UK: Catholic Girls Forced to Dress as Muslims for Compulsory Mosque Visit

From Weasel Zippers:

(Daily Mail)- A Roman Catholic schoolgirl has been labelled a truant after she refused to wear a headscarf during a compulsory trip to a mosque.

Amy Owen, 14, and fellow girl pupils at a Catholic secondary school were told to cover their heads and wear trousers or leggings out of respect for their Muslim hosts.

But when her mother objected, saying she did not want her daughter to ‘dress as a Muslim’, she received a sternly worded warning letter from the headmaster saying she had no choice.

Peter Lee, head of Ellesmere Port Catholic High School in Cheshire, informed her that the local diocese ‘requires’ pupils to have an understanding of other religions.

In the letter (see below) - with words in block capitals and underlined – Mr Lee said the visit was ‘as compulsory as a geography field trip’.

He added: ‘There are two reasons for these visits. One is that the scheme of work in religious studies REQUIRES children to have knowledge and understanding of other world religions.

‘The second is that the school is REQUIRED to promote tolerance respect and understanding. This is known as community cohesion.

Click on the title to see the scan of the announcement the school sent out.