadr(blessed night) and make us the best ummah."  Perhaps for some, these cross the line between description into endorsement  of a particular religious faith. I don't know if this violates any government rules, and I do not think we have anything in the NIFL policies that addresses this, so I believe that this is new territory.

So, Kearney, thanks for your post and raising an interesting question for all of us to ponder. I would like all list subscribers to think about Ochieng's post and Kearney's response. What do you as literacy professionals interested in diversity -- think would be good guidelines for the discussion lists, and also for the classroom, of what is and is not appropriate to say about religion or faith. I think it's a fascinating topic. Perhaps there are articles written about religion, faith and the public school classroom. I don't know.

I am curious, would people have posted Ochieng's post? What if someone posted the below message-would your answer be the same or different:

Many of you have Christian students who are celebrating the blessed holiday on December 25th. I would like to wish them Merry Christmas. It is a day of deep reflection in celebration of  the birth of Jesus Christ.

It is a blessed opportunity to reflect upon and grapple with the issues that afflict the souls of not only the Christian Community but the greater creation of God.

It is also the time to ponder and generate solutions to such issues as injustices, inequality, wrongs visited upon the poor and vulnerable, unity of the Christian Community, corruption, leadership, marginalization, environment, prejudices and stereotypes, etc.

Christmas is an important holiday of piety, family and community sharing, selflessness and a time to seek God's mercy.

May God grant all of us the ability to appreciate this holy day  and make us the best people possible.

Would you have posted a message like this? Why or why not?

Daphne




>>> Kearney Lykins <kearney_lykins at yahoo.com> 09/03/08 4:50 PM >>>

I am surprised that no one has yet commented on the propriety of using a government listserve to circulate religious doctrine.

Has The Diversity and Literacy Discussion List now become a vehicle for promoting religious holidays and disseminating prayers?


 Regards,

Kearney Lykins




----- Original Message ----
From: Ochieng kh <ochykheyr at yahoo.com>
To: The Diversity and Literacy Discussion List <diversity at nifl.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, September 2, 2008 10:02:45 AM
Subject: [Diversity 129] Ramadhan Kareem


Dear All,
Many of you have Muslim students who are celebrating the blessed month of Ramadhan. I would like to wish them Ramadhan kareem. It is a month of deep reflection and self-restraint while praying for spiritual purity, good tidings and endless bounties.
 
It is a blessed opportunity to reflect upon and grapple with the issues that afflict the souls of not only the Muslim ummah but the greater creation of Allah (SWT).
 
It is also the time to ponder and generate solutions to such issues as injustices, inequality, wrongs visited upon the poor and vulnerable, unity of the ummah, corruption, leadership, marginalization, environment, prejudices and stereotypes, etc. 
 
Ramadhan is an important month of Patience, sharing and selflessness and a time to seek the mercy and forgiveness from Allah (SWT)
 
May Allah (SWT) grant all of us us the ibadah(devotion) of the night of Qadr(blessed night) and make us the best ummah.
RAMADHAN KAREEM
Ochieng M.Khairallah


     
----------------------------------------------------
National Institute for Literacy
Diversity and Literacy mailing list
Diversity at nifl.gov
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/diversity


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/diversity/attachments/20080903/3aa39faa/attachment.html