[CTRL] California Students 'Will Become Muslims'

[Archibald Bard]

http://www.newsmax.com/archive/print.shtml?a=2002/1/16/143900   NewsMax.com   Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2002 California Students 'Will Become Muslims' The outrage is growing about the Islamic indoctrination course that government middle schools force pupils to take in California. Students at a middle school in San Luis Obispo had to pretend to be warriors fighting for Islam, the Washington Times reported today. One parent has filed a complaint against the district after noting the schools do not spend as much instruction time on other religions. "We could never teach Christianity like this," said one parent who did not want to be identified because her son is enrolled in one of the city's government schools. As we have previously noted, the uproar began in Byron, near Oakland. About 125 seventh-graders were required to wear Muslim robes, study Islamic proverbs, read the Koran, choose a Muslim name, write six Islamic phrases in Arabic, conduct a "holy war" in a dice game and organize a make-believe journey to Mecca. 'You and Your Classmates Will Become Muslims' "From the beginning, you and your classmates will become Muslims," the handout reads. "Dressing as a Muslim and trying to be involved will increase your learning and enjoyment." Byron government schools Superintendent Peggy Green claimed: "We are not teaching religion. We are teaching the California state-mandated standards with state-adopted textbooks. Dressing up in costume, role-playing and simulation games are all used to stimulate class discussion and are common teaching practices used in other subjects as well. Don't Worry Your Little Heads About It "There's nothing to be upset about," Green said. The course on Islam is one of 11 units of a "social studies" class called "World History and Geography: Medieval and Early Modern Times," which educats have decreed be imposed statewide. "I don't think seventh-graders should be reading the Koran," Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly told the Times. "What they should be learning is the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence. "They shouldn't be playing games with another religion. It's a way of entertaining the students, not teaching them. It's just an outrage." Ken Connor, president of Family Research Council in Washington, noted that if students were to dress up as Pilgrims and "give thanks to the Almighty" in class, self-described "civil rights" activists would be "apoplectic." What a shame that congressional Democrats stripped school choice from President Bush's multibillion-dollar education "reform" boondoggle, which robs parents of alternatives and perpetuates failed government school monopolies. Yet again we have to ask: ACLU, why the deafening silence? Oh, that's right, you don't care about the civil liberties of the silent majority. Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: School Choice While we were sleeping, the enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat. Matthew 13:25 Archibald Bard ICQ 83834746 TO KEEP THE PEACE, KEEP YOUR PIECE!

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