Crayons and Qurans-the reason I put this article on Shariah Finance, is this is what we can expect as we make exceptions for Shariah Law and sell out to the Middle East. There is no seperation of church and state under the government of Islam, and they are crossing the lines of this, in America. Islam is not just a religion, it is the rule of law. This is something that must not be forgotten, as we defend Islam, and make special rules for it that are not make for Christians, Jews, Buddhists, or any other religion is America. Read this and get involved in the issues of Shariah Law, and how our markets are making it easy for it to creep into our democratic system.

comments by Allyson Rowen Taylor

Religion: Controversy over exposing Michigan second-graders to world religions raises questions about the role of the public school | Mark Bergin

www.worldmag.com/articles

CHILDS: “The first time these kids hear the word Islamic, I don’t want it to be tied to terrorism.”

Michigan parent Mark Clifton was in for a surprise last December when his 7-year-old daughter came home from public school with an understanding of basic Islamic theology and a story about a nice older boy visiting her second-grade classroom to read a prayer from the Quran in Arabic. Troubled, Clifton complained to officials at Dorothy Miller Elementary in Canton, a school located just 25 miles west of the nation’s highest concentration of Muslim immigrants in Dearborn. The grievance prompted genial assurances that nothing taught had violated the curriculum’s cultural diversity guidelines.

Clifton was less than satisfied: “Quite honestly, I am shocked, appalled, and saddened that something like this can take place in a public school and be given the green light by school officials. Did I miss something here? If I were to walk into a public-school classroom and read from my Bible, the ACLU would be beating down my door.”

Indeed, public-school efforts at Muslim accommodation throughout the country appear to operate on a looser standard than that applied to Christian expression (see sidebar). But that disparity raises an important question as to whether Christians should fight the inequity by quashing the public display of other religions or advocating for equal time. Don’t all people benefit when secular political correctness is set aside in favor of open religious discussion?

Jon Childs, the second-grade teacher responsible for Clifton’s offense, believes so. For more than a dozen years, Childs has paraded older students and parents of diverse religious backgrounds into his classroom to share the tenets and practices of their respective faiths. He first conceived the idea when some students in his class felt left out during Christmas celebrations. Childs still reads to the kids from his collection of ‘Twas the Night before Christmas children’s books, but now seeks to balance his room with perspectives from multiple religious backgrounds.

On this particular occasion, a fifth-grade student at the school outlined foundational Muslim theology and shared a story central to Islam’s prohibition of alcohol before delivering an Arabic reading from the Quran. At other times, Childs has invited Hindus, Sikhs, Jews, and even Christians to make similar presentations from firsthand experience.

“The kids enjoy it and go home with a very simple and basic understanding,” said Childs, a teacher for 34 years. “I’m not trying to say one religion or the other is correct. I never share my personal religious views with the kids.”

But education in a perfect vacuum is impossible. Childs admits that his aim in exploring diverse religions is to illustrate what he believes is the common ground undergirding them. “At their root, all religions teach that we should be helping each other, and that’s what I try to stress with the kids,” he told WORLD. “Religion can be a unifying force if we stick to some of the basic things.”

For many parents, such disinterested multiculturalism represents a dangerous worldview opposed to the exclusive nature of truth. And therein lies the problem: How can a secular institution like a public school teach effectively on world religions without taking sides or promoting a relativistic ethic void of value judgments? Should it even try?

Applying such questions to a second-grade classroom compounds the complexity. But Childs defends his approach on the grounds that opening students’ minds to the virtues of pluralism at a young age might help dispel religious conflict and tension when they reach adulthood. “The first time these kids hear the word Islamic, I don’t want it to be tied to terrorism,” he said. “I hope that teaching a little bit about this now will help in the future when maybe they hear some bad things about Muslims or Jews and can remember that we talked about it in class and those kids seemed pretty nice.”

Furthermore, Childs says that “tiptoeing around religion as if it doesn’t exist” prevents sound history and sociology education: “It’s a really important part of people’s lives.”

Nevertheless, Dorothy Miller principal Lynn Haire and district director of elementary education George Belvitch have discussed with Childs the possibility of changing his pedagogical approach to avoid future complaints. Of course, any real movement to prevent worldview collisions between teachers and parents hinges on a revolution for choice in public education.