Islamic Presenation causes Contreversy in Houston Area Junior High

I'm with you DaDa!

 

Send a letter to the parents, or have a voluntary after school assembly, but for crying out loud....TELL THE PARENTS first so they can sit down with their kids....and talk to them, or hold them out of the assembly if they feel like it.

The PARENTS are raising these kids.....NOT the school system.

DD

 

I have made my position very clear. I would support having the 5 major world religions give presentations on the factual aspects of their religions.

School is for the purpose of education. Religion is the driving force behind many things in this world. Children should learn about the various religions from qualified folks (and as I stated, I doubt many parents are qualified to teach all 5 major world religions to their children).

What would you do if your child(ren) asked questions about the Jewish faith?? the Muslim Faith? the Hindu Faith? Do you honestly feel you have the expertise to answer their questions? Is it so horrible to have presentations on these religions in a public school? Is it so bad to have children understand how other relgions think and act and why they behave that way? Is it so horrible for children to understand that the vast majority of Muslims are a peace loving people who have a different belief system than most Americans?

Again, as I stated, I would draw the line with the 5 major world religions. We always have to set limits. As I stated, why draw the line at Spanish and French? Why draw the line at Chemistry and Physical Science? Why not Botany?

What steps are you taking to educate your children on the various religions of the world? Regardless of one's religious leanings, don't you feel it is important for them to learn about them so that they can better understand those around them?

 

Tiger we may be on opposite sides of a lot of issues but here we are 100% aligned....that pretty much explains my point very well.

DD

 

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Well sir, your position is simply wrong and not well thought out.

In this country you can not single out and give time to just the major religions...our entire contsitution is based on protecting the rights of EVERYONE.....and every minority.

You are opening up a can of worms in which you clearly have not given sound thought to......

If you want to teach about religion and its effect on history, or people, fine, study it analytically, and tell the kids if they want to know more, talk to your parents or someone from that faith.

However, do NOT force feed kids religion, it has no place in the school system...

Well, unless you want to teach it as mythos....then I am perfectly fine with it.



DD

 

We could throw the verifiability of various. . uhm .. theories out there too

Rocket River

 

I hear ya Tiger, the point is that regarding religion there are no supportable facts.

Yes, history is skewed and generally written by the victors, that is why you don't hear a lot about the Gnostic Christian sects anymore....or the Cathars in France....

My view is that the parents should have been informed, I understand the grafitti issue but there was NO WAY they should have invited a religious group in to talk about it.

I will be honest, I have read the PP, and I don't find all that much offensive just a few items.....

Not sure why a school administrator could not have read it, edited it and presented it to the class....AFTER informing parents......and giving them a chance to discuss it....

DD

 

In this particular case, there is no "equal time" issue. This was a seminar in response to racially insensitive graffiti in that particular school, targeting Muslims -- not Jews, Blacks, Christians, Buddhists or some other group. You're acting like it was out of the blue, which it wasn't.

The information we have at hand right now shows that no "preaching" was done, so what "case" would other religions want to argue? If the informational session presented certain facts about Islam that were 'non-controversial' in nature, then it's not a problem. It's not really a 'debate' about Islamic theology, it's just presentation of facts (e.g. Islam was founded by Muhammad in 'x' year; there are approximately 'x' number of Muslims in the world; Muslims pray to Mecca five times a day; Allah is an Arabic word meaning "God" and Muslims believe in Jesus and Moses and Muhammad as prophets of God; et al).

 

How many of those theories have been responsible for so many wars where people kill each other because their version of religion is more right than the others?

Mankind and their various interpetations of religions has caused more death and destruction than any other thought or issue in our brief history on this planet.

Religion, to me - is like 40 year old men hoping that there is still a Santa......

DD

 

That is not all it says....there is also propaganda in there as well.

Things like it is the fastest growing religion in the world......

Come on Tiger, there was an agenda......otherwise they would not have threatened the school with an FBI probe into hate crimes.

DD

 

I'm trying to imagine the assembly in DaDa's school:

First we have the Muslim scholar stating some things about the religion to counter the graffitti, and incidents at the school. What is the religion based on. How many people practice it. Where they live. Whether any Muslims contributed to NBA championships. That sort of thing.

THe moderator would interupt, to point out that religion is a hoax created by man. False idols and all that. Just to keep all that voodoo mumbo jumbo out of the discussion and stay centered on the 'facts.'

For balance, and to present the 'other' side, someone else (perhaps the radio host) could counter that Islam is, in fact all about terrorists and bombs and hating America.

Those 7 and 8th graders would leave, better informed, and more understanding of eachother.

Perhaps, in the afternoon, they would sit in their English Lit class. The teacher would have to explain that she'd been up all night trying to develop a lesson plan that covered ALL the literature ever written. Afterall...she really couldn't choose just the most prominent or influential peices, as that might exlude lesser known works. So, in conclusion, she couldn't teach anything at all.

Boy oh boy. Lucky the kiddies can tune into John Stewart or Fox to get their education .

 

So are you against a public school explaining why Christmas is celebrated? Easter?

 

I am going to have to stop before I get too ofensive and beligerent about what I think about religion.

I think you guys have heard it all before anyway.

I have made my point about the parents having a say, and have nothing more to say.

I will answer back to direct questions, but don't want to get too much deeper into my non-belief about religion in general and how I think it has hurt man more than helped.

DD

 

Not at all, but a teacher can handle that fine, you don't need a rabbi, priest, or mullah to explain it, do ya?

DD

 

Why not? Inviting a CAIR representative is no different than inviting an ADL, JDL, NAACP or LULAC representative to schools where anti-Jewish/anti-Hispanic/anti-Black graffiti or other 'hate crime' incidents took place. It happens ALL THE TIME in ALL cities and states around this country; rarely does a day pass by that such 'seminars' are not held. CAIR is a civil rights organization for an ethnic minority, their agenda is primarily concerned with Muslim civil and political rights; their activities are very similar to what the NAACP or LULAC do on behalf of their ethnic communities on daily basis.

Since when do school administrators edit and present material to their schools instead of having someone who is from the particular ethnic group concerned in the matter come in and interact with the students/faculty? Are you saying they should ban all future speeches/seminars given by Black or Hispanic or Jewish community leaders and instead present the material themselves?

 

So if the exact same presentation was made by a teacher at that school who is knowledgeable in the Muslim faith and had no agenda (and for argument's sake, removed the 'fastest growing religion in the world' slide), that would be O.K. with you?

Also, what about the following scenario:

8th grader Johnny comes to school a bit late on Ash Wednesday with a dark splotch on his forehead. A number of kids taunt and ridicule him. Taking the bull by the horns, the principal calls an assembly for the last period of the day (some kids miss PE, some miss science, some miss math, etc) and takes 30 minutes to explain Ash Wednesday to the kids.

 

That is the principal doing it, not reacting to a threat of a hate crime by a religious group threatening to go to the FBI etc.

That is a bit different than what happened in this case, and I doubt the principal would have been fired if he/she had done what you suggested....

Also, the PP presentation could be cut considerably if you are just going to present a "What Muslim's believe" scenario.

DD

 

Could you be any more insulting?

If someone dealt out to your beloved Presidential candidate the type of snide remarks you deliver, you'd be all over them.

 

So what exactly is your objection? With the exeception of the one slide regarding 'fastest growing religion in the world' which may or may not be true, all of the other slides seemd to present some of the Muslim belief system.

It appears that you are really objecting to the fact that an outside group gave the presentation and that you would give your blessing if a teacher or school administrator had given almost the exact same presentation.

 

Just,

I hardly think that is insulting in any way, I am saying how I view religion, it is MY VIEW alone.

I view religion as something pretty awful for mankind, something that people have fought about and killed each other for centuries. It is not about tolerance but rather intolerance.

And religions have come and gone....each new one saying they are more right than the last one.

I just get tired of it all.

DD