Thread: More PC Islamic BS

Enough is enough I hope these people toss out thier school board.

http://tinyurl.com/45p98h

Council: Mongtomery schools cave to pressue with Islam book
Jun 7, 2008 8:21 AM (1 day ago) by Leah Fabel, The Examiner
» 1 day ago: Council: Mongtomery schools cave to pressue with Islam book «
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Filed under: Washington, D.C. , Leah Fabel , Textbooks

Washington, D.C. (Map, News) -

A new report issued by the American Textbook Council says books approved for use in local school districts for teaching middle and high school students about Islam caved in to political correctness and dumbed down the topic at a critical moment in its history.

"Textbook editors try to avoid any subject that could turn into a political grenade," wrote Gilbert Sewall, director of the council, who railed against five popular history texts for "adjust[ing] the definition of jihad or sharia or remov[ing] these words from lessons to avoid inconvenient truths."

Sewall complains the word jihad has gone through an "amazing cultural reorchestration" in textbooks, losing any connotation of violence. He cites Houghton Mifflin's popular middle school text, "Across the Centuries," which has been approved for use in Montgomery County Schools. It defines "jihad" as a struggle "to do one's best to resist temptation and overcome evil."

"But that is, literally, the translation of jihad," said Reza Aslan, a religion scholar and acclaimed author of "No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam." Aslan explained that the definition does not preclude a militant interpretation.

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A statement from Montgomery County Public Schools said that all text used by teachers had been properly vetted and were appropriate for classroom uses.

Aslan said groups like Sewall's are often more concerned about advancing their own interpretation of Islam than they are about defining its parts and then allowing interpretation to happen at the classroom level.

Sewall's report blames publishing companies for allowing the influence of groups like the California-based Council on Islamic Education to serve throughout the editorial process as "screeners" for textbooks, softening or deleting potentially unflattering topics within the faith.

"Fundamentally I'm worried about dumbing down textbooks," he said, "by groups that come to state education officials saying we want this and that - and publishers need to find a happy medium."

Maryland state delegate Saqib Ali refrained from joining the fray. "The job of assigning curriculum is best left to educators and the school board, and I trust their judgment," he said.

lfabel@dcexaminer.com

Maryland's School Boards, Congressmen and Representatives must be ignorant about what is going on in the world.
Haven't they learned anything about what has happened in Europe for letting Islam get a foothold there?
Political Correctness will destroy us all!

Marylanders, along with all Americans, KNOW the meaning of Jihad. They also are aware that Islamics who practice the Muslim faith were responsible for over 4,000 deaths of innocent Americans, and that Islamics around the world cause nothing but fear, death, and destruction in the name of their allah.

Public schools in Maryland shouldn't be teaching classes on the Muslim faith. There are already special Muslim madrasses (or whatever they are called) that teach that crap.

I dont care about being PC. This is a Christian country and Islam has NO PLACE here.

Islam/Muslim religion should NOT be taught in public schools UNLESS Christianity, Judaism (sp?) Buddhism, Seek, Hinduism, Taoism, and all other major world religions are part of the same study taught as an ELECTIVE course of study. Though considering the JIHAD already perpetrated by radical Islamists against innocent Americans on U.S. soil, the Islam curriculum would have to be updated to include the truth instead of the PC nonsense in the article above.

RELIGION SHOULD NOT BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOL NO MATTER HOW MANY RELIGIONS ARE INCLUDED. PARENTS TEACH THEIR KIDS ABOUT RELIGION AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM SHOULD NOT COMPETE WITH THAT. EVEN CHILDREN FROM THE SAME RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND ARE TAUGHT VARYING PRINCIPLES. IT IS CONFUSING TO CHILDREN TO HEAR SUCH AN ARRAY OF OPINIONS WHEN IT COMES TO RELIGION. LET THE PARENTS GUIDE THEIR CHILDREN WHEN IT COMES TO RELIGION.

The issue here is not about what may, or may not, have been misinterpretated or sugar coated.

The issue here is that nothing about Islam should be being taught in public schools, period.

Originally Posted by redpony353

RELIGION SHOULD NOT BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOL NO MATTER HOW MANY RELIGIONS ARE INCLUDED. PARENTS TEACH THEIR KIDS ABOUT RELIGION AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM SHOULD NOT COMPETE WITH THAT. EVEN CHILDREN FROM THE SAME RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND ARE TAUGHT VARYING PRINCIPLES. IT IS CONFUSING TO CHILDREN TO HEAR SUCH AN ARRAY OF OPINIONS WHEN IT COMES TO RELIGION. LET THE PARENTS GUIDE THEIR CHILDREN WHEN IT COMES TO RELIGION.

Oh, I absolutely agree that public school is no place for religious TEACHINGS. This IS the parents'/family's/church's responsibility as it should be. However, since this country is drowning in PC culture and forced diversity- especially from the public school system, even more in colleges and universities- if ONE religion is represented, then ALL should be. Don't take Christian prayer out of school and then turn around and insert a book with Islam representations and act suprised when that decision is protested. Don't take God out of the Pledge then install Muslim footbaths in taxpayer funded buildings and expect some of us to just "let it go". Many Christian principles were part of the founding of this nation and we got along fine for the most part until humanism (It's not MY fault) and "everything's hunky-dory" ideology began to take over, again- thanks in part to taxpayer funded public schools. So, if this nation's founding Christian PRINCIPLES are disallowed on school property, then NO other religion should be represented in any way on those same grounds. Doesn't seem likely, so that's why I believe if Islam is to be represented in any way (even if it's only mention of the word "Islam) in public schools, the same quantity and quality of information should be provided for all other major religions. Just my opinion.