I think the whole thing was very wrong .. but I think it's also wrong to try and make this another mosque/community center hot button issue. The bigger issue is that the school inserted itself into teaching about different belief systems (give me a break!) which is the real problem I would have had with them as a parent. The whole boy/girl separation & shoe thing doesn't set me off. The kids weren't rounded up in a van and forced into the building - and I think the old adage applies .. when you're under my roof, you live by my rules. I don't like what they did - but it was "their house" and that's how they worship.
When I was in high school the confirmation classes I attended at my (protestant) church was where the different belief systems were taught & discussed. I don't think it belongs in the school system at all - but it's unfair to pick on just the mosque/community center visit to get people worked up. The class also included visits to a synagogue, a gospel musical performance and a Hindu gathering of some kind. I find that equally egregious but mostly unmentioned in the majority of the mosque visit stories.
...A community center spokesman said no one from the organization asked the pupils to participate in the prayers.
“Certainly in our tours we do not invite kids to take part, but if someone wants to come pray and take part, we shouldn’t prevent them,’’ said Bilal Kaleem, president of the Muslim American Society of Boston, which manages and runs the cultural center. “It’s more an issue with the school.’’
Kaleem said that the cultural center offers tours and that Wellesley educators had set up the field trip.
Wong said the mosque visit took place as part of the sixth-grade social studies course, “Enduring Beliefs in the World Today,’’ which includes lessons on Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. As part of the class, pupils also visit a synagogue, attend a gospel musical performance, and meet with Hindu religious representatives, she said.
[url]http://www.boston.com/yourtown/wellesley/articles/2010/09/17/school_visit_to_mosque_decried/?p1=News_links[/url] |
