Re: Current Issues in Religious Tolerance

[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Robert Arvay) wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35809
> 
>  
> BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS
> Students' Ramadan-fast assignment protested
> Immigrants who fled persecution rally to tell 'truth about Islam'
> 
>  
> Posted: November 25, 2003
> 1:00 a.m. Eastern
> By Art Moore
> © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com 
> 
> 
> Ultimately, the protesters maintained, the teaching of Islam in a
> public school is furthering the aim of making America a Muslim nation.
> 

They were joking when they said this, right?

> About 450 of the protestors were Coptic Christian immigrants from
> Muslim-majority Egypt, whose families had suffered discrimination and
> persecution because of their faith, said Steve Klein, who helped
> organize the event.
> 
> "Many of them were in tears, thrilled that they could come out and
> assert their First Amendment free-speech rights, which are found in no
> Islamic nation," Klein told WorldNetDaily. "They had survived 14
> centuries in Egypt by not getting involved in politics."
> 

There were some very old men there then...

> [Bob inserts comment:  probably only the very oldest of the Coptics
> had actually lived through the entire 14 centuries.  Many of the
> protestors were clearly only 8 or 9 centuries old.]
> 
> The public school is in the Charter Oak School District in a mostly
> middle- class area at the east end of the San Gabriel Valley.
> 
> Superintendent John Roach insisted the teacher meant only to promote
> empathy with Muslims, not with Islam.
> 

I can't see the distinction here.

> He conceded the instructor told parents in his letter the assignment
> was about empathizing with the Islamic religion.
> 
> "If I had the opportunity to correct the letter before it was sent
> out, I would have changed that paragraph," he told WND.
> 
> [In other words, oops.]
>

Why shuld anyone think there is anything wrong with empathising
with Islam?  Isn't the best way to understand another person
to walk a mile in his shoes?  Taking part in the fast
and doing the five prayers for a couple of days might be
a very valuable experience for these kids.
 
> Roach said he most certainly would have put a stop to the assignment
> if it had been about promoting Islam and can understand why some
> people would make an issue of it.
> 

Ah, now we have a new move "empathising with Islam" is now
the same thing as "promoting it".

We have a similar phrase associated with SEction 28 in
this country - talking to children about homosexuality
was seen by a previous government as synonymous
with "promoting it as a lifestyle" - scandalously,
our current government has yet to strike this law 
from the statute books.

> The letter to parents said students "may choose to fast for one, two
> or three days. During this time, students may only drink water during
> daylight hours. Once fasting is completed, students are to type a ½
> page summary of their experience. They should describe how it felt to
> go without food during the day and connect it to the theme of
> sacrifice. Fasting is inconvenient and sometimes uncomfortable, many
> religions to consider it an important sacrifice."
> 
> The teacher said he wished "to emphasize that this is an EXTRA CREDIT
> assignment and is by no means mandatory. For those unable to fast,
> they may choose to type a 2 page paper in which they compare different
> religions that encourage sacrifice during the year."
> 

Sounds interesting to me.

> Roach went over to the school, which has about 1,600 students, to
> observe the protest yesterday and estimated the number of protesters
> to be about 150.
> "If in fact we had been inculcating one religion over another, I'm
> thrilled that there were 150 people who recognize that that's what
> schools should not be doing," said Roach.
> 
> But the official said he was "saddened" that organizers would mobilize
> all those people to "believe what we're doing is training the next
> generation of al-Qaida."
> 
> Roach noted, however, the protest was peaceful and orderly. 
> 
> The Coptic Christians passed out literature and talked to many parents
> about their personal experience of persecution under Islam, Klein
> said, warning passersby that Islam is here to take over America.
> 
> "Many parents were very curious," Klein said. "They were stunned by
> what their kids were being taught."
> 
> One parent objected to the protest, he said, but "changed his tune"
> after the immigrants told their stories.
> 
> Many of the Coptic Christians who showed up are articulate
> professionals, such as dentists and physicians, said Klein, a former
> Marine officer who served in Vietnam.
> 
> [BTW, did you know that John Kerry ALSO served in VietNam?  Well, he
> did.  I heard him say so.  Like every time he opens his mouth.]
> 
> After seeing how the First Amendment works, he noted, they said they
> need to get together and organize to tell their message further.
> 
> "These people who have suffered have so much to offer [Americans] who
> are sleeping, refusing to recognize the true nature of Islam," said
> Klein, who said he has organized hundreds of protests, including many
> that have confronted Islam, through a group he established called
> Courageous Christians United.
> Roach said he's been contacted by some of the Coptic Christians. 
> 
> "Several people have called me on the phone and spoken to me, wanting
> to make sure I'm teaching the Islamic religion is a murderous,
> terrorist religion," he said.
> 

"But just ask the medieval Jew how murderous and terrorist
Christianity is.  Let them eat pork!, a pope was heard to
say"

> But the superintendent argued, if he were to teach that, he would be
> "just as guilty as I would be if I went the other way."
> 
> "I can't impede a religion any more than I can promote it," he said. 
> [Unless it's that darned Christianity.]
> 
> The teacher's letter to parents opened, "As part of the world history
> curriculum, your student has recently been studying the rise of Islam
> and the teachings of Mohammed. Fundamental to the Muslim religion are
> the Five Pillars of Islam. They emphasize the 'word of God,' prayer,
> charity for the poor, fasting and the pilgrimage to Mecca. During the
> month of Ramadan, Muslims refrain from food or drink during daylight
> hours."
> 
> Roach insisted the seventh-grade class presents a balanced view of
> Islam, covering mostly the social implications of the religion's rise,
> as part of a world history curriculum that begins with the Roman
> Empire.
> 
> As WorldNetDaily reported in January 2002, public school students at
> Excelsior Elementary School in Byron, Calif., apparently were taken on
> a deeper journey into Islam in which they pretended to be Muslims,
> wore robes, simulated jihads via a dice game, learned the Five Pillars
> of Faith and memorized verses from the Quran in classroom exercises as
> part of a World History and Geography class for seventh-graders. The
> class was included in the state's curriculum standards required by the
> state board of education. These standards outline what subjects should
> be taught and are included in state assessment tests, but don't
> mandate how they're to be taught.
> 
> The Islam simulations at Excelsior are outlined in the state-adopted
> textbook "Across the Centuries," published by Houghton Mifflin, which
> prompts students to imagine they are Islamic soldiers and Muslims on a
> Mecca pilgrimage.

I'm pleased to learn that many American schools are doing their
best to counter media mis-information about Islam.