Home > Newsletter > February 2002

RELIGION IN SCHOOL? ISLAM IS OK IN CA

Christians nationwide were shocked to learn that many Middle Schools in California require children to dress in Muslim robes, call themselves Muslims and learn to become warriors to fight for Islam.

The ACLU is not filing any lawsuits over this practice. The ACLU does not see any conflict here with "separation of church and state." Now let us suppose that the schools had required the kids to dress up a Pilgrims and to call themselves "Christians". Of course the ACLU would file a lawsuit to stop such a "violation" of "separation of church and state" in an instant. What is the difference? Diversity of course. If the religion in question is not the Christian faith, then it is just fine to cram it down the throats of school age kids regardless of how repulsive it is to them or to their parents.

Brad Dacus, the chief counsel of the Pacific Justice Institute said, "A lot if it is a desire to overly compensate in the name of political correctness."

The course on Islam is one of 11 units in a social studies class called World History and Geography: Medieval and Early Modern Times, that is taught all over the state of California. This is not isolated to one or two schools, but rather is required in the state's curriculum standards. Teachers can present the course in moderation or go to extremes. In the case of the Excelsior School in Oakland, 125 seventh-graders were required to wear robes and refer to themselves as Muslims. The kids were forced to read verses from the Koran. The course handout said, "From the beginning, you and your classmates will become Muslims."

The superintendant of the school district involved, Mrs. Peggy Green, stated, "We are not teaching religion. We are teaching the California state-mandated standards with state-adopted textbooks..." Does this mean the Koran is a "state-adopted" textbook?