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Originally Posted by james777 View Post
Here is another article on this from the NY Daily News for those of you who call the Daily Mail a rag and pretend this misbehavior by school officials never happened.
One of the songs does say 'Christ the savior is born', which is a statement of faith that I do not personally subscribe to, and while I was free to walk away as an audience member, the students were not given the option not to participate. Once again - I don't have a problem with it personally - if my child's belief system can be swayed by singing a song in choir or copying a Muslim statement of faith, or going to a Religious service at a synagogue, or learning about Hindu gods during yoga class, or learning how a Buddhist honors their ancestors then I probably haven't done my job helping him build a firm belief structure.
Christ is a part of Christmas.......this is pretty much a no-brainer! Christmas is celebrated by many, in many different ways, but Christ is the reason for most. If a student really didn't want to be a part of the play, they could ask to be removed.
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Did you look at the actual assignment? The translation is not given on the paper the students received. Whether the translation was provided verbally in class or was looked up by students/teachers later is not clear, but this all appears to be much ado about nothing.
Is it normal to ask students to blindly write something and not know what it says or the meaning. Do you really think this was the only thing this teacher had to choose from that was Arabic?
Not sure how learning about God is now geographical.
Do you think this is teaching religion or who God IS?
“There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”
I do wonder how some of you would have reacted if the calligraphy without translation said...... "The Only way to get to Heaven is to believe in Jesus" my bet you people would be outraged, not saying, "it is much ado about nothing." I for one would be asking the same question, this is not what school is for!
The article implies that the lessons, or course, was on 'world religions'. I would like to know if the students at the school were asked to write out the Shema (Jewish statement of faith) in Hebrew, or the central tenets of Catholicism and non-Catholic Christianity, or an important statement of the Hindu faith in Sanskrit, and of course Buddhist and Confucian tenets. That would justify, at least to me, the inclusion of the exercise in writing down the Shahada in Arabic. If the course was just directing the specific exercise of writing out a Muslim statement of faith in Arabic and not putting it in the context of major and influential religions in the world, that gets into the promotion of one religion over others. And I don't see why the students would have to write out any statement of religious faith in Arabic or other languages; though I think, if the course compares religions all over the world, the students should be taught what those statements of faith are for each religion.
In all fairness, Americans hardly "find joy and honor in learning about one another". Most Americans know virtually nothing about Islam, and could not point to and identify many (if any) Muslim nations on an un-labeled world map.
Neither could they point to and identify many US states. Maybe the educators need to start closer to home.
Great post. The reason is that Islam is the current boogie man for Republican Christians. They are so paranoid, thanks to Conservative politicians and talk show hosts, that all you have to do is mention the word Islam or Muslim and they panic. To think that writing something in Arabic will Indoctrinate the precious children and yet they allow their children to be indoctrinated into their church.
Wow, you are even more specific in your inane cultural bias than most of the liberal elitists here. You don't hate Christians, just Republican Christians! Tell me, when was the last time a Republican Christian shouted 'Death to America', or strapped on a suicide vest hoping to take out as many infidels as possible?( obviously, you and your family are safe up in your ivory tower).
Not a lie one just can't face the obvious facts even if they are right in front of you. 500 B.C Buddha wrote parables & the your Christ came along just repeated what Buddha had already taught.
Jesus: "Do to others as you would have them do to you." Luke 6:31 Buddha: "Consider others as yourself." Dhammapada 10:1
Jesus: "If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also." Luke 6:29 Buddha: "If anyone should give you a blow with his hand, with a stick, or with a knife, you should abandon any desires and utter no evil words." Majjhima Nikaya 21:6
Jesus: "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." Matthew 25:45 Buddha: "If you do not tend to one another, then who is there to tend you? Whoever would tend me, he should tend the sick." Vinaya, Mahavagga 8:26.3
Jesus: "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword." Matthew 26:52 Buddha: "Abandoning the taking of life, the ascetic Gautama dwells refraining from taking life, without stick or sword." Digha Nikaya 1:1.8Jesus: "Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it." Mark 8:35 Buddha: "With the relinquishing of all thought and egotism, the enlightened one is liberated through not clinging." Majjhima Nikaya 72:15
Yup, And Buddha lived long before Christ. His teachings are still so relevant today, and die hard Christians would consider the worship of Buddhism as a pagan worship.....indeed!
A momentary impact, like a snowflake landing on a cannonball
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Originally Posted by Ralph_Kirk
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Well, at least CNN has made a major story of it now. Unfortunately, the school received threats that forced them to close all the schools in the district...so maybe Americans are the idiots the Daily Mail is making us appear to be.
Yah, this stuff happens. @ least in this case, it's for some perceived real issue, instead of just soccer-hoodlum-type crowds burning buses, setting fires, & throwing bottles @ the police over a case of disappointment (or celebration) - it doesn't really seem to make much difference which it is, in the case of hyped-up athletic aficionados.
Back to the case @ hand: The way school funding works, if the school system wants to get that day's funding from the state, they will have to make up the day in the future. Snow days are typically built into school years in the north, & something similar will be built into VA's SY. Students & staff will hold school to make up for the missed day - or forfeit the money. No public school system that I'm aware of can afford to miss a day's state school revenue.
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A momentary impact, like a snowflake landing on a cannonball
