It's because the ALCU knows and believes that the nation was founded as a Christian nation and its laws on Christian principles. 
Posted on 10/10/2004 6:07:29 AM PDT by tdewey10
Posted on Sat, Oct. 09, 2004
Teaching Ramadan in public schools
Accurate lessons in demand after 9/11
By HOLLY LEBOWITZ ROSSI
Religion News Service
During the next few weeks, multicultural trainer Afeefa Syeed will bring third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students from a Muslim academy in Herndon, Va., to nearby public schools to share the practices and beliefs of their holiest month, Ramadan.
Syeed and the children will present the call to prayer in Arabic, display prayer rugs and offer tastes of dates. In countless other classrooms across the country, similar efforts will be made to educate students about the time of fasting and spiritual reflection for adherents of the world's second-largest religion.
Ramadan, which likely will begin Oct. 15, depending on the sighting of the new moon, is making more appearances in public school classrooms, thanks to a series of new teacher training initiatives, an increased fascination with Islam and the assurance that schools, if careful, can educate impressionable children about religion without crossing a constitutional line.
The Council on Islamic Education, a nonprofit organization based in California, plans to release an updated version of its booklet “Muslim Holidays,” which was first published in 1997, for the more than 4,000 teachers nationwide who have used it.
The booklet, which contains lesson plan ideas and historical and cultural background on Ramadan and other Muslim holidays, also outlines the various state regulations governing instruction about religion in public schools and discusses accommodations that schools can make to enable Muslim students to observe the holiday.
Muslim educators note tremendous progress in education about Ramadan and Islam in general in public schools, particularly since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — perpetrated by extremist Muslims — brought Islam into the national spotlight.
Another reason for this success, some say, is an increased general awareness in public education circles of what is constitutionally appropriate to teach about religion.
In 1995, President Clinton released “Religious Expression in Public Schools: A Statement of Principles,” guidelines on promoting the free exercise of religion in schools without endorsing a particular faith. The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center in Arlington, Va., subsequently launched a series of training initiatives to remind public school officials nationwide of the regulations concerning religion in schools.
Unlike the political situation, which has become divisive in some ways, “the educational arena came out unscathed” by increased attention on Islam since Sept. 11, said Shabbir Mansuri, founding director of the Council on Islamic Education.
Whereas Ramadan used to garner only cursory attention from public school teachers, Muslim education consultants say, interest in deeper understanding of the holiday has spiked.
“They want to know accurate information,” said Sharifa Alkhateeb, president of the Washington-based Muslim Education Council.
For teachers and administrators, as well as fellow students, explaining Ramadan helps the school accommodate the religious requirements of the holiday.
For example, at puberty, children begin to participate in the daily fast, which lasts from sunrise to sundown each day of the month. Many schools arrange for Muslim students to sit in the library during lunchtime so that they are not surrounded by food as they fast.
Educators cite Ramadan as a good opportunity to teach students about Islam and its practice. But teaching Ramadan in public schools has not been without controversy. Last year a federal judge said that the Byron Union School District in California could continue a three-week curriculum that emphasized role-playing exercises requiring, among other things, seventh-grade students to recite Muslim prayers.
Despite the ruling in the district's favor, the school suspended the program because of the outcry the lawsuit spawned.
Crucial to avoiding these kinds of problems, say educators, is understanding the difference between “teaching” and “teaching about” religion.
Role-playing exercises that require students to recite sacred words or imitate Muslim prayer practices simply are not appropriate.
“It is a wonderful method in teaching history, but when it comes to religion, we will have to modify it a bit,” Mansuri said.
Syeed, who also uses a globe in her presentation to show students that Muslims live all over the world, says her lesson plan “The Seven S's of Ramadan” highlights aspects of Islam that children of other faith backgrounds can relate to, like patience, peace and gratitude.
“It's really just to define who we are on our own terms and make the connection with a much larger, universal aspect,” she said.
And so do the Christian students get to go to the Muslim academy and share their culture at Christmas, Lent, etc.,?
Mohammedan brainwashing 101
NO WAY would I allow a kid of mine to study Islam in school. I'd be the one to teach my kid about Islam. And 9-11 would be where I would start.
This is the school where a Muslim student who is an American citizen said his allegiance wasn't to America during an interview. I believe a couple of months ago, a moderate Muslim group warned this school to tone down its curriculum because it was too radical.
“They want to know accurate information,”
Then tell them the truth about Islam. Since Islam is not really a religion but rather a cult of terrorists, they can get around the religious issue. Islam needs to be shown for what it is. It's detailed history of murder and oppression needs to be shown to children so they can see the true face of Islam.
Islam is both "weird" and murderous".
The Islamists are against Western capitalism and technology -- since the fall of communism, where else can an anti-West intellectual look to but Islamo-fascism? Therefore, they will defend and promote radical Islam.
It is funny and also sad to see how the leftists have to compromise their own progressive values just to accomodate radical Islam. Here is where multiculturism comes to the rescue. Multiculturism is a clever trick that allows one to have double standards while putting on airs of having a superior morality. Multiculturism can be used to excuse anything. That is why women are "oppressed" in America if the government does not pay for abortions, but women who are executed in Saudi Arabia for being raped are not oppressed -- they are merely participating in a unique system of values that must be respected at all costs. Because all cultures and values are equal, who are we to judge?
I also think a lot of leftists hope that if the Jihadists win, they will cut them some slack rather than cutting their throats because the left sided with the Jihadists and made their victory possible.
No, of course not. You'll have to hand out condoms....it's for the children, ya see.
I will not be teaching this nonsense in my classroom.
Some of this going on in Tulsa, according to KFAQ radio. Can you ping the Oklahoma list for input? Thanks.
It's because the ALCU knows and believes that the nation was founded as a Christian nation and its laws on Christian principles.
Some of this going on in Tulsa, according to KFAQ radio. Can you ping the Oklahoma list for input? Thanks.
Excellent point. Speaking of civil war, read "Civil War II" by Chittum. Not so far fetched.
Thanks for the tip; I will check it out. Where are you in PA? I'm in the York area.
This would be a good idea...perhaps bring in Christian
missionaries who were beaten, or family members of those
beheaded for preaching Christ.
Follow up with families of murdered Zionists.
Then talk about the 'fusion of church and state' and
pointedly ask when the ACLU is going to
send 'missionaries' to places like Abu Dhabi, Baghdad, or
Medina to spread their 'Good News' that there is no Allah.
I'm not holding my breath, though.
The school could bring in my mother's priest who is from the Phillipines and has had 25 members of his family murdered by members of the "religion of peace."
Yes. In my book ACLU stands for "Anti-Christian Legal Union."
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