Islam in San Diego public schools

I was perusing around on a local website and came across an article from April, 2007 regarding a public school (Carver Elementary) in San Diego, offering an Arabic class. A substitute teacher became alarmed when she was provided with a lesson plan that included a segregated class for Muslim girls and an hour for prayer. The article points out that according to the U.S. Department of Education, students may pray in school during recess, the lunch hour, or other non-instruction time, and that teachers may participate only when it is clear they are not endorsing or participating in their official capacities. This substitute teacher saw clear violations. Of course, according to the district, she “obviously” misread the curriculum and that prayer was only during recess.

While you think about that, please now reflect on another article I read recently about a case in Texas. Here is the gist: a school offers an elective course which discusses a generalized version of religion using the King James version of the bible.

According to the ACLU:

"This class is not about educating students. It is about proselytizing one set of religious beliefs to the exclusion of others," said Daniel Mach, Director of Litigation for the ACLU's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. "Students who don't share those beliefs should not be treated as outsiders by their own schools."

Hmmmm . . . The Texas class offers a generalized version of religion which does not generally follow a particular religious viewpoint that shared by Jews, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and many Protestants. In other words, it is so general and not directed at one faith that it is a directed viewpoint. Makes perfect sense. The ACLU views this is controversial and unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, the California class offers a review of a particular faith, including prayer with prayer mats, segregated classes, girls dressed in traditional garb, total secrecy with closed doors and drawn shades and the removal of the American flag. And that is just fine. Not a word from the ACLU.

Another point of contention is that “the public school course unconstitutionally uses the Bible to instill religious life lessons, having students memorize biblical passages and then discuss how they have affected their lives . . .”. I reflect back to another California controversy (from 2002, I might add) where Northern California schools offered a class where kids would memorize verses of the Koran, in addition to other such “educational” gems as dressing in traditional Muslim dress and praying in “the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful”.

Final note: the textbook used in the course presents Islam in a positive light whereas Christianity gets a negative spin.

You have to love the hypocrisy.