Posted on 10/10/2006 3:46:48 AM PDT by Man50D
Another school has been "teaching" Islam by having students study and learn Muslim prayers and dress as Muslims, and a lawyer who argued a previous dispute over this issue to the U.S. Supreme Court said such methodologies wouldn't "last 10 seconds" if it were Christianity being taught.
"Would it have been 'just cultural education' if students were in simulated baptisms, wearing a crucifix, having taken the name of St. John and with praise banners saying 'Praise be to Jesus Christ' on classroom walls?" asked Edward White III, of the Thomas More Law Center.
His comments came after a new protest arose in Nyssa, Ore., where one parent raised objections when the Islamic teachings came to light. The district there, according to Supt. Don Grotting, is teaching a chapter in a history textbook "Journey Across Time" that talks about "how civilization has developed and some of the particular aspects of Islam."
"We teach out of the book, and there are some supplemental class activities," he told WND. "The kids do some skits, they could bring a food from the region, you could build a prop that would have depicted (something) maybe during that time period.
"If you wanted to you could dress up (as a Muslim) for extra credit," he said.
He said students also learned about the climate of the Middle East, the food and everyday activities of Islam, and the geography and the lay of the land.
Still another assignment was to learn the "five pillars" of Islam, study Ramadan and listen to guest speakers including an American Muslim who arrived dressed in her religious costume to talk to the kids about her Quran.
"She relayed to the kids, if you're a Christian you have your Bible, this is our Quran," Grotting said.
Parent Kendalee Garner, however, objected to having her son being taught Islam and also to the time the public school system spends on the subject.
She told WND that her 13-year-old son is being "indoctrinated that Islam is a religion of peace, and being dressed up as a Muslim, being taught prayers, and scriptures out of the Quran."
"I just don't understand the ban on Christianity but Islam has free rein," she said.
She said the guest speakers and skits and reports were wrong, but what set her off was a class in which students in all three social studies classes dressed in traditional Islamic outfits.
"The only reason I knew about it was because my son told me about it," she said. "They sent him to the library instead of stopping what they were doing. I'm sure people would be outraged if they dressed up as the pope."
That was White's point exactly.
If that's how teaching about religions is done, he said, "then teach all religions in the same way, Christianity, Judaism. Have the kids study Native American religions, do the dance, smoke the pipe. Have the kids dress up as priests and hear confession."
He said when he suggests that, school managers and even judges get that "panic-stricken" look.
He knows because he argued the same dispute up to the U.S. Supreme Court after complaints of similar teachings in the Byron Union School District in California.
As WND has reported that case was almost a duplicate. Teachers were having students memorize Islamic prayers, wear Islamic dress and learn to behave as a Muslim under the guise of studying history.
Some parents objected and their resulting lawsuit was turned back by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals where the opinion called it "cultural education."
The U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to intervene, but lawyers note that's not necessarily an endorsement of the court; it just means the justices will not review the dispute at this point.
White said he actually challenged the 9th Circuit to write its instructions in a detailed opinion, so schools would know exactly what's required. However, he said the court brushed him off with a three-paragraph ruling that essentially boils down to one district judge saying it's okay in one school district.
"Why is it okay to teach Islam? Unless there's an exception in the Establishment Clause, which says you cannot teach religion in schools unless it's Islam," he said. "I haven't seen it."
Grotting said the course has been taught for several years, and comes mandated by the state under a set of required standards – called Benchmark 3 – that students must reach each year.
Grotting acknowledged to WND that textbooks do "take a slant" on some issues, because publishers "are wanting to sell a textbook that is meeting the needs of the state and federal mandates."
"I believe we're not here to promote or advocate either religion or politics," social studies teacher Jim Casad told the Ontario, Ore., Argus Observer. "However, we do have an obligation to inform students of what is going on in our world today and how history and culture have affected that world."
In the California case, school officials also blamed the "possible cant" of the textbook and said the Islamic studies were being taught because of state mandates.
"It is imperative that our instruction includes an understanding of and insight into all cultures and a tolerance for the diversity found in the world," said Peggy Green, the Byron Union School District superintendent, at that time.
A review online of information from the text shows that it teaches Christianity spread because "it gave meaning to peoples' lives, appealed to their emotions and promised happiness after death."
Its description also focuses on Christians' conflicts with Rome (when they were fed to lions), and splits between Christians following Roman teachings and those following the teachings of Constantine.
However, the article praises how the Muslims founded the system for banking, created important centers for learning, government and the arts, how they ran "government, society and business" and made valuable contributions in math, science and the arts.
The text also credits Muslims with inventing algebra and chemistry as well as creating beautiful buildings, citing the Taj Mahal, although the text does not mention that that is a tomb.
There's also no mention of the Quranic instruction that Muslims must behead infidels, or nonbelievers.
One blogger said Christians should think strategically on such issues.
"Cases like this present Christians with a golden opportunity to introduce elements of religious teaching back into the state curriculum by using the left's double standard towards Islam against it," said one commentator. "Now that this case is on the books in the Ninth Circuit as precedent, expect Christian immersion classes to follow."
Because the goal of the ACLU is to destroy this country, and Islam is a perfect vehicle for them to use to do it.
Simply stolen from previous cultures.
My beef with this is not that religion is being taught in schools, but that this evil deathcult is being portrayed as peaceful and even quaint.
Future class project.
Mom should get foxy and teach her kid as much of the chop-off-their-head verses as possible. Have the kid recite enough of this to send the whole school into a swivet.
That's not even close to what the Establishment Clause says.
Instead of making this stupid arguement, how's about voting out the entire school board by organizing a recall election, or better yet, send your kids to a private school or home school them.
Owl_Eagle
If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
The five pillars of islam
1) To kill
2) To kill
3) To kill
4) To kill
5) To die and recieve 72 virgins
Like a scimitar, or maybe even a more modern IED?
1. Lie
2. Cheat
3. Deceive
4. Abuse women & children
5. Murder
I agree that is the goal. Then what? The country would be useless to them afterward. They would have to wrest control from the Islamists. They won't be able to use the techneques they use with us and they don't have spine for battle.
This is disgusting, we allow the enemy to walk into our lands and into our schools and brainwash our kids with Islamic lies and revisionist history. I bet nobody raises an eyebrow over all the other islamic revisionist text these jihadists bring into our schools.
God help this country.
Now this is a real legal pickle.
Does this mean in this particular instance it is OK to bring explosives for the suicide belt?
Islam isn't a culture, it's a bloody cult disguised as a religion. What's wrong with these retarded judges? It's not the "culture" of Iranians to dress up in burkas, it's a forced requirement.
If there is a "culture" to be studied in middle eastern countries, it should be of what existed in the period before Islamic invasion, and what remains in practice hidden away underneath Islamic oppression.
Your 1'st sentence answers your 2'nd!
Then 95% will still be brainwashed with Islam because most people will not homeschool or send their children to private school. Better to eradicate the practise.
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