Treating Islam as if it were a valid religion? Damned teachers!

[B. de Corbin]

Xenophobia rears it's ugly head in our schools systems -

Mother Upset Over School Assignment About Islam

Curious: Isn't that also the god of Islam?

[Rowanwood]

Re: Treating Islam as if it were a valid religion? Damned teachers!

I'm confused. Why is this in public school? I mean, we learned that these religions existed, but we didn't spend any significant time on the details...people would have crapped if we were writing papers about Jesus being the Lord and Savior, even in a Catholic town like a I grew up in. I'd be seriously concerned, though I suppose for different reasons.

I mean, I don't believe in Islam any more than I believe in Scientology and imagine the uproar if that was taught in school?

Unless I missed something and this is a private school. Then carry on....

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Treating Islam as if it were a valid religion? Damned teachers!

Social Studies. You can't understand societies unless you understand their religious beliefs. Why wouldn't something which is so important to people be part of social studies?

To me, it looks like a valid assignment - explain something, with a purpose.

[MaskedOne]

Re: Treating Islam as if it were a valid religion? Damned teachers!

Different. I got an overview of Islam as part of Social Studies in 7th grade (also got Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and maybe Judaism). We weren't doing promotional pamphlets but I'll chalk that up mostly to variance in teaching style provided that similar assignments are or will be given with the other religions being taught.

[Heka]

Social Studies. You can't understand societies unless you understand their religious beliefs. Why wouldn't something which is so important to people be part of social studies?

To me, it looks like a valid assignment - explain something, with a purpose.

This.

It seems to me to be in the same vein as creating a poster for, and a poster against something. I did this for whaling in high school. I don't want to condone whaling, but what better way to get an understanding of both sides of the argument and make my own, now educated, decisions???

[Shahaku]

Re: Treating Islam as if it were a valid religion? Damned teachers!

I don't think this was a promotional pamphlet. That's just one mother's over reaction. The teacher said the assignment included all five of the major world religions. Note, the mother didn't have a problem with the Judaism, Hinduism, or Buddhist portions of the pamphlet.

Furthermore, religion is an integral part of the majority of cultures around the world, if not all of them. To be certain, Christianity still holds a significant sway here in the United States. People's art, history, and culture are often directly tied into their religion. So yes, I would say studying world religions is a valid topic in school. And creating informative pamphlets is probably a very good starting place for ending intolerance.

On the topic of Allah. Many Christians like to argue that Allah is not the same god as Yahweh, though you could also have the argument that Yahweh isn't the same god as the one in the new testament. They don't like that Islam is a branch off their own faith. There are good arguments on all sides of that particular discussion, but essentially, it depends on your point of view.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Treating Islam as if it were a valid religion? Damned teachers!

This.

It seems to me to be in the same vein as creating a poster for, and a poster against something. I did this for whaling in high school. I don't want to condone whaling, but what better way to get an understanding of both sides of the argument and make my own, now educated, decisions???

That's exactly it - in persuasive writing, a typical assignment is to write persuasively about something you disagree with, as if you were supporting it. This is a classic way to teach the importance of rhetoric - that HOW you say something is as important as WHAT you say, AND of understanding BOTH sides of an issue (a thing which I don't imagine very many people are actually capable of, but which is of vital importance).

It looks to me as if it is that second thing - understanding others - that she has a problem with.


Incidentally, I did once get reamed myself by a loony for having students write a paper in favor of gun control. Pretty funny, for those of you who know me...

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Different. I got an overview of Islam as part of Social Studies in 7th grade (also got Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and maybe Judaism). We weren't doing promotional pamphlets but I'll chalk that up mostly to variance in teaching style provided that similar assignments are or will be given with the other religions being taught.

What we are being told "in the profession" is to "make it real." In other words, assignments should have a purpose and not just "be." That's what it looks like the teacher was doing.

[Heka]

It looks to me as if it is that second thing - understanding others - that she has a problem with.

Well at least the kid was excited by it. Lets hope the shitty mothering doesn't rub off...

[thalassa]

Re: Treating Islam as if it were a valid religion? Damned teachers!

Sounds to me like the mom is a overreactional religious nut.

A 10th grader creating an informational brochure on a world religion in simplified language is a perfectly legitimate assignment (though I would expect something like that in middle school, not high school)...with something more like a paper or oral report in high school. The only person I've seen equating this to a "pursuasive" sort of assignment is the mom.

It is perfectly acceptable (legally and otherwise) (and IMO should be a requirement) to TEACH world religions in public school...its not legitimate to PREACH a particular religion or its theology in a public school. Religious literacy is part of cultural literacy.

Word religions were part of my civics, world history, and geography classes in high school (and to a lesser degree, middle school) in public school, some 20+ years ago...and religious literature from a variety of sources was in a handful of my lit classes as well.

This used to be considered part of creating well-rounded and critically thinking future adults.

[Torey]

Re: Treating Islam as if it were a valid religion? Damned teachers!

In the article, if you follow the link attached to the text, “This assignment upset me because they are presenting Allah as the same God of the Christians and Jews", you can see the Facebook conversation ensuing - basically a few Christians saying "hooray for fighting for Christ!". One even says that "we must protect our children with TRUTH and not teach lies". Holy smokes.

Note, the mother didn't have a problem with the Judaism, Hinduism, or Buddhist portions of the pamphlet.

^ This is what bugs me. Why pick on Islam? Makes me wonder if this isn't just ignorance fueling this - someone who has no idea about the history of Islam (or Christianity) and has a stink up her nose because of the propaganda around "terrorist Muslims".

[loststarshine]

Re: Treating Islam as if it were a valid religion? Damned teachers!

^ This is what bugs me. Why pick on Islam? Makes me wonder if this isn't just ignorance fueling this - someone who has no idea about the history of Islam (or Christianity) and has a stink up her nose because of the propaganda around "terrorist Muslims".

^^^ My thoughts.

We studied other religions in middle school and high school. Along with egyptian, greek, roman, and other ancient reigions.

I was in high school during 9/11 we had muslims in my school one girl felt compelled to write a letter to our high school paper explaining her religion and why she dresses how she does(the correct term escapes me). She tolds us that they were extremists and are not following Allah correctly. How would a christian feel if a person commited great crimes in the name of god would you consider them doing gods will.

This mother needs to get over herself. Heck I remember parents trying to ban Harry Potter from schools. At one time Mark Twains books were banned and thats required reading now.

For a religion thats all about converting people. Narrow minded christians annoy me. Jesus taught love not hate. His friends were people society shunned. She must forget Jesus wasnt really white.

I hope her child is spared by her ignorance.

[nbdy]

Re: Treating Islam as if it were a valid religion? Damned teachers!

I have always been baffled by monotheists talking about "other gods." If you really believe there is only one, then the best anybody else can do is call that god by a different name than you do, perhaps worship in a different way. I figure monotheists who get bent out of shape about "other gods" aren't really monotheists.

[Rowanwood]

Re: Treating Islam as if it were a valid religion? Damned teachers!

I have always been baffled by monotheists talking about "other gods." If you really believe there is only one, then the best anybody else can do is call that god by a different name than you do, perhaps worship in a different way. I figure monotheists who get bent out of shape about "other gods" aren't really monotheists.

Monotheists have a variety of beliefs regarding other deities...monotheist has varying levels of meaning, but most faiths referred to that way have a god insisting upon being the only true god, or the only one worthy of worship, not necessarily the only one to exist. And some believe other 'gods' are demons but into place by their primary god as a test. And of course, sometimes its just the imprecision of language because you can't just pretend other people don't believe in different gods, even if you only believe in one, so you can refer to a "god" or "gods" but not believe they ARE a god.

I was a Catholic for a long time, and I met some of each.

[nbdy]

Re: Treating Islam as if it were a valid religion? Damned teachers!

Monotheists have a variety of beliefs regarding other deities...monotheist has varying levels of meaning, but most faiths referred to that way have a god insisting upon being the only true god, or the only one worthy of worship, not necessarily the only one to exist. And some believe other 'gods' are demons but into place by their primary god as a test. And of course, sometimes its just the imprecision of language because you can't just pretend other people don't believe in different gods, even if you only believe in one, so you can refer to a "god" or "gods" but not believe they ARE a god.
I was a Catholic for a long time, and I met some of each.

Makes sense. Monotheism as in believing there are many gods but choosing to worship only one. Seems like we need more than one word for it, then.

[Malflick]

Re: Treating Islam as if it were a valid religion? Damned teachers!

Makes sense. Monotheism as in believing there are many gods but choosing to worship only one. Seems like we need more than one word for it, then.

We've got one: Henotheism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henotheism