Laurentkd
Master Black Belt
Why? It's not relevant to the testing material. It creates distinctions between the Christians and the non-Christians in the group. It almost inevitably leads to favoritism even if it's very subtle and unconscious. How does telling everyone what you believe improve the martial arts class or your own standing with the Creator?
Suppose you were in, oh just for instance, a Silat class run by Muslims where the teacher said "Bismillah ir Rahman ir Rahim. In the the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. I'm a Muslim. I'm an Imam. These other teachers are also Muslim. The head of the system is a Muslim. Now let's see if you guys know your stuff. Islam isn't a core part of the curriculum, but I want you to know that I'm one of the Faithful. We can only spread Islam by our good example. And while 'there is no compulsion in religion' I want to share the True Faith with you."
Would it help you learn? Would it make you more comfortable, more likely to trust the teacher? Would you feel as welcome in the class and organization as you would if it were never explicitly brought up? Would it help foster unity and camaraderie between you and your fellow students or you and the teachers?
Just at a guess, one of those "dollars to horse apples and I'll hold the stakes in my mouth" sort of guesses, I'd say the honest answer to all those questions would be "No". That being the case why do you inflict the same discomfort on your students?
I completly understand your point and I agree. However, sometimes I think it can be helpful to mention that instructors are Christian, although I don't see its relevance in a group setting as described above. Rather, I have had parents ask me (no joke, and I am sure others of you have simliar stories) "does any of our money go to buddha" or "do we have to bow to buddha"!! It is nice to be able to say. "oh no, actually the instructors here are all of Christian belief, however nothing we teach is religious, but rather we teach good character traits, such as respect and courtesy (similar to boy scouts) that should align with any religious beliefs." Of course, this works for my location where the vast majority of our student base (98%) are white, upper-middle class, and would probably define themselves as "christian" or agnostic. This may not work so well in other areas.
On a side note, there was a thread on bowing somewhere, and this may be a good place to mention- we have recently had a muslim student join us and rather than bow we decided he would do a one hand fist/one hand open salute (like kempo or kung fu). This has helped him be able to show respect in a "martial artsy" way without breaking any of his religious beliefs.