DQ is going on a field trip at the end of the month with her 4th grade class and she talked me into being a chaperone. The permission slip said they were going to "a campground in Arapahoe, NC on the Neuse River to learn about and study a variety of ecosystems and the interdependency of organisms within those ecosystems." I thought it sounded like a great place where the kids would get a wonderful experience.
Anyway, I looked up the place so I could get directions and the place is called the Don Lee Center. I pulled up their website and right there at the top of the homepage is a proclamation that they are "affiliated by faith with The North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church" and the entire point of the place is to "Experience the presence of God through wind and water, through story and song, through friendships that last a lifetime."
Now as some of you may know I am Jewish so this information sort of sat funny with me. I can't get past the fact that nowhere on the information sheet or the permission slips did it mention that this is a Church run center. Let me clarify, I'm sure it will be fantastic trip and everyone will have a great time. It looks like a wonderful place and the kids can learn so much. Nothing beats hands on experience. But after living in the South for so long, there a big concern that this trip is going to turn into a religious sermon on some level. I really do believe that religion should not be part of this trip - faith needs to come from each family and not from the school. Faith is very important to some people, and less important to others. But more importantly, not everyone's faith is the same no matter how strongly they believe in it.
I guess what I'm rambling about is that I just want some assurances that this trip will be that secular so that the kids are not getting mixed signals if their faith differs from the Christian majority. Especially since the parents were never notified that this field trip was being hosted by a church.
Am I wrong?
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7 comments:
Having grown up in the Western North Carolina Conference of the UMC, I think that Methodists aren't as big on proselytizing as, say, the Southern Baptists.
I think it would depend on who was leading the course, your daughter's teachers or camp-supplied instructors, as to whether they were going to attempt to indoctrinate the young'uns.
Joe, my opinion is that you're being overly sensitive. I am Catholic and I send my kid to a Methodist school. He has yet to convert after seven years, four of which have been high school and trust me, those high schoolers are kinda rebellious.
There are no constitutional rights that give you separation of church and state. But, I have found when you take the religious themes from the schools, the kids suffer. Respect for their elders wanes and all kinds of humanistic morality comes shining through.
Oh, and you're Jewish. I think that y'all are pretty damn tough. The parallels far outweigh the differences, except for that Jesus thing, you know. And you gotta love that kosher stuff, so good and so good for you. Just saying.
I re-read my post and I think I didn't clarify myself properly.
I do not care that this place is owned/run by a Church. In fact I think it's great that this preserve even exists and all the credit must go to the Church for funding it.
My problem is that they advertise their teachings were included in the tours. That should not be the case.
On a related note, the school has since clarified that the religious teachings of the preserve are only done during the summer for their campers. It is completely secular for school trips.
That's all I wanted to hear and I am fine now.
I agree with Two dogs.
Ain't nothing wrong with listening to the gospel accroding to whome ever.
You don't have to believe it.
and i need spell checker........................
I would've been upset. Just seems the school was not being up front about things. They could have at least clarified right out of the gate.
Yep, you got your answer before I could post mine. Most of those church-run things only teach religion when they are running their own tours. Not when the school field trips come through.
I don't think the school was remiss in saying that the event was being held in a church-owned location, since it is not a religiously themed field trip.
Have fun!! I think it sounds fascinating!
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