Students Homework - Write Statement of Islamic Faith

a reply to: BarefootInWinter

Some parents were less than thrilled. Not all. One student, who is in the class liked the assignment and explains the assignment here, also as a "sticker assignment" :

I am a 9th grade student at Riverheads and my mom told me to join this group and im so glad I did. I am in Mrs. LaPortes 2nd block World Geography class and nobody in my block had a problem with the assignment. We were not forced to do the assignment, it was due Friday as a sticker grade and the sticker grades are just to get a sticker and once u got a certain amount of stickers you drop your lowest grade. I personally was not offended by this. I liked the assignment and the passing around of the Koran. The Koran is a very neat book. It is written from right to left and in Arabic but also has english translation. I just want to say thank you to all of you people supporting Mrs. LaPorte. Mrs. LaPortes class is very fun and shes an amazing teacher.-Trystan Bryant

I think it is mostly uneducated parents that didn't understand the assignment that were angry.

a reply to: neo96

Seriously. I can't believe you just typed and meant that.
Maybe you haven't travelled much. There are areas of the world that are immersed in cultural tradition.......and if a young person is going out into the world to work among people of other cultures, they need to know HOW to deal with those persons from other cultures.

Culture shock is bad.
Cultural competency is good.

What a sham deal this is.

Some over educated academic meatheads want to force Islam on people.

OoooooKay.

Just in the nick of time.

Merry Christmas.

a reply to: BarefootInWinter

You know...

It's possible to copy down something by hand and not "absorb" the belief it was written about.

I can sit and actually read the Book of Mormon and the Koran and not turn into a Mormon or a Muslim. Exposure to something you don't like doesn't magically turn you into that thing.

a reply to: reldra

oh great

Here come the "testimonials"

originally posted by: 4N0M4LY
If it is a school that is funded by the public. It shouldn't have been allowed to be taught. If you want your kids to learn about religion or the many different religions in the world, send them to private school or teach them at home. I don't want my tax dollars wasted teaching garbage topics that have nothing to do with helping my kid in getting ready for the real world.

I mean I support the parents positions about how crazy bringing a subject like that up in the time we are dealing with as it is....

Leave religion out of public school completely. MATH, SCIENCE, HISTORY AND ENGLISH. Nothing else.

It is taught from the text book "World religions" as part of World geography class. You can complain to your local school board, if you think the school district you pay taxes toward may be using this as part of World Geography or Social Studies class.

If you think a public education should be limited to Math, Science, History and English you should also complain about gym, music, art, computing/shorthand/keyboarding, psychology, Home Ec/Shop, foreign languages. Good luck with that.

originally posted by: xuenchen
a reply to: reldra

oh great

Here come the "testimonials"

Oh great, here come the sarcastic responses with no substance.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs
My question is why is it such the focus in schools to teach about the religion of Islam all of the sudden?

I am not buying the immigrant thing, and it is just history and geography. We have had large influxes of immigrants in the past, and no effort what so ever was made on this scale to make it the priority of the schools to teach about those people, their culture or religion.

I think people are getting quite annoyed because that yellow drizzle they keeping pouring over their heads, does not, smell like, or look like rain.

The more they keep yelling it is just rain, the more angry people become.

a reply to: BarefootInWinter

I am so glad my kids go to school in the UK! Their RE curriculum includes learning about all world religions, the basics, never making one more important than the other. My children have learned a Christian prayer in Latin, Arabic calligraphy (with a sentence from the Quran), made paper candles to celebrate Diwali, etc. They have visited all sorts of Christian churches, mosques, Hindu and Jewish temples, etc. And yet they are not religious, but they have learned to be tolerant to all faiths and cultures.

Schools still celebrate Christmas but they have also added other celebrations, like Diwali and Eid and I think that says a lot about how great the British education system is.

a reply to: BarefootInWinter



The question I have is - would the same thing happen if this type of assignment was given out in another area of the country? I feel that up where I live in Vermont/Maine area it wouldn't cause a problem (just based on my familiarity with local politics and public response to various topics)

Could traditions/beliefs in this local Virginia County have been the culprit?

originally posted by: BarefootInWinter
a reply to: boymonkey74


At issue, more so for me, is that it DOES go against church/state guidelines. It's the lack of attention to detail for whatever group picks out classroom materials for their county or state really.

This is the book that was used. Show me what law would make this book against church/state guidelines.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

It doesn't matter IF i have traveled or haven't.

See because here in the United States of Dysfunction call 'America'.

We can't have kids saying the Pledge with that pesky little word call 'GOD'.

Hell we cant even have Christmas Trees in schools, or nativety scenes.

See here in the U.S. Of Dysfunction GOD is a dirty word.

That we have to shield young minds from because the Christian might rub off.

EXCEPT when it comes to Islam.

That is some big time EPIC cognitive dissonance.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

It's the business of schools to teach WORLD GEOGRAPHY and prepare youths for entry into the real world.
Upcoming adults will need to be able to navigate the cultures of others from all over the world....
what do you not get about that?

See Agartha's excellent post, above.

originally posted by: NightSkyeB4Dawn
a reply to: BuzzyWigs
My question is why is it such the focus in schools to teach about the religion of Islam all of the sudden?

I am not buying the immigrant thing, and it is just history and geography. We have had large influxes of immigrants in the past, and no effort what so ever was made on this scale to make it the priority of the schools to teach about those people, their culture or religion.

I think people are getting quite annoyed because that yellow drizzle they keeping pouring over their heads, does not, smell like, or look like rain.

The more they keep yelling it is just rain, the more angry people become.

"Such the focus"? The book used is a secondary material in one class. I can remember being taught about world religions in middle school and high school.

The phrase "Tempest in a teapot" comes to mind.

imho

a reply to: neo96

It doesn't matter IF i have traveled or haven't.

YES. IT DOES.

And until you have done so, or spent some honest time researching other cultures that are now doing business in America, your opinions and diagnoses mean nothing to me except insofar as they are woefully ignorant and holding back our country's youths.
Just saying.

If the school were instructing students to write "the only way to God is through Jesus Christ," would anyone have a problem with that?

Separation of church and state - another principle championed by leftists only when it is convenient.

a reply to: OpenMindedRealist

Nope - as long as they were learning other religious mantras at the same time.
Who knows - some day they might need to know the right words to say to an ISIS maniac......

a reply to: OpenMindedRealist

Separation of church and state - another principle championed by leftists only when it is convenient.

Quoted for TRUTH.

Now instead of religion they are calling it 'culture'.

The kings of trying to have it both ways.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Thank you!
And I agree with you: the more uneducated the person, the less they know about other cultures, the more fearful of others who are different they become. And it is really sad.

My children can tell you all about the most important religions of the world and yet they have no faith, despite the fact that they are free to do so if they wanted.