Schools in VA Shutting Down because of Islam Homework Assignment

[flexy]

http://us.cnn.com/2015/12/18/us/virginia-school-shut-islam-homework/index.html

1. A "World Geography" class where they teach about other cultures and religions gives kids a calligraphy assignment in Arabic. The Arabic calligraphy is the Islamic faith statement "There is no god but Allah..."

2. Parents enraged because, ya know, some Muslims are terrorists...and "they teachin' our kids Islam!!11"

3. Parents then committing sort-of terrorism themselves by threatening schools.

4. Schools closed this Friday due to security concerns from the threats.

The IRONY here...AWESOME....

 

[Homerboy]

News story: PEOPLE ARE FUCKING DUMB

God I hate this sort of tripe

 

[Oyeve]

But, why would any one even give that particular quote as a homework assignment? Surely there are 100s of other quotes? Seems like some asshat wanted to further infuriate.

 

[kage69]

Are we absolutely sure Obamacare isn't the real culprit here?

 

[Strk]

It seems a bit weird that that is the phrase that they pick. If it was just for calligraphy, they could have picked anything like the girl in the video said (I.e. just show them how to write hello).

 

[MomentsofSanity]

The phrase that was in the assignment was poorly chosen. Not that anyone doing it would know what it said. Just writing out Arabic words or phrases in a calligraphy class.... BFD.

 

[BoberFett]

So the OP would have been totally cool with a class teaching Christian bible verses?

 

[K1052]

So the OP would have been totally cool with a class teaching Christian bible verses?

If it falls under the curriculum of the course, I would be. Which seems to be the case here.

 

[Exophase]

Meanwhile, someone wrote a letter over the Peanuts Christmas special being shown in a public elementary school because it had a reading of Bible verses in it, and the offending portion got cut from the showing. Some people on the right are throwing a fit over this much like some people on the left are throwing a fit here. IMO both are totally right to be called off limits for a public school, as both do in fact endorse religion which the government is not supposed to do.

The context in which both of these things were presented falls outside of teaching history or culture.

 

[Belegost]

This seems like a fairly clear breach of separation of church and state. Teaching Arabic calligraphy, great. Giving students an objective overview of Islamic religion as part of studying world cultures and religions, good.

Asking students to write a very clear statement of religious belief - not cool. I would no more want the school having the kids write "there is no god but Yahweh/Jesus."

This of course does not excuse making threats against the school or staff, that's not acceptable. There are civilized ways in which to handle problems of this nature, people need to use them.

 

[Bowfinger]

So the OP would have been totally cool with a class teaching Christian bible verses?

Given that "Allah" is just the Arabic word for God, they essentially did. The Judaeo-Christian Bible has similar passages, only we usually translate them into English.

This seems like a fairly clear breach of separation of church and state. Teaching Arabic calligraphy, great. Giving students an objective overview of Islamic religion as part of studying world cultures and religions, good.

Asking students to write a very clear statement of religious belief - not cool. I would no more want the school having the kids write "there is no god but Yahweh/Jesus."

This of course does not excuse making threats against the school or staff, that's not acceptable. There are civilized ways in which to handle problems of this nature, people need to use them.

Agreed. Public schools should not be promoting religious beliefs, regardless of the religion.

 

[HomerJS]

What's wrong with those dummies. World religion is part of their curriculum

 

[K1052]

This seems like a fairly clear breach of separation of church and state. Teaching Arabic calligraphy, great. Giving students an objective overview of Islamic religion as part of studying world cultures and religions, good.

Asking students to write a very clear statement of religious belief - not cool. I would no more want the school having the kids write "there is no god but Yahweh/Jesus."

This of course does not excuse making threats against the school or staff, that's not acceptable. There are civilized ways in which to handle problems of this nature, people need to use them.

In this sense it's about as much a statement of belief as say having to list the ten commandments, something which arguably could be part of this module.

Reading the parent's statements makes it pretty clear that they don't want the goberment learning their Jesus lovin families no Islam terrorism in their Merica.

 

[soulcougher73]

Bad line/quote to pick for sure.

 

[UglyCasanova]

This seems like a fairly clear breach of separation of church and state. Teaching Arabic calligraphy, great. Giving students an objective overview of Islamic religion as part of studying world cultures and religions, good.

Asking students to write a very clear statement of religious belief - not cool. I would no more want the school having the kids write "there is no god but Yahweh/Jesus."

This of course does not excuse making threats against the school or staff, that's not acceptable. There are civilized ways in which to handle problems of this nature, people need to use them.

Agreed. I don't think anyone cares they were writing Arabic with calligraphy (well I'm sure somebody cares) but more the fact they had to write something that was professing a religious belief. Poor decision by the teacher, even worse decision by whoever made the threats.

 

[Subyman]

No the best quote, but teacher probably just pulled something random off the internet 5 mins before class like they do.

 

[LightPattern]

But, why would any one even give that particular quote as a homework assignment? Surely there are 100s of other quotes? Seems like some asshat wanted to further infuriate.

Agree.

Here's more from The Washington Post:

A geography teacher at the district’s Riverheads High near Staunton, Va., gave an assignment asking students to try their hand at calligraphy by copying a statement in Arabic, according to the Staunton News Leader.
It was the Muslim statement of faith, according to the newspaper: “There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”
. . . .

said the social studies assignment asked him to read aloud the Islamic profession of faith, along with other verses from the Koran.
. . . . .

If a similar lesson were taught within the context of any other major religion, she said – if you asked students to say that “Jesus is my one Lord,” for example – “someone is going to go bonkers over it.”

 

[Victorian Gray]

Indoctrination? Really?

"The calligraphy assignment came from a workbook created by teachers called "World Religions." It was not an assignment LaPorte made up herself. The instructions for the assignment said, "Here is the shahada, the Islamic statement of faith, written in Arabic. In the space below, try copying it by hand. This should give you an idea of the artistic complexity of calligraphy."

and:

"Initial reaction from some Christian parents included calls for LaPorte's firing for "violating children's religious beliefs." However, both the Virginia Department of Education and Augusta County Superintendent Eric Bond have reviewed the material and found it in line with state standards and said the lesson did not violate student rights."

http://www.newsleader.com/story/new.../77483594/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin=

 

[dainthomas]

This seems like a fairly clear breach of separation of church and state. Teaching Arabic calligraphy, great. Giving students an objective overview of Islamic religion as part of studying world cultures and religions, good.

Asking students to write a very clear statement of religious belief - not cool. I would no more want the school having the kids write "there is no god but Yahweh/Jesus."

This of course does not excuse making threats against the school or staff, that's not acceptable. There are civilized ways in which to handle problems of this nature, people need to use them.

But then we'd miss the delicious irony of people responding to their anger with terrorists by acting like them. It's awesome.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Given that "Allah" is just the Arabic word for God, they essentially did. The Judaeo-Christian Bible has similar passages, only we usually translate them into English.



Agreed. Public schools should not be promoting religious beliefs, regardless of the religion.

George Romero should re-animate Bishop Ryan from his 19th century grave so he can weigh in on this.

I find the nit-picking to be annoying from all sides. Get rid of roadside crosses memorializing accident victims. Get rid of the cross down near Joshua Tree. Get upset about certain hospitals providing employees with insurance that pays for birth control. Get all worked up about abortion clinics. Refuse to issue a marriage license to a gay couple. And whine that America is "Christian," so deny Muslims entrance, or buy in to the "holy war" crap.

As for Arabic literacy, we probably need more of that. If we're going to entangle ourselves in the Middle East, we need bi-lingual folks in State, CIA, DOD -- even the media.

 

[MiniDoom]

But then we'd miss the delicious irony of people responding to their anger with terrorists by acting like them. It's awesome.

Link? The article op posted says "While there has been no specific threat of harm to students, schools and school offices will be closed Friday, December 18, 2015,"

 

[Victorian Gray]

Link? The article op posted says "While there has been no specific threat of harm to students, schools and school offices will be closed Friday, December 18, 2015,"

"Some messages to the Virginia school district contained profane and graphic content, including a call to behead the teacher who gave the assignment, Augusta County Sheriff Randy Fisher said."

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/12/1...ol-draws-outrage-va-county-closes-all-schools

"Sheriff Randall D. Fisher says security has been assigned to the Bond, the teacher who created the lesson and the school's principal. He says the district received tens of thousands of emails and Facebook posts, some "threatening and very profane in nature."

http://www.wral.com/the-latest-security-assigned-to-teacher-amid-lesson-anger/15185717/

 

[sactoking]

I think it's clear that the teacher is just a big fan of The 13th Warrior.

 

[MetalMat]

They were teaching world religions as part of the world geography course. Why is anyone surprised by this?

 

[SP33Demon]

This seems like a fairly clear breach of separation of church and state. Teaching Arabic calligraphy, great. Giving students an objective overview of Islamic religion as part of studying world cultures and religions, good.

Asking students to write a very clear statement of religious belief - not cool. I would no more want the school having the kids write "there is no god but Yahweh/Jesus."

This of course does not excuse making threats against the school or staff, that's not acceptable. There are civilized ways in which to handle problems of this nature, people need to use them.

Amen.