Thursday, March 06, 2003

A school in West Yorkshire, England has banned from the classroom all books about pigs, including Babe and The Three Little Pigs, for fear that they will offend Muslim pupils. As the Islamic faith prohibits the eating of pork, the school's headmistress Barbara Harris decided it would be still more sensitive to ban all references to the animals the meat comes from.

Parents were baffled, and even the Muslim Council of Britain were unambiguous in their condemnation: "This is bizarre - there is nothing to stop children reading about pigs. The ban is simply on the consumption of pork and pig products." Another Muslim leader confirmed: "It is rather sad. Muslims would not find the Three Little Pigs offensive."

The school's ban was only discovered when one parent noticed that all references to pigs had been removed from her child's homework sheet.

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