All schools shut down in Augusta County, Virginia, over Islam homework

How does one teach our young school children about the Nazi, Pol Pot, Khymer Rouge holocausts, without bringing politics and religion into the equation? How do you cover the Nazi and shogun cultures of Germany and Japan, and their fanatic suicidal struggle to the death during World War II, without the details?

Judaism is not only a religion, but a culture. The Romans set the Jews on the path of destruction by expelling all of them from ancient Judea in 70 A.D., to settle in ghettos all across the Slavic Central European countries of Germany; Poland; Austria; Czechoslovakia, Hungary; Bulgaria; Albania; and Russia. Isabella and Ferdinand further set the Jewish citizens of Spain into the cauldron by forcing everyone to convert to Christianity or abandon Spain - so hundreds of thousands of Jews also emigrated into Central Europe, swelling the Jewish ghetto population's, and eventually, they all became targets of the most odious, inhuman holocaust against them, by Nazi Germany. Christianity has an ugly "Inquisition" which did irreparable harm to humanity during its run, followed by a similar one by the Protestant Reformation.

Islam, which erupted from Saudi Arabia in the 7th Century spread wildly across the Middle East, Persia, and Northern Africa, and even struck at the heart of Christianity, Italy and Spain, before being stopped at the Battle of Venice and the Battle of Tours by Charles Martel. The Catholic Crusades to free the Holy Land from the Islamic infidels, mostly unsuccessful, also were a part of a total and complete religious war between Christianity and Islam.

Muslims emigrated out of India in hundreds of thousands when India, a Hindu country religiously, despite Buddhism being founded there, to avoid being ruled by Hindu's, and settled in Pakistan, and the two countries have been enemies since. Modern Israel is engaged in an ongoing terrorism fight with Palestinian Islamic terrorists, who even have struck at the heart of Western Judeo-Christian democracies like France; England; modern, unified Germany, Spain and America, with frightening results

Religion has caused more wars and cruelty than any other particular recurring theme of history in the world. It is an absolute necessity that our school children study and learn the precepts, beliefs and particulars of all religions of the world, in order to understand how we arrived at this point in history (the very reason we study history), and to avoid the mistakes of the past. Failure to educate our children in religions finest and most furious - deadly aspects upon human society is failing our future, and could easily result in another Nazi-type Holocaust against just about any group or country.

You can't strike teaching religion from American public schools - but you also, as is the case with this incident, preach a particular religion, whether by accident, or stupid design...........it is like trying to teach baseball without teaching the student about balls and strikes..........

 

Progressives are the ones who kicked God out of public schools and now they whining about it. Typical.

According to the first line in the link the OP provided

")—After a teacher at a Virginia school handed out a standard homework assignment on Islam".

So this wasn't a history lesson about Muslims, this was teaching the religion of Islam.

 

If a third of the world practiced satanism, then sure

 

One of the largest "religious practices" not recognized by legitimate, intelligent, authority across the world, happens to be voodoo practiced in America's Southern states like Georgia, the Carolina's, Alabama, Mississippi and most particularly Louisiana. It also is heavily practiced in the West Indies - Haiti comes to mind quickly when mentioning it. However, with about as many followers as the Catholic Church has as a Christian religion, voodoo isn't recognized or taught, or even mentioned in our public schools World Geography course. One could just as easily recognize the Salem Witch trials in 1692, as an offshoot of voodoo, with its spells, curses and "wrath of God" ideas, just as easily as it recognizes that social disruption as a result of Puritan Christian Protestant intolerance. Although they fled England and Holland because of religious persecution - the Puritans who brought their "religion" to America's Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1600's, were probably one of the most intolerable immigrant groups ever to arrive on our shores. Comprehensive geography and history lessons should include it in their teaching's. We recognize "Wrath Of God" as a legitimate historical recurring theme in human history - our young students in the 10th grade usually read Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" just to understand how mass hysteria can bring about social chaos, and surprisingly, that play also is one of the very first to recognize the feminist movement - as the girls, who were at the bottom of the social strata of the 1600's, suddenly became empowered by being able to accuse anyone of witchcraft, and have them arrested, and very possibly hanged, as occurred to twenty one people. Salem Town was destroyed with half of its population in jail because of that hysteria and false accusations. It is an important lesson for students, as "The Wrath Of God" is exactly what Islamic fundamentalist terrorism against Christians and Jews is all about...............

 

Oh so only major religions should be allowed is the argument now?

 

What's wrong with learning about a religion whether you're an atheist or a Bible-thumper? If it isn't being proselytized why would anyone have a problem with getting an education?

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There is no 'god', by the way. Anyone with the capacity for rational thought understands this. This was not 'teaching' anything except how to copy Arabic script. Of course to the terrified bigot this is the slippery slope-whatever next, demonstrations of beheading techniques in the kindergarten?

 

")—After a teacher at a Virginia school handed out a standard homework assignment on Islam".

It wasn't a calligraphy class. If you have a problem with the public school system, take it up with your progressive pals. They're the ones insisting on the separation of church and state.

 

You really don't have a clue what you're talking about. "...a standard homework assignment on [about] Islam". Please point out where it says or even hints at, 'this is what you must believe'. Thanks.

 

The phrase they were supposed to write was self promoting of Islam. 'this is what you must believe' is not the yardstick by which such religious phrases are allowed or disallowed. What part of "separation of church and state" are you not understanding?

 

Hmm, I wonder how many of those kids understand classical Arabic...what do you think?

 

All of those in that class. They were told what is was.

"Here is the shahada, the Islamic statement of faith, written in Arabic. In the space below, try copying it by hand. This should give you an idea of the artistic complexity of calligraphy."

If it had been written in Chinese or Russian it still would have been disallowed.

 

You mean since it was conveniently translated into English for them?

 

If you were learning about the middle east in class and they were all satanists, then I would say its impossible to get a true grasp of their culture without learning about their religion

 

Not true. We're taught about American Indian tribes, African tribes, Russians, Chinese, and different cultures all over the globe without knowing a thing about their religions. Also, there are Christians in the M.E. as well. All you need to know is that the majority are Muslims, without writing down any articles of Islamic faith.

 

So if you are studying AIDS...

 

Negative! With the American Indians and African tribes, we are exposed to the natural religion known as Animism, one of the only established religions that doesn't have a deity involved. They took from nature only what they needed to survive, believed in the sun, moon, thunder, lightning, as religious dogma without a written language - Niagara means Falling Waters (which Niagara Falls certainly is), in the Seneca language. They eat the tongue of the Buffalo or the heart of the Lion, to obtain its spirit.

As for Russia - until the USSR was established, and any study of Russia will include the 1917 revolution, The Czar was the highest ranking strata of society, a corrupt one BTW, with huge Catholic and mystic religious overtones. One can't understand how Russia became the USSR, without understanding the role of the Czar and Czarina, and the influence Razputin had on the Royal Family.

With China, we are exposed to the Oriental mindset politically, and their major unit, which is the family, not the government (something America didn't understand in Vietnam), and the fact China is the largest country that practices Buddhism, the other major religious faith without a deity.

The spread of Buddhism throughout Asia was as fast, and powerful, as the spread of Islam was through Persia, Northern Africa and parts of Europe, particularly Spain with its Moorish influence. Although founded in India by the Buddha, it never caught on as the Indian religion, which is Hindu, and held to the caste system. Buddhism, which preaches that people can move to enlightenment, from the Untouchable class all the way to the highest rung of intellectual knowledge, known as Nirvana, couldn't work in India, because the Hindu religion believes passionately that once born into a caste, no movement up or down from that caste is permitted, even after death. The rest of Asia accepted Buddhism as its religion readily.

Muslim's or Islam, the other major religion in India, had a mass migration from that country when Hindu India became independent in 1949, huge movement of refugees to Pakistan, and the two countries are not on friendly terms politically, because of religious differences. You can't study the history or culture of either country without it being based solely upon religion. Pakistan, ostensibly an American ally, is an enigma politically, with Islamic terrorism like Al Quida, and warlords throughout, threatening the government in Kabal, which is never too stable, and America has to, and has, dealt with it since 9/11 regularly. It is in most terrorism discussions in the news along with Afghanistan. How is its religion - Islam - not pertinent? On the other hand, one of the world's most polluted countries, but a mega, thriving world economy and threat to our own, India's, also can't be studied without looking at their religious beliefs. That is history - that is geography - that is vital to historical studies in our school's.

The Middle East, which is mostly Muslim, with some Christian's, and a major Jewish population in Israel, which is constantly at war with Islamic terrorism from Arab neighbors or terrorist groups sponsored by Syria; Libya; Iran; Iraq and Saudi Arabia, can't be studied without the influence of those three major religions, and understanding the ancient Jewish religion and culture - which melds into the Christian one. You can't study that region without its most important component - religion.

America itself can't be studied without covering religion, we are basically a European Judeo-Christian nation, founded on those principals, and our transplanted, through slavery, Black community is mostly Christian, with Islamic influences also. Our immigrant, or refugee problem which is an important political consideration today - is Hispanic - also Christian-based, mostly Roman Catholic, as were the huge Irish and Italian migrations to America from 1850-1900 which settled the west. The Germans and Dutch were mostly Protestant based Christian religions.

You just can't study geography and history, without including the culture, religion, and influences all had on the populations of various countries - in fact - any country. One doesn't preach the religion as a preference, one can teach the religion in conjunction with its historical effect on the country. Heck, until August 1945, the Japanese, one of the world's great Democracies today, still believed their Emperor was as powerful as the Egyptians believed their pharohs were.

We don't hand out a homework assignment to copy down the Christian Lord's Prayer; Jesus' Sermon on the Mount or his Golden Rule to love one another, and confess our sins; we don't teach Jewish dogma in the schools as a homework assignment, or have students copy out the Ten Commandments, and we certainly, in view of the terrorist activities associated with Islamic fundamentalism in today's modern society, don't have students copy out the Islamic prayer of faith and baptism.

That religion has killed Marines in Lebanon and Iraq; brought down a major American jetliner, loaded with Syracuse University college kids returning home from Europe over Lockerbie, Scotland; killed and maimed thousands of American soldiers with roadside bombs; bombed the Boston Marathon; murdered 15 innocent's in California, and brought down the Twin Towers and destroyed a part of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Parents protesting such an assignment - of course. One has to be either an Islamic follower, progressive liberal of the worst sort, or an outright obtuse idiot set of teacher's to have given such an assignment to 9th grade students...........

 

Bullcrap. We need not study a religion to learn a culture. Culture is regional - religion isn't.

 

Without referencing the current OP, you actually believe that you can study the Middle East, without studying the effect Islam, Judaism and Christianity have had on the region - particularly Mecca and Jerusalem? Sorry to disagree with you, but that is ..........crap of the highest order..........

 

Who cares? They won't be studying Islam in a public school. But when they do allow it , let them start with Christianity, move on to Judaism and then Islam. You'll be the first one screaming about it. You wanted separation of church and state and you got it. Learn to live with it.

 

Who the hell cares? If it read Beelzebub is King of the Universe or Join the Fluffy Bunny Club conservative 'christians' would still have hysterics and start demanding stuff like they always do. I also suggest that those kids, far from being 'victims' of Islamic propaganda, are actually far more savvy than some of the outraged posters here, many of whom don't appear to have had anything resembling an education..

 

Actually some religions-especially both Christianity and Islam-are regional and have regional variations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_schools_and_branches

Always happy to educate.

 

Off topic. School board rightfully put an end to it. Nuff said.

 

You totally are missing the point. 9th Grade World Geography class in America, studies all the major religions of the world, in the order in which they were founded, based on the history of the region they came from. Judaism, the oldest, is studied first because it occurred first in Egypt than Judea, followed by Christianity, than Islam. Buddhism and Hinduism are studied when India, China, Japan, and most of the SE Asian countries are covered. The conflict between Pakistan and India is solely over religion, same as it is in Indonesia, Hindu vs Islam. I could go on for awhile here, citing facts you apparently ignored - but the basis for studying religion in public schools is because religion is the Number 1 recurring theme in human history. There are a bunch more, such as man's cruelty to man, and war, but it isn't necessary to include them here. The fact is, we teach all the religions in their historical order, equally, we DO NOT PREACH any of them to our students. The Islamic baptism prayer is encroaching on the preaching preference of a religion, was a terrible assignment, in view of the current terrorism espoused by that religion across the globe, and the terrorist attacks I previously mentioned. Either the teacher(s) are Islamic fundamentalists, or obtuse to hand such an assignment to impressionable children. That's what caused the uproar ............