> 'Five pillars of Islam' taught in public school
> http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52335
>

> Another school has been "teaching" Islam by having students study and learn
> Muslim prayers and dress as Muslims, and a lawyer who argued a previous
> dispute over this issue to the U.S. Supreme Court said such methodologies
> wouldn't "last 10 seconds" if it were Christianity being taught.
>
> "Would it have been 'just cultural education' if students were in simulated
> baptisms, wearing a crucifix, having taken the name of St. John and with
> praise banners saying 'Praise be to Jesus Christ' on classroom walls?" asked
> Edward White III, of the Thomas More Law Center.
>
> His comments came after a new protest arose in Nyssa, Ore., where one parent
> raised objections when the Islamic teachings came to light. The district
> there, according to Supt. Don Grotting, is teaching a chapter in a history
> textbook "Journey Across Time" that talks about "how civilization has
> developed and some of the particular aspects of Islam."
>
> "We teach out of the book, and there are some supplemental class
> activities," he told WND. "The kids do some skits, they could bring a food
> from the region, you could build a prop that would have depicted (something)
> maybe during that time period.
>
> "If you wanted to you could dress up (as a Muslim) for extra credit," he
> said.
>
> He said students also learned about the climate of the Middle East, the food
> and everyday activities of Islam, and the geography and the lay of the land.
>
> Still another assignment was to learn the "five pillars" of Islam, study
> Ramadan and listen to guest speakers including an American Muslim who
> arrived dressed in her religious costume to talk to the kids about her
> Quran.
>
> "She relayed to the kids, if you're a Christian you have your Bible, this is
> our Quran," Grotting said.
>
> (Story continues below)
>
>
> Parent Kendalee Garner, however, objected to having her son being taught
> Islam and also to the time the public school system spends on the subject.
>
> She told WND that her 13-year-old son is being "indoctrinated that Islam is
> a religion of peace, and being dressed up as a Muslim, being taught prayers,
> and scriptures out of the Quran."
>
> "I just don't understand the ban on Christianity but Islam has free rein,"
> she said.
>
> She said the guest speakers and skits and reports were wrong, but what set
> her off was a class in which students in all three social studies classes
> dressed in traditional Islamic outfits.
>
> "The only reason I knew about it was because my son told me about it," she
> said. "They sent him to the library instead of stopping what they were
> doing. I'm sure people would be outraged if they dressed up as the pope."
>
> That was White's point exactly.
>
> If that's how teaching about religions is done, he said, "then teach all
> religions in the same way, Christianity, Judaism. Have the kids study Native
> American religions, do the dance, smoke the pipe. Have the kids dress up as
> priests and hear confession."
>
> He said when he suggests that, school managers and even judges get that
> "panic-stricken" look.
>
> He knows because he argued the same dispute up to the U.S. Supreme Court
> after complaints of similar teachings in the Byron Union School District in
> California.
>
> As WND has reported that case was almost a duplicate. Teachers were having
> students memorize Islamic prayers, wear Islamic dress and learn to behave as
> a Muslim under the guise of studying history.
>
> Some parents objected and their resulting lawsuit was turned back by the 9th
> U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals where the opinion called it "cultural
> education."
>
> The U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to intervene, but lawyers note
> that's not necessarily an endorsement of the court; it just means the
> justices will not review the dispute at this point.
>
> White said he actually challenged the 9th Circuit to write its instructions
> in a detailed opinion, so schools would know exactly what's required.
> However, he said the court brushed him off with a three-paragraph ruling
> that essentially boils down to one district judge saying it's okay in one
> school district.
>
> "Why is it okay to teach Islam? Unless there's an exception in the
> Establishment Clause, which says you cannot teach religion in schools unless
> it's Islam," he said. "I haven't seen it."
>
> Grotting said the course has been taught for several years, and comes
> mandated by the state under a set of required standards - called Benchmark
> 3 - that students must reach each year.
>
> Grotting acknowledged to WND that textbooks do "take a slant" on some
> issues, because publishers "are wanting to sell a textbook that is meeting
> the needs of the state and federal mandates."
>
> "I believe we're not here to promote or advocate either religion or
> politics," social studies teacher Jim Casad told the Ontario, Ore., Argus
> Observer. "However, we do have an obligation to inform students of what is
> going on in our world today and how history and culture have affected that
> world."
>
> In the California case, school officials also blamed the "possible cant" of
> the textbook and said the Islamic studies were being taught because of state
> mandates.
>
> "It is imperative that our instruction includes an understanding of and
> insight into all cultures and a tolerance for the diversity found in the
> world," said Peggy Green, the Byron Union School District superintendent, at
> that time.
>
> A review online of information from the text shows that it teaches
> Christianity spread because "it gave meaning to peoples' lives, appealed to
> their emotions and promised happiness after death."
>
> Its description also focuses on Christians' conflicts with Rome (when they
> were fed to lions), and splits between Christians following Roman teachings
> and those following the teachings of Constantine.
>
> However, the article praises how the Muslims founded the system for banking,
> created important centers for learning, government and the arts, how they
> ran "government, society and business" and made valuable contributions in
> math, science and the arts.
>
> The text also credits Muslims with inventing algebra and chemistry as well
> as creating beautiful buildings, citing the Taj Mahal, although the text
> does not mention that that is a tomb.
>
> There's also no mention of the Quranic instruction that Muslims must behead
> infidels, or nonbelievers.
>
> One blogger said Christians should think strategically on such issues.
>
> "Cases like this present Christians with a golden opportunity to introduce
> elements of religious teaching back into the state curriculum by using the
> left's double standard towards Islam against it," said one commentator. "Now
> that this case is on the books in the Ninth Circuit as precedent, expect
> Christian immersion classes to follow."