http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/31989874 This is a strange one...a New York school has had to apologise that a boy read the pledge of allegiance in Arabic as part of a scheme to read it in various languages. Believe me I am far from an apologist for Islam and I made a decision years ago never to visit any predominately Islamic country because of their treatment of women, but how is heckling a child and encouraging your child to do so going to be helpful. How can it be insulting to read a promise of allegiance in Arabic...surely it's a good thing. It wasn't as if the child insisted on it...he was asked to do it. Weird.
There is an Arabic-specific 'pledge of allegiance' that they have called tabour where they pledge to support other members of the Arabic-speaking community (basically the GCC). But the US pledge of allegiance does have specific language about pledging allegiance to a nation under God. To me it's unacceptable to ask someone to recite a religious rite that backs someone else's faith. My wife refused to say the pledge when she was at school on the grounds that she is Atheist and was suspended as a result. They do not understand separation of Church and state there. The Middle East too actually, maybe they could hang out.
The God of the Jews, Christians and Muslims is actually the same God. Christians and Muslims just deal with intermediaries in Jesus and Mohamed, respectively, as they are later religions. So believers can swear by God without a problem. There should be an oath acceptable to nonbelievers and those from other religions (or the oath has no value). However, my main point was that these parents got upset by the oath being given in Arabic (by invitation). And they encouraged their children in what is basically racism...I'm not so PC that I don't think you should never criticise other religions (as seems to be the trend at the moment), but heckling this youngster is racist and divisive. They are in effect saying that he isn't American if he speaks Arabic. The school should never have backed down and apologised when faced with such ghastly behaviour. Instead the parents should have been told to look at themselves and perhaps reread their Declaration of Independence.
To be fair to our friends, we are not entirely immune from such silliness either. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-31989913
Should have said it was on safety grounds. Has any religion an objection to a solar eclipse? Has the sun been told Silly, yes...but at least well intentioned unlike the New York case. However, you are right...many Americans would probably roll their eyes at the oath of allegiance story as well. America does seem to have more jaw dropping incidents than normal, though.
That just displays a somewhat disappointing lack of initiative. If you're going to have an imaginary friend, at least make him distinctively yours. My imaginary friend is mad on Scrabble (but never plays vowels on the triple word squares), my imaginary friend wears trousers made of putty, my imaginary friend shouts at foxes for an hour every Tuesday morning; that kind of thing. Vin
Maybe you misread the signs when you thought that you misread the signs and thought she was interested in you. Maybe she still pines for you. Anyway, if a woman doesn't like you, that's sometimes the sign to have another crack. A friend of mine is married to a woman he asked out (they think) 34 times before she said "yes". She worked in his bank and he kept asking until she eventually said "If I go out with you once will you stop asking me?". Thirty years later, still going strong. Vin
