Religious intolerance

I have just been listening to a radio programme about a non-denominational school in the Midlands being bullied by the Muslim parents of the children - they want only Muslim children to be admitted to the school, Muslim teachers, Muslim food etc.
Recently I was sent this by a friend which perhaps would solve this problem:-


                                                                  "A canteen with pork is part of the answer." 

Good article Hazy, unfortunately some religions are not tolerant of others ways of life and wish to browbeat others into giving up long held traditions and lifestyles. Personally I think this is the fault of the 'Voices' of that religion not the religion itself, as those that shout loudest are often the only ones heard.

Think the answer to this lies in the number of times "Quebec" is mentioned... Just bigots in another guise. Seriously, I don't believe there is any answer, apart from humans learning over time, to this age old question of people having different views. It seems everywhere  in the world today is polarising and giving rise to extreme factions. I only hope people will see this time around and modify their positions before we end up tearing each other apart even more than we are already doing!

Maybe, if Muslims want their own schools, maybe they should run them privately (no funding from the UK govt).  Surely, if they want that particular school for Muslims only it would be considered discriminatory and therefore illegal.....!

Ah yes, religion the cause of so many deaths, violence and war…it certainly does more harm than good
 
@ Angela...there is already a fully state funded Muslim primary school in London.  I agree though and the same rule should apply to Catholic, Church of England, Hindu, Jewish schools etc. 
 
Catholic schools still only admit Catholic students; employ Catholic staff, just done very subtly.
 
We should be moving towards an inclusive shared society and stop the practice of religious groups controlling state schools. Religious group apparently run a third of the state schools in the UK!

Okay.  So I'm going to be controversial.   What a good post by Hazy and what an important topic.

Remember Steve that Quebec being the only French speaking Province in Canada seeks, like Scotland in the UK did/does, independence.  Consequently they are particularly protective of their heritage.

We spend almost half the year in Italy.  Do I try to convert the locals to become Anglicans?  No!  Do I try to persuade our favourite restaurant to serve fish and chips or roast beef and Yorkshire pud?  Again no!  We're in Italy because of what Italy, and the Italians, have to offer.  And we embrace their food, culture, traditions and religion.  Otherwise we wouldn't be here in the first place!

So, as regards immigration, I welcome it and absolutely support multicultural societies.  But I also absolutely support the Norman Tebbit Cricket Test.

ghiro wrote:Okay.  So I'm going to be controversial.   What a good post by Hazy and what an important topic.Remember Steve that Quebec being the only French speaking Province in Canada seeks, like Scotland in the UK did/does, independence.  Consequently they are particularly protective of their heritage.We spend almost half the year in Italy.  Do I try to convert the locals to become Anglicans?  No!  Do I try to persuade our favourite restaurant to serve fish and chips or roast beef and Yorkshire pud?  Again no!  We're in Italy because of what Italy, and the Italians, have to offer.  And we embrace their food, culture, traditions and religion.  Otherwise we wouldn't be here in the first place!

So, as regards immigration, I welcome it and absolutely support multicultural societies.  But I also absolutely support the Norman Tebbit Cricket Test.

Perhaps those French minority Canadians should go back to France!

A ridiculous attempt to smear all Muslims and not even true http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/belgiumpork.asp  and
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/hoax-belgium-mayor-refuses-remove-pork-school-canteen.shtml

It looked fake and took less than a minute to research .....try counting to ten before falling for such obviously crapulous items

Well, well, well.  Thank you Perlasca.   Just goes to show how dangerous it is to believe everything you read on the internet - or even on The Italy Forum.

However I don't retract anything I posted at 9:13pm.

PS for Steve.  The French Canadians have been there since before 1759 (Battle of the Plains of Abraham) so I really don't think your comment is either relevant or informed,

I advise eevryone to watch Stewart Lees monolgue on UKIP and immigration  - 'Bloody Hugenots - they come over here making their lace'... it puts most things in perspective - you can find it on You Tube.

I thought the point of the Italy Forum was to discuss subjects relevant to italy. I can't see that this rant meets that criteria.

Well exactly the same argument applies to Italy - there is alot of argument at the moment as to whether Muslim immigrants should adapt to the Italian lifestyle or not.   Substitute Bergamo for Quebec in the original article and you will have exactly the same result.

Well said Modicasa.  And as for this forum 'General Chat' means just that.  Discussions specific to Italy can be found under the various headings robjw

Surely it is irrelevant whether the article was true or false, the underlying principle is correct -'When in Rome, do as the Romans do' - does this make the topic Italian?!

Well said Hazy.......

Hey Ghiro my comment was relevant and informed. I would say "fact", but would rarely use such a word with conviction. The indigenous peoples were there long before either the English or French, but both the French and indigenous peoples are the minority and being so are different to the majority, hence the relevance.
As for the use of the forum for none Italian purposes and consequent rants, I actually agree it puts lots of people off, but other people enjoy it. Just another example of "differences" in life manifesting themselves and interfering with my life.. There another real rant - I'm off out of this topic...

Angela Fuller wrote:Well said Modicasa.  And as for this forum 'General Chat' means just that.  Discussions specific to Italy can be found under the various headings robjw

Well I thought it meant General Chat about Italy ( it being an Italy Forum). If it includes anything and everything that happens anywhere in the world then what is the point of having an Italy Forum at all, why not just go to the one of the thousands of other chat groups/forums out there ?

When in italy I embrace the Italian way of life as much as I can and try and pretend I'm a Little bit Italian. But I dont put my Englishness completely aside and am happy when I can use it to enhance the life of my neighbours. This is mainly when I cook for them as they love to try things that are different, and I am happy not to have to compete with them by having them compare my pasta etc. with their homemade light-as-air offerings which they regularly put our way.
Different cultures can enrich each others lives immensely but both sides have to be open to this and show tolerance as well as an interest in expanding their own experiences. If one side is determined to keep themselves separate and not have any empathy with the other side (of course there are always many sides, not just two) inevitably there are going to be problems, often disastrous.

Well Rob W.....I disagree....There are things that members regulary contribute to in this forum, not all soley realted to Italy eg 'heating, various stages of renovation, the Scottish Referendum etc etc'.  So it seems most of us don't have a problem with general chat....Maybe Admin has an opinion about this and if necessary stop any discussion that isn't strictly Italy related.....

Angela Fuller wrote:Well Rob W.....I disagree....There are things that members regulary contribute to in this forum, not all soley realted to Italy eg 'heating, various stages of renovation, the Scottish Referendum etc etc'.  So it seems most of us don't have a problem with general chat....Maybe Admin has an opinion about this and if necessary stop any discussion that isn't strictly Italy related.....

Well it is not a big issue for me Angie I was just a bit puzzled why someone would choose to post an article about the actions of a few Muslim people in Canada on a forum dedicated to things Italian. I maybe I have misunderstood the nature of this Forum.

Admin's opinion is this. General Chat is about anything anyone wants to raise on any topic. However - if it is a topic that some may find offensive, raise the blood pressure etc I would prefer it went in the Basket.
As you have probably figured out, I prefer self-moderation. I would say 99% of the time it works very well.

The voice of Reason; well done Penny glad it's a School night today.

Admin wrote:Admin's opinion is this. General Chat is about anything anyone wants to raise on any topic. However - if it is a topic that some may find offensive, raise the blood pressure etc I would prefer it went in the Basket.As you have probably figured out, I prefer self-moderation. I would say 99% of the time it works very well.

OK - a misunderstanding on my part.

I rather admired perlasca's crafty insertion of the naughty word crapulous in her sensible comment. 

Thats not a naughty word - its ancient Greek and it means drunken, intoxicated - hence pointless and worth nothing..