Schoolchildren as young as seven 'coerced into Islamic prayer at Church of England primary'

Seven-year-old pupils at a Church of England primary school in Lincoln were allegedly “coerced” into performing Islamic prayers, sparking fury among parents. Richard Tice, Reform UK deputy leader and MP for Boston and Skegness, has written to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, have all complained.

This comes after a Christian father complained that his seven-year-old daughter and classmates – none of them Muslim – were instructed to kneel, bow their heads and enact the full physical movements of Muslim prayer during a religious education lesson last Wednesday. They have been coerced into performing Islamic prayers even when there are no Muslimms in the class! 

The act of worship is said to have involved seven-year-old children at a Lincolnshire school - with parents revealing that pupils were encouraged to kneel and bow their heads in the Muslim prayer style. Reform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice recieved a complaint from a concerned father in his Boston and Skegness constituency last week.

It said children were “coerced, manipulated and cajoled” into performing the act of worship - “despite none of the children in the classroom" being Muslim.According to the Christian parent, his daughter's class were shown a demonstration video on how to correctly pray before being urged to “have a go”.

The Telegraph reports the prayer happened in a religious education lesson on Wednesday last week. As he was putting his seven-year-old daughter to bed, the father said he was shocked after his daughter declared: “We did prayers to Allah yesterday.”

The parent has now said the school did not seek parental permission ahead of the lesson or given pupils the chance to decline performing the act.He claimed his child went onto describe the teacher urging the children to take off their shoes and telling the pupils: "We all need to do the performing of the prayer."

The incident has been reported to Lincolnshire Police. Speaking on behalf of the unnamed primary school, the Diocese of Lincoln has rejected the father's account of events. The Diocesan Board of Education has insisted the act was "not an act of worship". FULL REPORT AT: https://www.gbnews.com/news/lincolnshire-news-schoolchildren-coerced-islamic-prayer-church-of-england