12-19-2015, 02:08 PM
This is some major drama llamery, in my opinion.
![[Image: 12390953_10153893124043586_8859900610035557959_n.jpg]](http://hyperallergic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/12390953_10153893124043586_8859900610035557959_n.jpg)
A Virginia county closed all of its schools Friday because of intense backlash over a class assignment about Islam, with some parents alleging that their children were being subjected to Muslim indoctrination and educators emphasizing the importance of exposing U.S. students to the world’s fastest-growing religion.
A high school geography teacher in rural Augusta County asked students to try their hand at writing the shahada, an Islamic declaration of faith, in Arabic calligraphy. The assignment was part of a world geography and cultures/religions class and came straight out of a standard workbook that had been used for years.
The assignment this week resulted in the school board getting angry emails, phone calls and threats to put the teacher’s head on a stake. As a result, 10,000 students got a day off of school when all district schools were closed.
One popular Facebook post which was representative of many others read, "This is so WRONG! There is only ONE GOD and HIS NAME is JESUS!"
The school district made an official statement promising to remove the shahada from world religion instruction. "A different, non-religious sample of Arabic calligraphy will be used in the future," it said.
"...these lessons, nor any other lessons in the world geography course, are an attempt at indoctrination to Islam or any other religion or a request for students to renounce their own faith or profess any belief," Augusta County Schools official Eric Bond said yesterday.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/educ...se-friday/
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/18/us/virgini...-homework/
A Virginia county closed all of its schools Friday because of intense backlash over a class assignment about Islam, with some parents alleging that their children were being subjected to Muslim indoctrination and educators emphasizing the importance of exposing U.S. students to the world’s fastest-growing religion.
A high school geography teacher in rural Augusta County asked students to try their hand at writing the shahada, an Islamic declaration of faith, in Arabic calligraphy. The assignment was part of a world geography and cultures/religions class and came straight out of a standard workbook that had been used for years.
The assignment this week resulted in the school board getting angry emails, phone calls and threats to put the teacher’s head on a stake. As a result, 10,000 students got a day off of school when all district schools were closed.
One popular Facebook post which was representative of many others read, "This is so WRONG! There is only ONE GOD and HIS NAME is JESUS!"
The school district made an official statement promising to remove the shahada from world religion instruction. "A different, non-religious sample of Arabic calligraphy will be used in the future," it said.
"...these lessons, nor any other lessons in the world geography course, are an attempt at indoctrination to Islam or any other religion or a request for students to renounce their own faith or profess any belief," Augusta County Schools official Eric Bond said yesterday.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/educ...se-friday/
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/18/us/virgini...-homework/