Islamic Presenation causes Contreversy in Houston Area Junior High

Of course it's biased. Whether or not it's the fastest growing in the world is in dispute...but there are many who aren't Muslim who make that claim, as wel. I think it's wrong....but my kid isn't shattered if he's exposed to that.

And by the way...if whether or not it's the fastest growing faith in the world or not is your concern, where are the establishment clause issues with that?? Where's the constitutional concern?

No one is without bias. We attempt to be objective. You said earlier, there was no proof of the resurrection. I'd completely disagree. Proof doesn't have to be dispositive...but the Gospels can be offered up as proof...as can the early writings which are in our possesson...as can the circumstances surrounding the growth of the early church. You can interpret those writings and those events in any way you wish, but good luck not having your bias come into play in your interpretation of that evidence.

 

Do you honestly feel you could teach your children about the 5 major religions? Wouldn't you rather have a Rabbi explain the Jewish faith?

I have been a Catholic my entire life and there are plenty of other folks I'd rather have teach my children about Catholicism than me. I am not near as qualified to get into all the questions/answers than others.

 

So parents should teach something they probably don't know much about. Why don't the parents teach them history as well?

 

Then why not have parents review any course that can be presented in a biased manner? History, for example, can very easily be skewed by a teacher. If it's that big a deal, your kids should be home schooled.

This seems to be a pretty straightforward presentation, without intent to try and sway kid's minds. To raise this much racket about it is a little much.

 

Missed this one...

My guess is that each school does not have folks who are well versed in each of the major religions. If an acceptable alternative can be found to come in and give a factual presentation so be it.

Also, big deal if it infringes on a PE class in May. We had numerous presentations throughout my schooling that infringed on classes. If my child HAD to miss a class to attend a presentation, I would generally opt for them to miss PE.

 

Dada shows his irrational, reactionary side at last.

Get your head out of the sand man, there are almost one and a half billion muslims in the world, and eventually your kids may have to deal with them. It's better for your kids to learn the facts about Islam than ge given your "omg they're evil and believe in a bunch of BS spouted by an insane power-hungry man" lecture. It's like racism except sneakier and harder to call out.

I have no problem with the informational seminar as long as it was given in the context of raising awareness or informing kids how they shouldn't be scribbling "muslims are god-hating terrorists" on the bathroom walls. If it was being used to push an agenda, then it shouldn't have been allowed, but I see no evidence of that in this case.

 

OK....so after spouting off...I read the article.

Man I hate am radio personalities and the controversies they manufacture.

It wasn't a PE class....it was an assembly. It was in response to some incidents at the school. IMO more topical then religeous. Grades 7+8. Half an hour.

I say good on the principal. Engage the students. I doubt the presenters had much time for advocacy, or *recruitment* here. This wasn't part of a larger religeous focus. And principal loses her job for this???

I do agree that she could have informed the parents before hand. Not for approval, mind you....but to (hopefully) quash the uncertainty fuelled by the outsiders.

 

I agree, in hindsight (which is a problem in and of itself since parents weren't properly notified in advance) it seems like the presentation was strictly informational in nature. At the same time, I understand the sentiment that the school shouldn't have required students to attend this without prior parental approval.

 

DaDa, with all due respect, I don't really think you have a good grasp on how much of the stuff your kids learn in school is 'factual'. You really think history is taught in a "factual" way anywhere in the world? How about philosophy or psychology? Is Sigmund Freud "factual"? Or any other number of subjects (yes, including the hard sciences) are purely "factual"?

I think the term you're looking for here is "secular"; you don't have a problem with what your school teaches your kids as long as it's "secular" in nature (although I would argue that that is, in itself, a value system...but that's been beaten to death).

Either way, most subjects your kids learn at school are "theoretical", not "factual". And assuming that you're completely capable of being "objective" while severely lacking in knowledge of a particular topic is the height of comedy. You're right: as long as one is ignorant of the topic, he/she can be completely "objective".

 

But even then, aren't you still giving preferential treatment to those "4 major religions" because they're "major"? What about Scientology or even Satanists?

This is precisely why I'm in favor of leaving "religion" (as much as is humanely possible, because it's impossible to do so entirely) out of public school.

 

At some point you have to make decisions as to what to include/exclude. Some schools only teach Spanish and French for foreign language. Why stop there? Why not include Polish, German, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, etc? The obvious answer would be budget/space/time constraints. Why should some things be excluded simply because everything can't be included?

If I were superintendent, here is what I would do.

- Include a notice that various seminars will be held throughout the year to further a student's education.

- (with respect to using this incident as an example) I would state that the school would be bringing in 'experts' in the fields of the 5 major religions. The sole purpose of these presentation would be to educate the students on the particular history and belief system of the particular religion and that these presentations would last X minutes.

- A week or two prior to the presentation, I would inform the parents as to what the presentation would be, provide the slides that will be presented and if they had a true objection to notify the school in writing and the student could attend a study hall.

 

Except it doesn't look like this was a religious education thing. It seems to have been in response to incidents at the school.

So...had the incidents been racial -- perhaps they would have brought in the NAACP. Had they been anti-semetic, maybe the Jewish League could have spoken. Here....it seems...the principal saw an opportunity to inform about the Muslim religion. Not so much to broaden their overall perception of religious thinking...but rather to put in context some of the stuff they're seeing on TV and their reaction to it.

Her error was underestimating how 'sensitive' it could be and not informing the parents beforehand.

 

With respect to the complaining parents, I wonder how many were knee-jerk reactions to the subject matter rather than taking the time to see what was actually presented.

 

I suspect much of it was. The article says the issue was stoked by local talk radio....so you know that if that's the first place the parents heard of the assembly they wouldn't exactly be approaching it in a totally reasoned and unbiased frame of mind.

 

Well, I tend to make a distinction between being a Muslim in the U.S. and being a Muslim overseas. Being a Muslim in the U.S. is akin to being an ethnic minority due to the very small number of the community here in relative terms to the overall population, although being a Muslim -- in general terms -- is not really ethnic in nature. In that sense, CAIR is really a civil rights organization akin to the NAACP and LULAC, and the overwhelming nature of their work is civil rights oriented. So while they represent members of a particular 'religion', they're really representing an ethnic minority no different than similar Jewish organizations. So the point here is not 'preaching' or 'prosthelyzing' about Islam, but trying to counter the negative stereotype associated with ethnic Muslims in the U.S., to counter Islamophobia and other forms of hate speech/crimes.

 

DADA,
Open your mind. You seem to be very close minded and Irrational. Whats wrong with information? I couldn’t help but be reminded of when Bush claimed he never read the newspaper when I read through your posts. I know it has nothing to do with your points, but you strike me as having a “head in the sand” mentality

 

Wouldn't it be better for the FRICKEN PARENTS to make that call, and NOT the school?

Should we now allow satanists to express their views? I mean that is only fair, right?

What about Mormons, or Hindus, or perhaps the Jewish faith should have their time, or maybe the Methodists because they are different than the catholics, or other protestents.

It is all one big old mess, that should NOT be done at school......Religion is something that should be left to the parents........if it is done in a historical setting or as a sociological manner fine, but NOT as a presentation by a religious group.

That has NO BUSINESS IN OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM......NONE...NADA...ZILCH....

The principal deserved punishiment....you don't do these things without consulting the parents....this is not part of the mandated curriculum of the school......

DD

 

This is why religion should be out of schools....because where do you draw the line?

IMO, they should stick to facts and teach reading, writing, arithmatic, science, history and other relevent materials.

Only teach religion in context of how it fits into a core curriculum.

Otherwise, to me it is preaching, and recruiting.....unacceptable in the school system.

DD

 

this was not some random teaching of religion, The school was reacting to inappropriate graffiti and the were attempting to inform students in order to dispel myths

 

Nothing is wrong with information, but what IS wrong is that the information presented is completely one sided and biased, and it is being presented to the CHILDREN without parental consent or oversite.

There is a board of education for a reason...USE IT !

It would be the same as someone presenting p*rnography to the kids......because to me, religion is a major root cause of a good many of man's problems.

And again....the other religions are now going to want their time to present THEIR case.

Everyone here knows how I feel about religion, I think it is all a bunch of huey...made up malarky.....nothing more than stories in a book made up by ignorant people that had a very rudimentary idea about science.

So for me, this is like validating the Greeks God system.......

If you want to teach religion like the Greek Gods are taught...in a historical or sociological context fine.

Otherwise....it is a waste of my tax dollars.....and has no business in the school system.

And I for one am GLAD...that proper action was taken......and the principal punished so this kind of stuff is not done again.

If you want to teach your kids about Muhammed, or Jesus, or Buddha, or Santa then feel free....but keep it out of the school system outside of history.

DD