Posted on 11/24/2004 7:30:01 PM PST by Exton1
Judge rules Islamic education OK in California classrooms
Dismisses suit opposing requirement students recite Quran, pray to Allah
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Posted: December 13, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
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© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
Requiring seventh-grade students to pretend they're Muslims, wear Islamic garb, memorize verses from the Quran, pray to Allah and even to play "jihad games" in California public schools has been legally upheld by a federal judge, who has dismissed a highly publicized lawsuit brought by several Christian students and their parents.
As WND reported in July of last year, the suit was filed by the Thomas More Law Center against the Byron Union School District and various school officials to stop the use of the "Islam simulation" materials and methods used in the Excelsior Elementary School in Byron, Calif.
In her 22-page ruling announced Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton said Excelsior is not indoctrinating students about Islam when it requires them to adopt Muslim names and pray to Allah as part of a history and geography class, but rather is just teaching them about the Muslim religion.
When WorldNetDaily first reported the story in January 2002 – shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks committed by 19 Islamist terrorists – major controversy ensued nationwide.
The World History and Geography class in question is part of a curriculum being taught to seventh-graders all over the state, and is included in the state's curriculum standards required by the state board of education. Although the standards outline what subjects should be taught and will be included in state assessment tests, they don't mandate how they're to be taught.
In the three-week course, Excelsior teacher Brooke Carlin had students assume Islamic names, recite prayers in class, memorize and recite verses from the Quran, and had them simulate Ramadan fasting by going without something for a day. The final test required students to critique Muslim culture.
The Islam simulations at Excelsior are outlined in the state-adopted textbook "Across the Centuries," published by Houghton Mifflin, which prompts students to imagine they are Islamic soldiers and Muslims on a Mecca pilgrimage. The lawsuit also alleges students were encouraged to use such phrases in their speech as "Allah Akbar," which is Arabic for "God is great," and were required to fast during lunch period to simulate fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Nevertheless, the judge ruled the program was devoid of "any devotional or religious intent," and as therefore educational, not religious in nature.
'Double standard' decried
However, Richard Thompson, chief counsel for Thomas More, points to what he calls an obvious double standard.
"While public schools prohibit Christian students from reading the Bible, praying, displaying the Ten Commandments, and even mentioning the word 'God,' students in California are being indoctrinated into the religion of Islam," he told WND on filing the lawsuit. "Public schools would never tolerate teaching Christianity in this way. Just imagine the ACLU’s outcry if students were told that they had to pray the Lord's Prayer, memorize the Ten Commandments, use such phrases as 'Jesus is the Messiah,' and fast during Lent," he added.
According to Thompson, "Although it is constitutional for public schools to have an instructional program about comparative religion or teach about religion and utilize religious books such as the Bible in courses about our history and culture, the Byron Union School District crossed way over the constitutional line when it coerced impressionable 12-year-olds to engage in particular religious rituals and worship, simulated or not."
However, Byron Superintendent Peggy Green defended the program: "Dressing up in costume, role-playing and simulation games are all used to stimulate class discussion and are common teaching practices used in other subjects as well."
And Excelsior Principal Nancie Castro maintained, "At no point do we teach or endorse religion; we teach about religions' impact from a historical context. ... This is the state-approved curriculum, using state-adopted textbooks and has been part of the instructional program in California for over a decade."
Appealing to the 9th Circuit?
Yesterday, Thompson told WND that his legal team believed from the start that, regardless of who won the first round, this case would go to appeal – and that is exactly where he wants it to go. With some irony, Thompson points out that the appeal would go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
"This is the court that said, in the 'Under God' Pledge case, that the mere expression 'One nation under God' [recited in a public school] violates the Constitution," said Thompson. "It will be very interesting to see how they deal with this Byron School District case where students are basically required to become Muslims for three weeks!"
While the Thomas More Law Center is intent on appealing the case, it is awaiting word from the plaintiffs as to their intent.
The "Declaration, & the Constitution" are the Bases of our Culture!
ANY Attempts to "Shield" our Citizens from the Precepts in those Documents is--at Very Least--TREASON.
Attempts by "Islamicists" &/or "Leftists" to render our Citizens--& MOST ESPECIALLY, our Children--IGNORANT of our National Heritage should be Considered a DIRECT ATTACK on our Nation & Culture.
Such Actions should be Considered a form of "Psychosocial Warfare,"--& should be Responded to AS SUCH!!
Teaching "Islamic Jihad" to our most impressionable children, but NOT teaching countervailing Christian beliefs, is an UNACCEPTABLE BIAS.
Since WHEN have American Educators EVER devoted More Than Superficial Content to ANY "Religion??"
The Degree of attention--& the Depth of Content--given to "Islam" indicates an Aberrant focus NEVER BEFORE SEEN on a "Religion" in a previously Unbiased educational Burocracy.
WHAT has Changed??
HOW CAN IT BE that in AMERICA--a Predominately Christian Nation--"Islam" is taught in Public Schools??
Despite Decades of "Effort" to keep "Religion" OUT OF our Public Schools, we NOW allow our "Teachers" to teach "Islam!!"
Since "Islam" is the Origin of the Psychopathology which resulted in 9/11, TEACHING that Psychosis is TOTALLY IRRATIONAL!!
WHAT are those people THINKING???
In America, "Islam" should be the subject of mistrust & scorn.
Doc
Had teachers inculcated students with Nazi or Shinto precepts in World War II, they would have been charged with treason.
An article on FR posted today cited a teacher in a CA school (IIRC, southern CA) who was stopped from distributing copies of the Declaration of Independence to 5th grade kids because the word "God" is contained therein.
Can you imagine? Why are the leftists in love with Islam? I guess the "hatred" part makes them feel kinship.
Judge Phyllis Hamilton is a whackjob. She'll even be overturned by the Ninth Circuit. The state can not force children to pray to any God, that is settled law.
Judge Hamilton is truly nut case and has issued a number of decisions that call into question her ability and state of mental health.
But does anything sane ever happen in California? If it does, it must be in small towns surrounded by moats to keep out marauding liberals.
Note to self: read the thread before adding silly .02.
Certainly, I imagined courts forcing homosexual marriage on an unwilling public, babies being killed on the way out and men of the cloth being arrested for preaching Gods word a long time ago. People thought I was nuts, even my own loving family. :-}
This sort of utter idiocy
has all the smells of the satanic puppet masters all over it.
I'd love to know that judges history and associations.
"As WND reported in July of last year, the suit was filed by the Thomas More Law Center against the Byron Union School District and various school officials to stop the use of the "Islam simulation" materials and methods used in the Excelsior Elementary School in Byron, Calif."
Take your children out of the Byron Union School District and of every public school.
ABSOLUTELY!!
" Can you imagine? Why are the leftists in love with Islam? I guess the "hatred" part makes them feel kinship"
Too bad federal jugdes don't stand for elections...
" Can you imagine? Why are the leftists in love with Islam? I guess the "hatred" part makes them feel kinship"
oops
Children grow up to do what they've learned -
The enemy's approach is two pronged, some attack with terrorism, some attack by indoctrinating our children.
The goal is the same.
We have 5-10 years before hitting the point of no return.
I;m sorry - we are at war - this judge is a traitor.
Time to treat them as such.
This is sickening...BTTT
I just sent an email to Hugh Hewitt....my next stop is John & Ken...
If anyone is a subscriber to Rush's 24/7 (whatever he calls it), will you please write to him?
And any others you can think of?
This can NOT stand. It needs to be screamed from the rooftops. I am sick, absolutely sick over this.
That same Moronic book is currently used in the Temecula School District, and let's just say that about 120 pages are devoted to these terrorist lovers, and is almost all positive, and a very small number of pages are devoted to christianity and it is almost all negative.
It is a total joke.
This is coming folks. All over the ocuntry, this is part of their goal to destroy our country, our way of life, and the NEA, and teachers are a part of it.
9/11 is all my kids need to know about islam the pathetic terrorist growing cesspool.
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