One Nation Under God

Today I went to the school that I have been tutoring at, and there was an assembly scheduled. Instead of going home (since I pulled myself out of bed at 7:30am to get there), I decided to stay and watch. The P6 students which means ages 10-11 were putting on a skit about how to stay germ free. People are worried about the swine flu, I mean excuse me H1N1 in Bermuda, yet no H1N1 vaccinations have made it to the island. There have been under 5 cases since the spring, so hopefully the island will stay swine flu free. Tourists are still arriving in droves from the USA, so hopefully only healthy people are touring the country.

Anyways back to my original story. Before the skit began, the principal led a morning prayer. I had heard the students reciting the lords prayer previously, but this session was much more than I expected. At a public primary school in Bermuda, the students were required to bow their heads in prayer, sing a rendition of the Lord's Prayer, and then the students had to stand and clap and sing to two Christian songs. Some of the P5 students were "too cool" to sing and dance along, and were reprimanded by being called out and forced to sing along. While Bermuda is mainly a country practicing Christianity, a 2000 census noted that 21% of inhabitants were unspecified or nonparticipating and 12% practiced religions other then those of the Christian faith. While I am a Christian and wouldn't mind singing along, I found it unbelievable that the public schools were participating in church practices. I feel it would have been extremely uncomfortable for both students and their parents if their households didn't practice or believe in the Christian principals. I maybe found it so hard to believe since students in the US aren't even required to say the Pledge of Allegiance in the morning since it says, "Under God."

Until next time...