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Reminds me of when my daughter attended a Hawaii public schools back in the 90s. As part of their mandatory K-12 Hawaiiana program, the Hawaiiana instructor (a bona fide Hawaiian kahuna--"priest") gave them a hymn to Pele to learn that they would later sing in a pageant.
The first line was, "O great Pele, creator of the world, we worship and adore you...."
She asked us if she had to learn it. We told her she didn't. And made sure with the school that she wouldn't.
I don't understand why in 2015 local school teachers are touching religion at all. It's surely not necessary and clearly it's going to get people upset.
My apology. I did not read far enough or it did not register.
I as a Muslim object highly to non-Muslim Children even attempting to copy the shahadah without understanding fully it's meaning and with the approval of the parents. That should not be part of a grade school curriculum .
To copy the kalimah (The Calligraphi Thuluth script of the Shahadah) by a non-Muslim, borders on an Insult
And I feel the same way about children being required to recite the Lord's Prayer who don't mean it or understand it. For that matter, I feel the same way about all kinds of public prayers said supposedly to the God I worship over events that are not themselves dedicated to the God I worship.
Public schools took prayer out of school, why does Islam feel they can reintroduce religion into schools?
Better yet, why are people not saying anything........
Why not a calligraphy Haiku, why about God at all? One can not ask kids to write one true God and act like this isn't some form of brainwashing.
Example; My homework is late.
My dog ate it this morning.
I sure like my dog.
I fully agree all religious teaching has to be kept out of Public Schools. All children have to be treated equally and without bias.
Comparative religion type courses are best reserved as elective courses for older Children that have the ability to make up their own minds.
No religion should be forced upon anyone.
While Islamic Calligraphy is quite interesting as an art form, it also has to be understood that as the drawing of living creatures is prohibited Islamic art developed as decorative writings of prayers. All Islamic Calligraphy is essentially a prayer. It probably is not an appropriate topic for non-Muslim children.
The "Kalimah", "Bismillah" and the "al-Asma ul Husna" are the most common subjects of Islamic Calligraphy, to explain any of them requires an extensive explanation of Islam. Something that would be found to be offensive by many non-Muslims if taught in Public Schools.
I agree the teaching of Islamic Calligraphy is essentially a religious course.
And I feel the same way about children being required to recite the Lord's Prayer who don't mean it or understand it. For that matter, I feel the same way about all kinds of public prayers said supposedly to the God I worship over events that are not themselves dedicated to the God I worship.
ugh another case of people (American's) blowing a simple task out of proportion.
It was 9th grade (older kids, not babies in 1st grade) world geography class where they are bound to learn about religion. Much of our world history and geography is related to religion. If you want American kids to know what is going on outside the great world of America they need to learn about the world that exist which means learning about different culture & different way of life. The school picked up the most common phase used in calligraphy. "my dog at my homework" or other silly commonly used sentence is USA are not common in other parts of the world.
It is ridicules to think the school is trying to convert kids to Islam. It is even more ridicules to think one can convert to another religion simply by copying a text. How dumb are you people? Americans are the dumbest in the world when it comes to understanding the world. Most average Americans can't even show a country in the map aside from USA & maybe where Canada or Mexico is and parents are perfectly happy raising another group of dumb Americans who are so self centered that nothing outside of USA will exist in their mind. God forbid if a teacher try's to teach about the world, the parents will start complaining.
Reminds me of when my daughter attended a Hawaii public schools back in the 90s. As part of their mandatory K-12 Hawaiiana program, the Hawaiiana instructor (a bona fide Hawaiian kahuna--"priest") gave them a hymn to Pele to learn that they would later sing in a pageant.
The first line was, "O great Pele, creator of the world, we worship and adore you...."
She asked us if she had to learn it. We told her she didn't. And made sure with the school that she wouldn't.
I don't understand why in 2015 local school teachers are touching religion at all. It's surely not necessary and clearly it's going to get people upset.
Because the class is social studies and religion is one of the social customs as is dress, food, etc.
But it does seem they are going deeper into the religion than they have in the past.
I wonder if they go into christianity as deep. Are they going to read passage from the Bible ?
Because the class is social studies and religion is one of the social customs as is dress, food, etc.
But it does seem they are going deeper into the religion than they have in the past.
I wonder if they go into christianity as deep. Are they going to read passage from the Bible ?
I think it may be most figure American children are Christian and already have knowledge of the Bible. Perhaps some schools have the idea that children should be taught what they do not know.
I do remember as a child we had Music Classes and many of the Songs we were taught were Hymns.
This is ridiculous. This whole thread is about Christians being offended, yet people are singling out Woodrow for being offended at the exact same thing?!?
The point is no one should be offended. Learn to deal with different opinions!
Can you imagine the uproar if a Group of Muslims had protested and demanded non-Muslim Children not be allowed to write the Shahadah in the Calligraphic script?
There would be non-Muslim groups demanding that since it is a public school the children had a right to learn Arabic Calligraphy if the teacher desired to teach it.
My point is that Christians should not be offended, and you, a Muslim, should certainly not be, for the simple fact that exposure to elements of your religion would bring better understanding and appreciation. I am responding directly to your previous post that said a Muslim would be offended if a non-Muslim child was writing some sort of script whatever. The point is....stop all this offense business and learn to appreciate each other in the 21st century!
My point is that Christians should not be offended, and you, a Muslim, should certainly not be, for the simple fact that exposure to elements of your religion would bring better understanding and appreciation. I am responding directly to your previous post that said a Muslim would be offended if a non-Muslim child was writing some sort of script whatever. The point is....stop all this offense business and learn to appreciate each other in the 21st century!
That's kind of like saying a black child should not be offended by a teacher showing clips of white men portraying "Amos and Andy" in blackface as a generic example of early 20th century television.
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