A few weeks old, but still current -- the stealth jihad to whitewash Islam and propagate it in the public schools still continues. "Schoolhouse Shariah," from Investor's Business Daily, September 24 (thanks to Allyson):
Multiculturalism: California's educrats have put out new rules for teaching Islamic studies to seventh-graders in public schools, and they are as biased as ever. They'll also likely spread eastward.
The lesson guidelines adopted by the bellwether state whitewash the violence and oppression of women codified in Islamic law, or Shariah. And they're loaded with revisionist history about the faith.
For example, the suggested framework glorifies Shariah as a liberal reform movement that "rejected" the mistreatment of women that existed in Arabia before Muhammad and his successors conquered the region, according to Accuracy in Academia. The guidelines claim that Islamic law established for the first time that men and women were entitled to equal "respect."
Sounds as if Dalia Mogahed could have written that!
Not so, says Islamic scholar and author Nonie Darwish, who grew up Muslim in Egypt.
"I am shocked that that is what they teach," she said. "Women had more rights in Arabia before Shariah."
In fact, "wife beating is allowed under Shariah" today, she added. "It allows a woman seen without a headdress to be flogged, punishes rape victims, and calls for beheading for adultery."
California's course on world religions also omits Islam's long history of jihadist violence, while portraying Christianity as an intolerant and bloodthirsty faith....
You can't teach the Ten Commandments in public schools. But teaching the five pillars of Islam is A-OK.
To be honest, we would have to say that we know very little for certain about the religious or cultural practices which obtained for the Middle East immediately before the advent of Islam, since, except for those Jews and Christians who survived, we have to rely on Muslim "historians" to know anything about them. It is hard to see how the position of women could have been worse, and it is indirectly observable from Islam's own histories that some women, at least, held positions of power.
Islam's greatest opponent in North Africa was probably a Berber warrior queen known as the Cahena.
educrats as these, having with no moral sense, because the true source for it (as found in the Bible) has been expunged from their consciousness, i.e. they know not Moses and are not known by Jesus. they will rot in hell for their misleading others to this empty table called the mosque, where only statements leading to death are offered up.
obviously none have read the Koran and Sunna, but instead, are filled with the whitewashed sayings of the socalled example to all men (not women), the only prophet who can rape, steal, kill, destroy with impunity.
strong statements of condemnation for the decisions of these flowers of Academia should be made loud and long all over the world where people desire honesty and truth.
Stay tuned with what your kids are taught and question them regularly regarding the curriculum. Unfortunately, the world is full of propaganda and all we can do is educate our children to recognize and self-investigate. I constantly remind my kids to make sure they interpret facts themselves and not someones opinion. With the internet available, there are always multiple points of view and our kids need to form their own opinions. Don't ever count on the education system to actually educate your kids!
This could backfire. It might whet the appetites of the littlies to find out more later. Or they could ask questions at home and get surprised right now. Or the teachers might be stupid enough to bring out the actual Koran and frighten the kids inadvertently.
As they ratchet up their tactics and efforts, so must we. The work never stops; there is always more.
Any child 10 or over is old enough to watch 'Fitna', with a knowledgeable parent or other informed adult present, and have it explained to them.
Any child 12 or over is probably old enough to watch Ayaan Hirsi Ali's 'Submission' and have the facts explained. This one is especially important for girls...any churches that are 'up to scratch' about Islam, should show 'Submission' to their teenage girls' group. They could then encourage the girls to read one or more of the following - Ayaan Hirsi Ali 'Infidel', Nonie Darwish's 'Now They Call Me Infidel' and 'Cruel and Usual Punishment' [just the first half, on marriage and family under sharia], Brigitte Gabriel, 'Because They Hate', Hannah Shah 'The Imam's Daughter', and Gulshan Esther 'The Torn Veil'. 'Not Without My Daughter' and 'Persepolis' might also be useful; especially if, 'book club' style, the informed adult guide can explain all the ways in which the horrible things that happen to the women and girls in these stories, are prescribed and permitted and made possible by sharia.
All of these books feature strong female protagonists and although they contain horrifying elements, are also the classic 'jolly good read' - they entertain, strangely enough, as well as informing.
Every person responsible for religious instruction of Christian kids, in a church-run school or in a church, should have Mark Durie's book that compares Islam and Christianity.
Once the teenagers start showing signs of recognising there is a problem, then it might be time to show them 'Islam: What the West Needs to Know'; perhaps in segments, since it is long and detailed and mostly comprised of sober grownup 'talking heads'.
I just wish the Poles would hurry up and finish that film they were working on - 'Viktoria' - about the epic ride of Jan Sobieski and his Winged Hussars, and the Victory over the invading Ottoman Turkish Muslim hordes at Vienna in 1683.
If it's done right, 'Viktoria' would be the perfect 'in' for teaching our western teenage boys about Islam, and the jihad, and why it must be resisted at every turn, and that this is the great battle of our times. That they too can be heroes like Sobieski's Winged Hurssars...if they are willing to stand up against the Jihad and resist every attempt to impose Sharia on the free world.
No idea how I missed that editorial... I read IBD on a daily basis.
Call, e-mail, fax and/or write every single person you know in California, with kids in school, or otherwise.
Next, we'd better find out just what hell is being taught or in planning here in Flori-duh and throughout the rest of the nation.
Kenny Solomon
Senior Expediter
The 72 Virgins Club Travel Agency
Bacon-wrapped rounds a specialty.
DDA, thank your for the heads up about the Polish movie "Viktoria" under production about the Second Siege of Vienna. From time to time in the past there has been some discussion here about famous battles involving Islamic aggression in the world that would make great movies, and Vienna in 1683 was at or near the top of the list. I did some Googling around and found a short description of it at http://ibloga.blogspot.com/2008/02/poland-new-movie-about-jan-sobieski.html .
If, as you say, it is done well it could be a great movie and a vehicle for recreating the perceptions of Europeans about the menace presented to Europeans by Islam and the Ottoman Turks in the late 17th Century. From comments on the above web site it appears that it will present the story within the historical framework of the times, which would naturally include the considerable inter-European Christian rivalries (e.g., the Thirty Years War, which had started at least as being between Catholics and Protestants, had ended only 35 years earlier - and resulted in the killing of something like one-third of the population either directly by military action or indirectly by disease/starvation). One suspects that it will also include some element of anti-Jewish sentiment. It has to have a POV, but one would hope it doesn't just present the passions of the time, valuable as that would be, but also shows the relevance of the outcome of that battle to the present struggle between Islam and the rest of the world.
I couldn't find anything more about the movie, such as who the producer/director are and whether it will be available in dubbed form (vs subtitles), its budget and who's financing it (very important), and whether it will be distributed globally. Depending on such details it could well end up being a niche movie shown only in art houses as opposed to being a smash hit.
Well, there is more current information about the movie. Check out http://victoria-film.com/english/index_eng.html . Lots of stuff, too, on YouTube. Looks to be shaping up to be a good movie.
Still more...from what I could find out the book is only available in Polish, hence does not show up on Amazon or BN, etc. But there is GOOD news...Check out the web site http://www.kolporter.pl/251223,Ksiazki_Powiesc-historyczna_Victoria.html for a description of the book and the comments following it. The site is in Polish, but it can be easily translated into English. If the movie follows the book, it would appear that it will be postured along just the lines that most people here would approve of. I can't wait for it to appear!
I don't know that I have a strong objection to including Islam in a religions of the world curriculum. The problem is going to be the people teaching it.
In print, the segment seems reasonable:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/documents/histsocsciframe.pdf
Unfortunately, it will be difficult to get anything near an even-handed presentation. The key is mental innoculation by parents and awareness. My yuppy neighbors are horrified that I would be questioning the goodness of Islam :) Sometimes decisions and conclusions are fact-free, no?
"There is no place for a non-Muslim child or a teacher in a Muslim school."
Although you appear barely able to restrain yourself in your comments, your last sentence pretty well sums up the problem with your argument, Iftikhar. Imagine the response if a proponent of the Christian schools you condemn had said "There is no place for a non-Christian child or a teacher in a Christian school." But, of course, Christian schools do not discriminate against Muslims or any other religion in their admissions, because, unlike Muslims, their mission is not religious brainwashing of children but rather educating them. The reason private Christian schools are popular is not primarily because of their Christian character (although for some it might be), but rather because, unlike public schools, they provide a strict, disciplined environment conducive to learning.
The problem under discussion, though, is not private religious schools, but rather public schools. In the U.S., at least, tax-payer supported schools are not supposed to show favoritism among religions. So to suppress the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools while allowing presentation of the Five Pillars of Islam, is rank discrimination favoring Islam. Now, while we won't be surprised if you favor this, it is completely unacceptable to anyone with even a smidgen of a sense of fairness. This is the nub of the problem and is why the article was posted here.
I don't know that I have a strong objection to including Islam in a religions of the world curriculum. The problem is going to be the people teaching it.
In print, the segment seems reasonable:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/documents/histsocsciframe.pdf
Unfortunately, it will be difficult to get anything near an even-handed presentation. The key is mental innoculation by parents and awareness. My yuppy neighbors are horrified that I would be questioning the goodness of Islam :) Sometimes decisions and conclusions are fact-free, no?