ACT for America Education releases report on Islam in the classroom

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The line between “education” and “indoctrination” is, at times, a fine one, and often not a clear one. However, common sense dictates that greater care should be taken to avoid what appears to be indoctrination when the objects of the information are children and youth. Experience demonstrates that children are more malleable than adults. Adults can be reasonably expected to be more able than children to distinguish between objective education and indoctrination.

Therefore, what is taught to children in our public schools should be subjected to a higher standard of scrutiny in order to ensure that what is taking place in the classroom is “education” rather than “indoctrination.” This is especially the case when the subject matter is world religions.

This Report does not argue that Islam should not be taught in our public schools. The major religions of the world are one part of our human history, and to exclude teaching about them impedes our understanding of who we are and why the world is at it is.

But when it comes to the teaching of any religion, Islam included, extra care should be exercised by textbook writers and teachers to ensure that what is being taught to their diverse student population is in fact “education” and not “indoctrination.” In public schools Muslim parents would no more want their children indoctrinated in Christianity,Judaism or Hinduism than Christian, Jewish or Hindu parents would want their children indoctrinated in Islam – regardless of whether what amounted to indoctrination was the result of honest mistakes, inattention to detail, ignorance of the subject matter, or bias.

Thus the question posed by this Report. Does the manner in which Islam is generally presented in 6th through 12th grade public school textbooks constitute proper and appropriate education – or does it amount to indoctrination?

Is Islam presented in a manner in which facts are embellished and its virtues exaggerated, while unfavorable, negative or detrimental information about the religion is omitted, glossed over, understated, or rationalized, thus amounting to “indoctrination” rather than education?

Is Islam presented in a manner that leads students to predetermined conclusions about the religion that are unsupported by historical facts and critical analysis, amounting to “teach[ing] (a person or group) to accept a set of beliefs uncritically?”

This Report set out to address and answer these questions. For as the British philosopher and educator Richard Stanley Peters wrote: “What matters is not what any individual thinks, but what is true. A teacher who does not equip his pupils with the rudimentary tools to discover this is substituting indoctrination for teaching.” (As quoted on http://quotes.yourdictionary.com/indoctrination.)

To download and read the full report, click here.

Video: Muslim woman indoctrinates youngsters

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This video was taken in the week after September 11, 2001 and is filmed apparently in a public school, and probably a first grade classroom, judging by the children. This woman attempts to equate wearing the hijab to Catholic nuns in their habits, and makes several other attempts at moral equivalency: We’re all the same; we just dress differently. Nonsense.

The Historical Reality of the Muslim Conquests

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Raymond Ibrahim

Because it is now almost axiomatic for American school textbooks to whitewash all things Islamic (see here for example), it may be instructive to examine one of those aspects that are regularly distorted: the Muslim conquests.

Few events of history are so well documented and attested to as are these conquests, which commenced soon after the death of the Muslim prophet Muhammad (632) and tapered off circa 750. Large swathes of the Old World—from the India in the east, to Spain in the west—were conquered and consolidated by the sword of Islam during this time, with more after (e.g., the Ottoman conquests).

By the standards of history, the reality of these conquests is unassailable, for history proper concerns itself with primary sources; and the Islamic conquests are thoroughly documented. More importantly, the overwhelming majority of primary source materials we rely on do not come from non-Muslims, who might be accused of bias. Rather, the foremost historians bequeathing to posterity thousands of pages of source materials documenting the Islamic conquests were not only Muslims themselves; they were—and still are—regarded by today’s Muslims as pious and trustworthy scholars (generically, the ulema). Continue reading →

Adopting Pro-Sharia textbooks

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By Alyssa Lappen, posted at Family Security Matters

In August 2011, a Marietta, Ga. 7th grade teacher gave a three-page homework lesson from InspirEd Educators Inc. of Roswell, Ga. to students to help them discuss pros and cons of school uniforms. “Women in the West do not have the protection of the Sharia as we do,” declared a letter from a Saudi wife named Ahlima. “If our marriage has problems, my husband can take another wife rather than divorce me, and I would still be cared for.” She’s glad that Saudi women “have the Sharia.” When parents objected to the assignment’s pro-Islam stance, the school district changed the curriculum.
In 2010, Act for America compiled research from former assistant education secretary Diane Ravitch, American Textbook Council and Textbook League on how38 public school texts handled Islam; last month, Christian Action Network launched a national campaign warning of bias.
While school assignments sugarcoat sharia, the doctrine requires “defense” of community and permits “payback” against perceived enemies like U.S. servicemen and all Israelis, according to influential Muslim Brotherhood jurist Yusuf Qaradawi. Thus a naturalized Kosovo man arrested in Florida Jan. 9 planned an attack to “die in the Islamic way.” The Council on Islamic American Relations (CAIR) has longwarned members not to aid the FBI and Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) agentsseek more “hate crime” studies — but eliminations of solid counter terrorstrategies.
Some 22 states and U.S. territories currently maintain central textbook “adoption” standards to either recommend or require specific textbooks for public schools.Textbook adoption originated during Reconstruction to ensure that the Civil War narrative included Confederate views in southern states. In the public free-for-all that ultimately developed, minorities apparently appropriated undue influence. Thus, texts often downplay European history but include material unrelated to the U.S. Some books, for example, tout Mali’s medieval Islamic ruler Mansa Musa and his 1324 trip (with thousands of slaves) to Mecca. But they provide no connection to U.S. history — as none exists.
In the last two decades, sanitized Islamic history and dogma crept into broad use in U.S. public school books thanks largely to Shabbir Mansuri; to advantage Muslims, he maximized the minority role in textbook adoption (and falsely claimed to be a USC-educated chemical engineer). In 1990, he founded the Fountain Valley, Ca. Council on Islamic Education to promote Islam in textbooks and curricula, which he calls a “bloodless” revolution inside American junior high and high school classes. Mansuri derived the idea in 1988, after seeing a textbook disparage physical aspects of Muslim prayer, he says.
Independent review agencies affirm that CIE—deceptively renamed in 2006 asInstitute on Religion and Civic Values (IRCV)—powerfully influences U.S. textbooksvia state standards it helped to write.
For advancing “change” in school standards and curricula, CIE can largely thank Muslim convert Susan Douglass, who for 10 years wrote CIE lesson plans, advisories,guidelines and pamphlets to soft peddle Islam in public schools. Central is theTeacher’s Guide to Religion in the Public Schools that this author exposed shortly after its 2003 publication, purportedly as an interfaith “First Amendment” plan.
CIE bedfellows include North American Muslim Brotherhood affiliates. CIE shares MB goals, as its former chief Mohammed Akram outlined in a strategic May 1991 MB “Explanatory Memorandum.” Sound Vision Foundation pushes “dawa” (proselytizing)in public schools from MB offices in Bridgewater, Ill., for example. CIE joined efforts with Arab World and Islamic Resources Group (AWIRG), a.k.a. Dar al Islam or land of Islam—a remote N.M. non-profit founded in 1979 by the late Saudi King Khaled ibn Aziz. AWIRG had CIE help forming its speakers bureau and until a 2005 press inquiry, listed CIE as its “secondary schools” associate. CIE has old ties, too, to the extremist Islamic Networks Group, and “collaborated extensively” with Ali al-Mazrui, an ex-trustee of an MB organization founded by incarcerated, Eritrean MB terrorist financier Abdurahman Alamoudi.
While probably unaware of their carefully staged genesis, parents for years have vocally opposed such Islamic instructions in public schools and texts as:
  • In 2005, Scottsdale, Ar. schools shelved Across the Centuries, only to introduce more offensive Islamic propaganda in TCI’s History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond.
  • In 2008, a Seminole County, Fl. school let Muslim women co-opt a “family dynamics’” talk.
  • A Houston middle school sent students to a class on Islam during a periodreserved for phys ed.
  • California parents have repeatedly rejected curricula and texts (including TCI’sHistory Alive) that sanitize Islam or teach its pillars.
  • In Sept. 2010, a Wellesley, Ma. school “field trip” to a Saudi-funded Roxbury mosque taught kids how to pray like Muslims.
  • In early 2010, Minnesota’s ACLU sued St. Paul’s public k-8 Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy for breaching the ban against government religious advocacy.
  • Massachusetts schools adopted a Notebook by Abiquiu, N.M.’s Saudi-funded AWIRG. Pushed by Harvard’s Middle Eastern Studies Center, it claims Muslim explorers discovered the New World and Native Americans had Muslim names. (In 2005, the center had received $20 million from Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talaal, who later boasted he could control global TV news.)
In Sept. 2010, the Texas Board of Education endured heavy criticism after issuing atextbook resolution asking publishers to fix the “pro-Islamic/anti-Christian half-truths, selective disinformation, and false stereotypes” that riddled textbooks. The board included four pages of notes to document “pejoratives” targeting Christians and “superlatives,” Muslims—e.g. brutal conquests of Christian lands were called “migrations” of “empire builders.” Books listed Crusaders’ massacres, but not the Muslim Tamerlane’s 1389 Delhi murder of 100,000 prisoners or his 1401 Baghdad massacre of 90,000 Muslims.
Whether named CIE or IRCV, Islamic forces spent decades stealthily cultivating influence over our nation’s public schools and curricula through “minority” channels afforded by “textbook adoption.” Other “adoption state” authorities should perhaps now add teeth to their own Texas-like counter-efforts.

Parents, have you read your child’s textbook lately?

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From the The Tennesseean

Although it is hard to admit, parents are guilty of overlooking some of the “fine print” in life. The best-intended parents (myself included), who check homework, instill values, run soccer carpool, and tuck in children at bedtime, sometimes get mired in the busyness of life. While making sure all the schedules and needs are met on the home front, we often miss what is right in front of our noses.

Parents sending their children off to school trust that the kids are being taught accurate, unbiased, and morally correct information. We put our trust into a school system that spends more “awake” time with our kids than we do. Sometimes we are a little too trusting when we do not review the textbooks, look over curriculum, and ask teachers questions about their lesson plans. Before I go any further, I want to clarify that I am a believer and a product of public education. I have five relatives who teach or have retired from the public school sector. My children have been blessed with excellent teachers in the Sumner County school system who are responsible, competent and caring.

There are two areas that should be a nationwide concern for parents due to the pressure of certain political organizations and activist groups. I will only discuss one in this article due to the length. After checking my child’s homework one night, I found an entire chapter dedicated to Islam. I understand that the formation of religion is a part of history and therefore should be discussed briefly; however, the length and depth of material are completely inappropriate. In the Holt World History book, the Islamic World chapter covers the roots of Islam, Islamic beliefs and practices, Islamic empires and cultural achievements. (14 pages of Islam compared to three pages of Christianity). Christianity was covered in one section under the Roman empire chapter. Furthermore, the chapter of Islam was whitewashed from clearly explaining the aspects of Sharia Law, the treatment and rights (or lack thereof) of women, and how Islam is “tolerant” (or not so much) toward other religions. The textbook glosses over the spread of Islam through bloodshed of non-Muslims and points out that trade “helped” non-Muslims convert (page 363). The post 9/11-issued book explains that jihad is “to make an effort, or to struggle.” Only in the last sentence was jihad also translated as “holy wars.” Although 96 percent of all social studies text books have been revised since that horrifying historic event, one-third of the textbooks make no mention of 9/11 according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. Another disturbing discovery, the textbook refers to Allah as God several times. As a Christian, I find the interchanging of “Allah” and “God’s” name offensive. Any studied Christian or Muslim would attest that the two religions believe in two different beings as God. Why, then, are the two different beliefs of God being presented as one?

If you think I might be overreacting to the teaching of Islam in the classroom, allow me to elaborate on another “tool” that was used in a Bryon, Calif., classroom. At Excelsior Middle School, the teacher was supposedly following an instructional guide when she told students they would pretend to be Muslims for three weeks in order to learn what Muslims believe. According to World Net Daily, during this time they were required to wear Muslim dress, memorize verses from the Quran, pray to Allah, simulate Ramadan by fasting, use the phrase “Allah Akbar” (Allah is great), and play “jihad games.” When parents were not allowed to opt out, Christian parents sued the school system. Tragically, the federal judge in the 9th Circuit ruled that such activities constitute teaching “about religion” and declared the program devoid of “any devotional or religious intent,” and therefore educational, not religious in nature. In essence, the courts ruled against parental rights and religious freedom. Stories of similar cases rarely get reported. Cinnamon Stillwell, an opinion writer for The San Francisco Chronicle writes, “Islamists have taken what’s come to be known as the ‘soft jihad’ into America’s classrooms, and children in K-12 are the first casualties. Whether it is textbooks, curriculum, classroom exercises, film screenings, speakers, or teacher training, public education in America is under assault.”

Parents need to research materials and resources being used in the classroom. Ask questions. Be rational and civil when you talk to your child’s teacher. Remember that the teachers did not write the textbook. Do find out what points she/he intends to make. My child’s teacher was clear, upfront and reasonable while addressing my concerns. I appreciate the sense of teamwork I felt when I left her classroom. As parents and concerned citizens, we cannot sit idly by. Stillwell writes, “Probably the single greatest weapon in the arsenal of those trying to fight the misuse of America’s public schools is community involvement.” This means you! If even 20 percent of parents took an active role in the fight against indoctrination in the public schools, substantial improvements would be made.

Beth Wettengel is a Hendersonville mother of two.

Recommended Curriculum

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For parents who want to teach an accurate history regarding Islam rather than the sanitized version given in public schools, here is an outline for a recommended curriculum. All the information you need regarding these subjects can be found easily via the internet, bookstores, your local library, and I can provide recommendations for you if needed.

This outline came by way of Steve, who posted it on the Creeping Sharia blog. Thanks Steve.

For those who are inclined to take my suggestion, here is the course outline I developed for my own study purposes. There are 20 lessons in the course.

1. The Pre-Islamic World of Arabia: “Jahiliyya”
2. Muhammad: His life, Deeds and Character
3. The Four “Rightly Guided” Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali
4. The Sects of Islam and Schools of Jurisprudence
5. The Five Pillars of Islam and Other Beliefs
6. The Quran: Islam’s Holy Book
7. The Lunar calendar
8. festival Days and Observances
9. The Hadiths, the Sira of Muhammad, and Shariah Law
10. Treatment of Women: Polygamy, the Veil, “Honour Killing”, Wife Beating, and Female Genital Mutilation
11. Jews and Christians: “People of the Book”
12. The “Golden Age” of Islam: Myth or Reality?
13. Dhimmitude: The “Protected” Unbelievers
14. Slavery in Islam: The Hidden and Untold Story of the Slave Trade
15. The Crusades: Christian and Islamic Civilizations Clash
16. Jihad: The “Greater” and the “Lesser”
17. The Quran: Islamic History and Science Versus Authentic History and Modern Science
18. Glossary of Terms
19. Resource Material: Books and DVDs
20. Classroom Assignment

I feel this outline would be great in a college classroom setting, but it can be adjusted to fit any grade level. Use it and learn; there is no copyright on this outline.

Islam in Virginia’s Public Schools, part 2

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This is part II of a three part series on the Virginia Department of Education’s attempt to push Islam while purging Christianity and even Capitalism from our children’s classrooms. In Part I of this story we looked specifically at the extraordinary amount of indoctrination the Standards of Learning place on Islam and the Muslim Culture and Theological History. In this section we will take a close look at the purging of Christianity and Capitalism, replaced by mandatory teaching that the government is the great protector of society. To accomplish this goal, the DoE has revised, altered and selectively edited words, paragraphs, historic events and entire civilizations.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Virginia SOL’s push Islam and Far Left Agenda in Virginia Schools Part II – Richmond Political Buzz | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-richmond/virginia-sol-s-push-islam-and-far-left-agenda-virginia-schools-part-ii#ixzz1SZWt02mv

Islam in Virginia’s Public Schools, part 1

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It seems  that Virginia Board of Education has hijacked the Virginia Standards of Learning as a tool to indoctrinate our children in Islam to the near exclusion of Christianity and all other religions.

The pro-Islamic discrimination in our public school texts favors Islam in secular schools, revises history and obscures Sharia law including treatment of non-Muslims. Students are not exposed to fundamental Islam’s goal of imposing Sharia law on all peoples and suppressing all other religions.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Virginia SOL’s push Islam and Far Left Agenda in Virginia Schools Part 1 – Richmond Political Buzz | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-richmond/virginia-sol-s-push-islam-and-far-left-agenda-virginia-schools#ixzz1SZW0E6dX

Medieval to Early Modern Times

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This is the first of several articles that will seek to expose the treatment given to the subject of Islam in our public schools.

Medieval to Early Modern Times is a middle school world history textbook published by Holt, Rinehart, Winston publishers. It is one of a handful of textbooks used throughout the U.S. and adopted by local school boards.

The subject of Islam is contained within Unit 2 of the textbook: The Islamic World. Unit 2 consists of two chapters – Chapter 3: The Rise of Islam, and Chapter 4: The Spread of Islam.

The introductory information on Arab geography and life is accurate and not particularly noteworthy. However, beginning on page 59 with the section “Origins of Islam” we find the textbook making some rather troubling claims. Continue reading →

Mt. San Antonio College

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It is time to start naming names. I don’t like to do this, but schools and instructors found teaching revisionist history need to be exposed. Our schools are institutions where our children deserve to be taught facts, not fiction masquerading as truth. Instructors are not paid to teach myth.

For the background to this post, see my earlier post “Columbus, Islam, and Revisionist History.”

On September 7, 2010 I sent the following letter to the president of Mt. San Antonio College. Subsequently I also sent an electronic copy of the letter along with copies of all supporting documents to every trustee of the college. To this day I have not received a response from either the president or any of the trustees.

September 7, 2010

Dr. John S. Nixon, President/CEO
Mt. San Antonio College
1100 N. Grand Ave.
Walnut, CA 91789

Dear Dr. Nixon,

I write this letter as a concerned citizen. I believe the objective of every institute of higher education should be to provide instruction based on fact and truth. Continue reading →