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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

California Schools and Islamic Indoctrination




I am cross-posting an editorial that has appeared in Investor Business Daily on how California schools are forcing a biased view of Islam down the throats of schoolkids-notwithstanding the protests of parents. Pay attention, as goes California-so goes the nation. (Tip of the hat to ACT for America)
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IBD Editorials
Schoolhouse Shariah

Posted 09/24/2009 06:53 PM ET

"Multiculturalism: California's educrats have put out new rules for teaching Islamic studies to seventh-graders in public schools, and they are as biased as ever. They'll also likely spread eastward.

The lesson guidelines adopted by the bellwether state whitewash the violence and oppression of women codified in Islamic law, or Shariah. And they're loaded with revisionist history about the faith.

For example, the suggested framework glorifies Shariah as a liberal reform movement that "rejected" the mistreatment of women that existed in Arabia before Muhammad and his successors conquered the region, according to Accuracy in Academia. The guidelines claim that Islamic law established for the first time that men and women were entitled to equal "respect."

Not so, says Islamic scholar and author Nonie Darwish, who grew up Muslim in Egypt.

"I am shocked that that is what they teach," she said. "Women had more rights in Arabia before Shariah."

In fact, "wife beating is allowed under Shariah" today, she added. "It allows a woman seen without a headdress to be flogged, punishes rape victims, and calls for beheading for adultery."

California's course on world religions also omits Islam's long history of jihadist violence, while portraying Christianity as an intolerant and bloodthirsty faith.

Christianity isn't given equal time, either. It's covered in just two days — as opposed to up to two weeks for Islam — and doesn't involve kids in any role-playing activities like the Islam unit.

Students do get a healthy dose of skepticism about the Christian faith, including a biting history of its persecution of other people.

Islam, in contrast, gets a pass from critical review. Even jihad is presented as an "internal personal struggle to do one's best to resist temptation," not waging holy war.

"California schools are pushing an unbalanced religious agenda that favors Islam and minimizes Christianity and Judaism," Accuracy in Academia warns in its latest Campus Report.

Who helped build the California Education Department's framework for Islamic studies? Islamist "scholars" with the Council on Islamic Education, or CIE, a Saudi-tied activist group.

The consultancy changed its name after former IBD Washington bureau chief Paul Sperry, author of "Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington," exposed that its chief researcher and textbook consultant for years taught social studies at a Saudi madrassa just outside Washington.

The Islamic Saudi Academy is a breeding ground for terrorists, including the valedictorian-turned-al-Qaida agent recently sentenced to life for plotting to assassinate President Bush.

Recently, Fox News reported that the head of CIE — now known as the Institute on Religion and Civic Values — misled California education authorities about his academic credentials. For one, Shabbir Mansuri never received a USC degree in chemical engineering as he has claimed, Fox says.

The group's Web site no longer includes the claim. These are the folks who are teaching your children about Islam in public schools. Parents have protested, even sued, but to no avail.

For example, parents of seventh-graders in the San Francisco area, who after 9/11 were taught pro-Islamic lessons as part of California's world history curriculum, sued under the First Amendment ban on religious establishment.

They argued, reasonably, that the government was promoting Islam by mandating that their kids participate in Muslim role-playing exercises such as designing prayer rugs, taking an Arabic name and essentially "becoming a Muslim" for two full weeks.

Children also were told to recite aloud Muslim prayers that begin with "In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful," and memorize the Muslim profession of faith: "Allah is the only true God, and Muhammad is his messenger."

But a federal judge appointed by President Clinton told parents in so many words to get over it, that the state was merely teaching kids about another "culture."

California's 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision, ruling that it was OK to put public-school kids through Muslim role-playing exercises.

The decision was a major victory for the multiculturalists and Islamic apologists in California and across the country who've never met a culture or religion they didn't like — with the exception of Western civilization and Christianity.

You can't teach the Ten Commandments in public schools. But teaching the five pillars of Islam is A-OK."
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7 comments:

PatriotUSA said...

This article ties in well with Frank Gaffney's article that
just came out at Center For Security Policy. "A Virus Called Shariah." This gives you
another link to terrorists
attacks and Shariah Law.

http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/p18189.xml

Act for America deserves credit for sending Mr. Gaffney's article out too. It is a must read. No surprise that Nonie Darwish just gave a talk at Whittier College which was vigorously protested
by the MSA/MSU and the administration at Whittier
College which is in.....
California. Connect the dots.

There is no peace within Islam,
and with Islam there can be
no peace.

Gary Fouse said...

Patriot,

Thanks again for Gaffney's article. Gaffney is one of the more sensible people in this country on arange of issues.

Lance Christian Johnson said...

You can't teach the Ten Commandments in public schools. But teaching the five pillars of Islam is A-OK."

That's pretty funny considering that I just taught the 10 Commandments TODAY. Never let the truth get in the way of some good paranoia though, right?

I'll have to ask the history teachers I know if this reflects their lesson plans at all. I'm guessing that it doesn't, considering that a good deal of them are Christians themselves. Oh, and here are the California History Content Standards. I don't see anything like what's described in this article.

Gary Fouse said...

Lance,

Congratulations on teaching the 10 commandments today. I would never say that each and every teacher engages in the practices we have been talking about-but a lot do and a lot of schools are doing this.

As for the Calif Guide, that looks to me like a lesson plan that educational institutions keep in their files to fulfill requirements. No, I didn't see any sub-title in there that says: Convert kids to Islam or communism or anything else. But those guidelines look about as effective in stopping personal indoctrination of a teacher's views as the US-Mexican border is in stopping illegal immigration.

Let me, as a teacher, repeat my classroom personal practice: I do not try to bring my views on a topic into the classroom. Unfortunately, there are way too many teachers-at every level- who do. How strange that the overwhelming majority are propagating a liberal view. (I guess that's because you don't find too many conservatives.

Or is it because teachers are being dictated to from above what they should teach in the classroom.

Lance Christian Johnson said...

I think that this is all much ado about nothing. Every "liberal" that I know distrusts Islam as much, if not more, than Christianity. There will always be these isolated incidents, but as I've told you before, I know a teacher who proselytizes Christianity at my school - that hardly makes me worried about it happening across the country.

Ingrid said...

A school in Germany just gave permission to a converted Islamist time for prayer during lunch break. Who's it gonna hurt?
Findalis, I hate predictions about how any country will look years from now, unless you have a crystal ball. I travel extensively in Europe and some in the US. I haven't seen the slum like conditions you seem to see. Your negativism is disturbing and dumb.

Ted said...

Who was it that once said "Give me ten years and you won't recognize Germany"?