Government school classroom assignment on world religions in discussion and Islamophobia gone wild

The Shahadah (first part ašhadu 'al-lā ilāha illā-llāh - I testify that there is no god (ilah) but God (Allah)), the creed of Islam. The letter Alif is highlighted in red to demonstrate its different usage in Arabic scripture. This illustration was designed in order to teach the letter Alif, but not the creed itself! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At a Virginia high school (Riverheads High School in Staunton) understandably a lesson in calligraphy for ninth-graders has caused an uproar among some parents. But the Virginia school district is defending the classroom assignment that required students to practice calligraphy by writing the Muslim statement of faith,

 “There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”

For the first part the Christian Americans should not be afraid because they too should believe that there is only One God, only Allah the Elohim Adonai, Hashem Jehovah. the God of Abraham should be the only One true God for Jews, Christians and Muslims.

It can not be called bad to have during a world geography class to have the students to feel how it is to live in a certain area and to dress like the people who live in such area.  I would call that a very good integrated lesson.

The lesson of the day focused on world religions, among them Islam. As part of the assignment, social studies teacher Cheryl LaPorte had her ninth-grade students copy a piece of Arabic text known as the shahada, which is the most common Islamic creed. 

Recitation of the shahada in public is the first formal step in conversion to Islam. However, according to school officials, the ninth-graders were not asked to translate the statement or read it aloud.

Students were also shown copies of the Koran, and female students were invited to try on a scarf as part of a lesson about the Islamic concept of modest dress.

Parents being infuriated to see that their children learned Arabic should know that it is a language spoken in many countries and in case Westerners would be able to read and understand it they could understand much more what is written on slogans and in books and could answer the right way to those speaking about the Arabic books or saying something wrong what would so called be written in those books.

It is also totally wrong to think a teacher would indoctrinate her pupils by talking about the Islam faith or any other faith and to have their kids reading the books of that faith.

Parent Kimberly Herndon was infuriated when her son came home with the assignment sheet from Mrs LaPorte’s world geography class.

‘When I saw the language, the Arabic language, immediately I had a bad feeling come over me,’ the mother of six told NBC29.

Herndon, who is a devout Christian, accused the teacher of indoctrinating unsuspecting students into the Islamic faith. The mother has not sent her son back to school since the incident and said she would be willing to take this case all the way to the US Supreme Court if she must.

‘She [LaPorte] gave up the Lord’s time,’ Herndon said of the religious lesson when speaking to the Staunton News Leader. ‘She gave it up and gave it to Mohammed.’

The Augusta County parent on Tuesday organized a meeting attended by more than 100 people at Good New Ministries to discuss the controversial calligraphy lesson.

Debbie Ballew, a former English teacher who was present up at the public forum, said had she asked her students to copy a passage from the Bible, she would have lost her job.

Strange that the teacher would have lost  her job when she would have asked to copy a passage from the Bible. Even more strange that such an exclusion would take place in the United
States of America which always shouts it is so proud about her constitution including 'Freedom'.

‘Out of an abundance of caution’

after consulting with law enforcement Augusta County School Board President Eric Bond noted that there was no specific threat to students but announced Thursday that schools would be closed Friday over security concerns sparked by parents’ outrage in response to an Arabic calligraphy lesson.

Recitation of the shahada in public is for many considered the first formal step in conversion to Islam. However, according to school officials, the ninth-graders were not asked to translate the statement or read it aloud.

 Bond said

It’s a sad state of affairs when we’ve reached the point where children can’t even learn what Arabic or Islam is without offending someone’s fragile sensibilities.

 

There are countries, like Belgium where religious education is obligatory and children have to learn about all major religions of the world. As such they learn about the monotheist faiths and about several heathen religions. Having to read the Torah, Nevim, Kethuvim Aleph, Kethuvim Bet (or Messianic Scriptures or New Testament), the Koran and certain Buddhist and Hindy sacred scriptures they can get a pretty idea what the believers of those faiths should follow.

In lots of faiths we do see that fundamentalist can get so strong because many followers of them do not get to know their Holy Scriptures very well.

In many countries we also see that lots of people do not know their own Sacred Scriptures, and that is why we see lots of them not living according to the faith rules of the books they are so called to follow.

Having children to know the other culture can best be done by dumpling them under in such a culture.

This is a very good way to have children getting an idea about a culture and about how people who live in a certain area can feel themselves or how they have to live.

Ideal would be to have them dress, eat and having to do the same activities as others would have to do in the region studied or when it would be about camps and torturing to have a sort of experience what it would be in such a camps and under such interrogation. In Latvia (Letland) people can have such an experience how it was under Soviet regime. In the Riga camp special tours are organised to 'undergo' one day or 'a day and a night' a similar experience the prisoners would have had. Many people eyes are opened by such experiences and come to appreciate the values of the democratic free countries much more.

Congratulations for the teacher who dared to tackle the difficult subject and has done a lot of preparation to work out her class.

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Parents forbidden to pray in front of their children or to take them to church

Is it really worrying when a child can react in a conversation with verses from Scripture. In the United Kingdom some see in it a form of indoctrination of that child. that is what we might conclude when we hear lawyers and child psychologists talking against the right of an 8 year old boy choosing for the words and care of his mother.

In May a devout mother made a legally binding promise, backed up with the threat of criminal sanctions, never to talk to her son about her religion, take him to church or even say grace at meals in a doomed attempt to stop him being taken into care, amid claims that she was “indoctrinating” him, a judge has disclosed.

How is it possible that judges can prohibit parents to pray or talk about their belief in front of their children or even not allow them to take them to church?

The court-case in England may create a precedent and make it very difficult for parents to give their children a religious background. Quite easy it is to say they are indoctrinating their children. I naturally do not know, but can not imagine the JW mother through the use of torture, drugs, or psychological-stress techniques to implement her beliefs as to take it or the child having her to leave. Naturally I also find it wrong she would not want to have her child to go to her father. She should know it is also the rightful parent of the child, having the same rights as her to educate his child and to tell about his believes, like she does.


Having teachers saying the boy also rejected other children and that he had only a small friendship circle, describing him as “one of the most worrying children in our school”, does not have to indicate the mother is in such a way dominant to her child she manages it not to make friends with children of an other belief.

Details of the case were disclosed in a written judgement handed down by Judge Clifford Bellamy, after a hearing at the Family Court, sitting in Leicester, in which he set out his reasons for making an interim care order. {Indoctrinated son 'troubled’ by mother’s religion is put into care}
He found that the boy had suffered emotional harm as a result both of the conflict between the parents and, specifically, “immersion by his mother in her religious beliefs and practices”.
He concluded that she was doing this “with the intention of alienating him from his father”.
But the judgement disclosed that a social worker at the centre of the case rejected this assessment and believed that, while the boy was damaged by the conflict between his warring parents, the mother’s religion was not the cause. {Indoctrinated son 'troubled’ by mother’s religion is put into care}

I also would not think there lies the problem with the mother talking about God, taking her child to the Kingdom hall of the JW and reading Watch Tower publications. Far what I do know of those publications they should give enough balance to the kid to stand stronger in a society of different thoughts,  though this seems more to do with an introvert child that has worries brought on it by the damaging divorce, and not with damaging faith.

It disclosed that at one point in the proceedings the mother went to the Court of Appeal to challenge an initial care order and made a number of strict undertakings in an attempt to stop the process.

These included not to take him to her local Kingdom Hall — the Jehovah’s Witness meeting house — or any other such gatherings; not to talk to him about religion at all; not to allow him to go on to the church’s website or watch religious DVDs; and, if he raised the issue, to attempt to change the subject.{Indoctrinated son 'troubled’ by mother’s religion is put into care}

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Find also:

A British judge rules that mother can’t indoctrinate son with religion

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Giving cogent reasons to young people why Christian faith is relevant to them

Earlier this week, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey warned that Christianity might be going extinct in the UK, maybe even in one generation’s time. When we look at the amount of people visiting churches this would not be a surprise.

English: former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Also when we do look at the lifestyle and when we hear youngsters speaking we may wonder where their heart is and in how far they are still connected with the Creator of this world.

The Archbishop may be convinced that the Church is failing to attract young people to its fold and therefore should look for what reason there has come such a distance between the people and the 'church'.

 “We have to give cogent reasons to young people why the Christian faith is relevant to them.”

Bishop Carey said. His statement was echoed by another Anglican authority, the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, who also underlined the scale of the crisis, telling members of the Church of England’s General Synod.

We would not regret an impassioned plea for Church to adopt a new missionary stance, so it would be better if those clerks looked not so much to have their constant internal debates going on. Instead of  “rearranging furniture when the house is on fire” they would better come out in the open and take care that everybody gat assembled.

They must “evangelise or fossilise”.  It is high time many more Christians would understand we shall have to face a “re-evangelisation of England”, on a par with the ministry of the northern saints such as Cuthbert, Hilda and Aidan who spread Christianity in Anglo-Saxon times.

The former Archbishop Lord Carey his warning came as he addressed the Shropshire Light Conference at Holy Trinity Church in Shrewsbury at the weekend discussing how the church could be “re-imagined”. According to him the church is still doing much important work, but it faces an existential challenge.

“In many parts of Britain churches are struggling, some priests are diffident and lack confidence; a feeling of defeat is around.

“The burden seems heavy and joy in ministry has been replaced by a feeling of heaviness.”

He said that the reaction from the public was not so much hostile as dismissive.

“The viewpoint could be expressed in a variety of non -verbal ways: the shrug of indifference, the rolled eyes of embarrassment, the yawn of boredom.  

Do those priests stand still why so many people become bored? Why so many do not feel that they can be or are no part of the church?

It is not only the Church of England or the West European continental  countries their churches like the Roman Catholic Church that face the empty churches because those institutions have been too busy reorganising the structures, arguing over words and phrases and have lost the spirit of evangelising. Such failings mean that the Church may be in danger of losing its “nationwide presence”.

Canterbury Cathedral: West Front, Nave and Central Tower. Seen from south. Image assembled from 4 photos. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Years ago perhaps many people could find a church as a place where great things happened. There were many social activities going on in the parishes, which drew a crowd.  With all the comfort in the houses the church buildings did not much effort to make it comfortable for its visitors.

 “To sit in a cold church looking at the back of other peoples’ heads is surely not the best place to meet exciting people and to hear prophetic words.”

The church leaders of the Church of England are aware that

 “It is still the case that people are essentially looking for spiritual fulfilment.”

So perhaps they can start at working on this. Trying to give spiritual guidance and spiritual fulfilment to the people who are still looking for many answers in their life.

 “So many churches have no ministry to young people and that means they have no interest in the future.

“As I have repeated many times in the past we are one generation away from extinction.

“We have to give cogent reasons to young people why the Christian faith is relevant to them.” 

According to Cristina Odone, journalist, novelist and broadcaster specialising in the relationship between society, families and faith, the claim of George Carey that Britain's precious Judaeo-Christian legacy is being diluted and that Christianity is one generation away from extinction is not so. She can see why he despairs for the Christians because plenty of things have been going wrong.

She writes:

 "First and foremost, our enemies are organised as never before. Secularists have made a concerted effort to erase Christianity from public life here and across the West. They have silenced prayers before meetings, the ringing of church bells, and even the girl scouts who once pledged to serve God."

But does she really believes that the ringing of bells at times when people are sleeping or doing something different will bring them to God? would it not more annoi them and get them the feeling that something is being pushed in their throat?

Odone has written in her ebook, No God Zone, that the secularists have successfully enshrined their bias against religion in laws across Europe.

"The Observatory on Intolerance against Christians in Europe has reported that EU member states have enacted 41 laws that discriminate against Christians. The effect of such legislation is huge: some professions, such as doctors, therapists and even pharmacists, are now closed to Christians, who would otherwise have to go against their conscience on issues such as abortion, euthanasia or the morning after pill."

She does find that the forces of atheism are ranged against the believers and, as George Carey points out, too many Christian clergy cannot stand up to the challenge. They are too ready to dilute their ethos – look at what has been happening with faith schools, both Anglican and Catholic. 

But before the English give up on the faith of their forefathers Odone finds that they do have to consider three new factors.

" Pope Francis, Justin Welby and the backlash effect. The extraordinary impact of Francis has been felt not only among his immediate audience – Italians, who are now retuning to Mass – but, incredibly, among the intelligentsia that is traditionally so sceptical of Christian values. Jonathan Freedland, who is neither a Christian nor a conservative, went so far as to predict that in college dorms around the globe, students will replace their posters of Che Guevara with ones of Francis. Justin Welby's impact has been more subtle, but he too has shown Christianity in a new light: inclusive, compassionate, and above all truthful. No wasting time and effort on false gods like money, celebrity, status.

Both men have struck a chord. Christians – and many non-Christians – have grown weary of the relentless pursuit of shallow goals. We have grown weary of being mocked for holding dear our heritage and its immortal values: charity, honesty, humility, and love. "Backlash" sounds too violent for a Christian response, but that is what I believe is taking root. I see it in the effort to block porn on the internet, the generous reaction to the Philippines' disaster, the distaste for bloated bankers and for OTT, twerking celebrities.

John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford and Chair of the Church of England’s Board of Education. “We don’t need to attract them to church” he declared, “they’re already there, if we embrace our church schools fully.” He  echoed the former Archbishop Rowan Williams’ declaration that “A church school is a church.” Despite being publicly-funded, state schools are seen by the church as the primary method of recruiting the next generation of Anglicans.

The Church of England considers having her evangelism in the discipline of ‘catechesis, as one of the ‘Seven Disciplines of Evangelisation’. Catechesis, described by the Church as “teaching and learning faith”, is more akin to religious instruction than religious education. According to the paper, “Catechesis of adults and children and young people is absolutely critical to the growth of the church.” The Church say it is a discipline exercised in the pulpit, in pastoral encounters, and, you guessed it, in schools.

They seem to trust that all the work can be delivered in the schools by that catechism or religion class. Though their paper asks how the place of catechesis in Church of England schools be strengthened and how they can create a task force which will “support Archbishops in taking forward the call to evangelism.”

A second Synod motion, concerning church schools, already seems to shed some light on how this will be achieved. The motion affirmed “the crucial importance of the Church of England’s engagement with schools for its contribution to the common good and to its spiritual and numerical growth.”

The motion invited dioceses to draw up plans for promoting the widest possible use of a “new online resource” for teaching Christianity, not only in Church schools, but also in non-Church schools.

Known as ‘The Christianity Project’, the resources have been developed to ensure that every child has a “life enhancing encounter with the Christian faith and the person of Jesus Christ.” The Church insist that “all children, of all faiths and none, should be offered the opportunity for a serious engagement with the Christian faith.”

According to the Church, “There is no expectation of commitment but learning about and engaging with the faith is a necessary pre-requisite for commitment especially for children and young people whose only experience of church is through the school.”

The Church of England’s clear intention here is to ramp up the evangelisation, not only in Church schools, but also in non-faith schools. They realise that the indoctrination of children, however subtle in its execution, is absolutely critical to its survival.

This results in our state education system being used by the Church to manipulate children and young people, in order to meet its own needs. For our legislators to allow this is both morally objectionable and intellectually irresponsible.

State education has become a playground for all manner of religions and denominations – and despite being one of the least religious countries in Europe, huge swathes of the English education system being under religious influence – and in the case of the Church of England, being used to prop them up.

Comments by the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, recently indicate that he intends to be as accommodating as he can in helping the Church in its ambitions to expand its influence in education. He said in parliament recently:

 “We praise and cherish the role of the Church of England in making sure children have an outstanding education. I welcome the [Chadwick report on church schools of the future] and look forward to working with Bishop John Pritchard to extend the role of the Church in school provision.”

We do not believe the religious education as such should come from the shools. Most work of evangelisation has to be done in the household; In the family should there be the living faith, giving the flame of the fire from one person to the other. Next should come the parish or the church community where there should be elders enlightening people and getting as many as possible involved so that they really can feel they are part of a living paris, and forming a thriving spiritual community.

It may be overly optimistic to read a lot into these developments Odone presents, but she truly thinks these are the first shoots of a Christian Spring.
We only can hope for the best and see how the new pope may bring a fresh spirit in the Catholic church, forcing others to take a new move as well.

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