the atheist muslim a journey from religion to reason

But the rest of it’s pretty legit.įrom time to time, government officials drop by to see if our school is in compliance with their rules. You have to say “winter” or “holiday” instead of “Christmas”-winter break, winter recital, holiday party, and so on-and you can’t display anything religious like crosses or images of Jesus. So it makes sense that Westerners who find themselves isolated in this cultural desert halfway across the world would want something to keep their kids connected to the way things are back home. Consequently, our exposure to the Saudis’ culture and customs is limited, as is theirs to ours. This is more or less consistent with the generally minimal interaction foreigners have with the locals anyway-and the government seems to like it that way. The Saudis aren’t allowed by law to attend it. My school has over two thousand students of about eighty nationalities, all from expatriate families, mostly American and Canadian. And classroom walls are adorned with cutouts of elves, snowmen, and reindeer. Music teachers are busy preparing students for the winter recital. Trees with handmade ornaments are up everywhere. But this is an American school, and it’s two weeks to Christmas break. I’ve never even seen snow-and I won’t until I move to Canada, well into my twenties.

They will be displayed on the bulletin board in the hall, after which we get to take them home to show our parents. Brimming with excitement, we all fold up our pieces of paper, cut into them, open them up, decorate them using glue and glitter, and label them with our names. I’m in the fifth grade at the American International School in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and our teacher wants us to make paper snowflakes.

The atheist muslim a journey from religion to reason