Here's a follow-up on an earlier topic of discussion with pro and con columns.
Islam-in-history program sparks controversy
PRO: Aids understanding
By Vincent Ferrandino
Teaching about religion from a historical context is not indoctrination, it's a well-rounded education.
At this moment across the globe, more than two dozen conflicts are raging that threaten the peace and stability of our planet.
Sadly, virtually all of these armed conflicts have at their core one common denominator - deep-seeded ignorance, intolerance and fear among cultures and religions.
Most of these cultural clashes seem too distant to affect our daily lives as Americans. They are television sound bites and newspaper headlines.
But when terrorism - wrapped in the blanket of religious zealotry - reached our own shores last Sept. 11, those headlines became real.
As we try to understand how this could happen in America, we must look for ways to build understanding and awareness.
The United States is the world's beacon for liberty, democracy and religious tolerance. It is a reputation we have built on education, dialogue and respect.
In our free and democratic society, we strive to avoid cultural isolationism or state-mandated ignorance about the greater world or indoctrination.
For more than a decade, public schools in California have required students to be exposed to major religious movements throughout history.
California requires in grade seven, as one of 11 World History and Geography standards, that "students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of the civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages."
Students also learn about how Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and other major world religions impact history and development of major civilizations. This requirement has been part of the curriculum for over a decade.
So why is this requirement being challenged now?
In part, this is because talk-show sensationalists and narrow special-interest groups have made it an issue and blown it out of proportion by misrepresenting what actually is being taught.
Teachers aren't teaching Islam, they are teaching about Islam from a historical context.
In doing so, they use many accepted teaching styles that include role-playing and re-creating historical events in written and oral projects.
Would anyone challenge the notion that for American children to understand fully the origins of our democracy they should be taught about 17th century religious movements and attitudes in Europe?
Hardly. How many adults today dressed up for Thanksgiving pageants when they were in school?
Or read and wrote about the beliefs of Pilgrims, Quakers and other early settlers when they studied Colonial America? Most of us did.
In California, many parents reviewed the state curriculum and such textbooks as "Across the Centuries."
They are satisfied that their schools are not trying to convert their children to Islam or any other religion.
Those with such concerns may opt their children out of the instruction and have them do alternative assignments.
In the Information Age, our children will need to thrive and compete in a world economy.
Our public schools have an obligation to educate tomorrow's adults so they have a firm grasp on world history and the role religion has played
and continues to play in shaping the future.
To do otherwise will prove the adage, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
* Vincent Ferrandino is executive director of The National Association of Elementary School Principals. This piece was distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
------------------------------
Islam-in-history program sparks controversy
CON: Violates Constitution
By Herbert London
It was reported recently by Assist News Service that in the aftermath of Sept. 11 a large number of California public school students were asked to attend intensive courses and workshops on Islam.
The course mandates that seventh graders learn the tenets of Islam, memorize verses in the Quran, learn to pray in the name of Allah and are instructed to chant, "Praise to Allah, Lord of Creation."
Despite the horrific attacks of Sept. 11 and the anti-American sentiments so deeply embedded in radical Islam, I don't object to students' learning about the culture, history and religious beliefs of Islam.
What I do object to, however, is an apparent attempt to proselytize. Students in this course are required to memorize 25 Islamic terms, six Islamic phrases, 20 Islamic proverbs, along with the Five Pillars of Faith and 10 key Islamic prophets.
Islam is taught as the one true religion, and students are encouraged to pray to Allah.
Now let us assume for a moment that evangelical leaders could insert the study of Christianity into public schools.
Students in this fanciful scenario would be required to read the contributions of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and the Apostle Paul, passages from the Bible would have to be memorized, and students would be encouraged to pray to the one true Christian God.
Before the ink was dry on the curriculum guide, the ACLU would have its attorney in state court claiming this was an egregious violation of the separation of church and state.
Yet curiously the ACLU has not reacted to the teaching of Islam in public schools.
It interest ACLU officials to know that Christians are enjoined in their Scriptures to "render ... unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's."
While this phrase has undergone many interpretations, it has legitimized a system in which two institutions exist side by side, each with its own laws and chain of authority - one concerned with religion, called the church, the other concerned with politics, called the state. No such separation exists in Islam.
One might therefore conclude that the ACLU would be particularly vigilant when an Islamic course is inserted into the junior high school curriculum of several California schools. But apparently ACLU standards are selective, or should I call them hypocritical?
The textbook for the Islamic course, "Across the Centuries," presents Islam in a positive manner, as I believe is appropriate.
After all, Islam has brought comfort and peace of mind to countless men and women. But this is not a monochromatic picture.
Islam has also promoted wars, massacres, cruelty against Christians and Jews and many other non-Muslims. Moreover radical Islam, Wahhabism, is clearly a sponsor of international terrorism.
By contrast, Christianity in this textbook is pictured largely in a negative light with emphasis on the Inquisition and the Salem witch trials. While these events cannot be denied, the positive dimensions of Christianity should be emphasized as well.
What then can one make of this situation? For one thing, "tolerance madness" has clearly afflicted California. Most people are unwilling to say something is wrong if political correctness is involved.
The study of history and culture certainly require consideration of Islam. But study does not infer indoctrination.
An American system that emphasizes a separation of church and state should not endorse any religious belief in the schools.
* Herb London is president of The Hudson Institute in Indianapolis and the John M. Olin professor of humanities at New York University. This piece was distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune. |
