Stoke-on-Trent City Council has produced an 11-page Ramadan guide for schools which advises them to cancel swimming lessons and sex education for all pupils during the month.

The council suggests swimming lessons should be cancelled in case muslim children accidentally swallow water when they’re supposed to be fasting rather than the more reasonable suggestion that muslim children should be given the opportunity of taking part in another sport instead.

They suggest cancelling sex education lessons because muslim boys are forbidden to think about sex during Ramadan after they have reached puberty rather than the more reasonable suggestion that muslim children should have the opportunity to catch up on missed lessons after Ramadan.

The Ramadan guide even suggests that schools reschedule exams in case muslim pupils are tired from getting up early to eat before dawn rather than the more reasonable suggestion that muslim children might like to go back to bed after their early breakfast so they’re not tired for their exams.

The council says “The overriding consideration should be that children do not feel disadvantaged in school activities because of their religious observance” whereas most people, I think, would say that a more reasonable “overriding consideration” should be that a child’s religion doesn’t get in the way of their education or the education of every other child in the school.

Making reasonable adjustments to accommodate the religious desires of a child I have no problem with.  Offering Halal or Kosher meals to those that want them is reasonable, only offering meat from animals that have been killed inhumanely to all pupils isn’t.  Offering pupils the ability to defer their participation in activities or even miss them altogether because of their beliefs is reasonable, forcing an entire school to miss out on activities or reschedule them to accommodate the whims of a medieval religion isn’t.

Despite the best efforts of some, the muslim breeding programme hasn’t yet provided a majority muslim population in England and until it does there is no reason why the lives of so many people should be disrupted to accommodate the religious choices of a minority of the population.

But the nice people at Stoke-on-Trent City Council haven’t pulled all of this out of their own arseholes, they’ve had guidance from the Muslim Council of Britain.  The MCB is an unelected taxpayer-subsidised europhile Islamic group which claims to represent 500 muslim groups, membership of which is restricted entirely to those who profess the muslim faith.  Hardly representative of the majority of English people are they?

Stoke-on-Trent City Council really have gone too far with this booklet.  Not only is it a waste of taxpayers money, it’s also insulting to assume that non-muslims will happily have their lives rescheduled around the Islamic calendar.