I pretty much lead the Student Activities (meaning any special group, etc) at my high school, and over the summer I was working on starting an Anti-bullying/Diversity group at my school. I talked to the teacher that I got to act as adviser today, and while I am happy that things are moving forward, I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with the direction the adviser is trying to take it. We talked today after my morning college class, and he explained how while he wants to get everyone involved, he wanted to focus more on the "Christian Kids" and getting the Christian ideals more expressed in the school (as in having the group plan more things like See You At The Pole) rather than focusing mainly on bullying. He has planned a "Christian Movie Night" after our school open house next week to get the kids involved. I am not Christian, and this fact is something that is pretty well known by most people, but as I am a leader in my school (and my father is the preacher of the church next to the school) he is expecting me to take the leading role in this group. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing wrong with Christianity or any religious group, and while I do feel that religious ideals of any form have no place in a school environment (including atheism), this has nothing to do with my being uncomfortable. My main problem is that I'm not sure that I can be comfortable with leading a Christian club when I am not Christian, and the club differs from the ideals that I want to portray... I have really wanted to shine a light on the problem of bullying in my school, but I am just not sure I am happy with what this is turning into...
Try telling the teacher that religion and school are 2 seperate things and that an anti bullying group is a bit more important than i religious group especially if you go to a public school. Bullying is a huge issue so maybe try expressing that as well and see what happens
Is the school a public school, or a private school? If it's a public school, there are severe limitations on what sort of support or encouragement the school or a school official can do toward supporting any specific religion. Students are free to organize on their own, but I don't think teachers can conduct or encourage such activities in a public school. So if it is a public school and the teacher isn't responsive to your concerns, I'd suggest talking to the principal or even the superintendant's office if it keeps going in that direction. One thing that's for sure: It's not reasonable to ask you to lead activities focusing on christianity if you aren't christian in a public school setting. The other thing is, if your focus is on anti-bullying and he's taking it in a different direction, what's the possibility for finding another teacher to work with you and just saying "Hey, seems like you're going in a different direction than what I intended. I wish you well... but I don't want to be involved" That seems like a win-win if it's possible.
Also say you want the group to be all-inclusive so no one who is bullied will feel unable to get involved or whatever.
It's a public school. I am very close to this teacher and I an afraid that I will damage his opinion of me should I attempt to go a different direction. I may look into starting a different group that can act alongside this one. I'm really not sure how to handle this without starting a fight with multiple groups.
