Why Are Public Schools Endorsing Islam?

Throughout the last hundred years, the subject of religion in schools has largely centered around Christianity. One by one, Christian tenets, beliefs, and rituals were eliminated from public schools around the country. Today, a teacher would be more likely to ban “Bless you” from the classroom than to allow a prayer. It would seem that the courts have decided this issue: schools that receive public funding are not to endorse any religion in any way.

So why is it that we’re hearing from a growing number of parents and activists who claim public schools are still in the business of promoting religion? Well, the religion they’re promoting isn’t Christianity; it’s Islam. Apparently, that makes it okay.

According to a group called Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, Tennessee schoolbooks are rife with pro-Islam, antisemitic lessons. The founder of the group, Laurie Cardoza-Moore, is imploring Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to investigate the books for a number of questionable passages that she claims are “teaching the religious dogmas of one religion.”

Stronger Faith?

The group’s battles in Tennessee represent only a fraction of the scope of this controversy. Earlier this month, a North Carolina parent was disturbed by a worksheet her high school student brought home. The sheet was ostensibly meant to teach students the difference between peaceful Islam and the radical version endorsed by terrorists, but it was a fill-in-the-blank statement that raised some eyebrows: Most Muslims faith is _____ than the average Christian. According to the student, the answer was “stronger.” There was never any confirmation from the school, but it’s hard to imagine what other answer might be correct.

The Five Pillars?

Then there is the distressing and ongoing case in Maryland where former U.S. Marine John Kevin Wood objected to the Islamic indoctrination being dispensed in his daughter’s World History class. Assignments included being forced to memorize the Five Pillars of Islam, including “There is no god but Allah.” Wood, who served in Desert Storm, knows firsthand the destruction caused by Islam and was shocked when the school refused to give his 11th-grader an alternative assignment. He was later banned from school property and is contemplating legal action.

If Christianity is barred from public school textbooks, the same should be said for Islam. There is a middle ground where students can learn about major religions without bias, but that means exposing the truth about Islam. Any discussion regarding the religion that does not place considerable focus on the thousands who die each year as a result of Islamic terrorism can only be termed as sanitized, politically-correct, and biased. No, terrorism is not the beginning and end of Islam, but to present it in a way that distorts the facts is akin to indoctrination.