Islamic lessons at US school dubbed ‘disturbing’ by parents
One parent expressed outrage that the school had “skipped over” Christianity
Brandee Porterfield PHOTO: FOX NEWS
School lessons about the Islamic faith have become a cause for concern for many non-Muslim parents of seventh graders at a Tennessee middle school in the United States.
One parent, in particular, Brandee Porterfield, took exception to the lessons, especially an assignment to write out the Five Pillars of Islam and the fundamental Islamic believe that “Allah is the only God and Muhammad (pbuh) is his Prophet.”
Read: In Britain, teachers learn how to tackle extremists
Speaking on Fox and Friends, she said, “I do think it is the state sponsoring religion in schools. They’re not going over [other religions], so for the students to have to memorise this prayer, it does seem like its indoctrination.”
Further, she expressed outrage at the fact that the school had “skipped over” Christianity and that later in the year, “they do have some studies on Hinduism, Buddhism, and things like that, but they are not learning any other doctrines or creeds, and that’s what my concern was.”
Porterfield took to Facebook to garner support by putting up images of her child’s lessons and encouraged other parents to raise their voices as well. Her post, which read, “My children will not be making a profession of Islamic faith, no matter what the consequences,” has been shared more than 1,300 times, with many commenting that the school’s approach was “disturbing”, “insane” and “incomprehensible that this could happen in the US”.
Chris Marczak, director of the Maury County Public Schools, issued a statement on Facebook reassuring parents that the school was following the State of Tennessee curriculum standards. “For this last section on the Islamic World this past week, our educators had students complete an assignment that had an emphasis on Islamic Faith. The assignment covered some sensitive topics that are of importance to Islamic religion and caused some confusion around whether we are asking students to believe in or simply understand the religion.”
Read: Billboards in US aim to raise awareness about Islam
“It is our job as a public school system to educate our students on world history in order to be ready to compete in a global society, not to endorse one religion over another or indoctrinate. I encourage all Maury County parents to be their child’s first and main teacher. It is our job as parents of our own children to instill in them the beliefs of our individual households,” the statement added.
According to city data, 52.6% of the population does not subscribe to any particular religion. However, 44.9% are adherents of Christianity (either Protestant or Catholic), and only 2.4% consider themselves “other.”
This article originally appeared on Yahoo
One parent, in particular, Brandee Porterfield, took exception to the lessons, especially an assignment to write out the Five Pillars of Islam and the fundamental Islamic believe that “Allah is the only God and Muhammad (pbuh) is his Prophet.”
Read: In Britain, teachers learn how to tackle extremists
Speaking on Fox and Friends, she said, “I do think it is the state sponsoring religion in schools. They’re not going over [other religions], so for the students to have to memorise this prayer, it does seem like its indoctrination.”
Further, she expressed outrage at the fact that the school had “skipped over” Christianity and that later in the year, “they do have some studies on Hinduism, Buddhism, and things like that, but they are not learning any other doctrines or creeds, and that’s what my concern was.”
Porterfield took to Facebook to garner support by putting up images of her child’s lessons and encouraged other parents to raise their voices as well. Her post, which read, “My children will not be making a profession of Islamic faith, no matter what the consequences,” has been shared more than 1,300 times, with many commenting that the school’s approach was “disturbing”, “insane” and “incomprehensible that this could happen in the US”.
Chris Marczak, director of the Maury County Public Schools, issued a statement on Facebook reassuring parents that the school was following the State of Tennessee curriculum standards. “For this last section on the Islamic World this past week, our educators had students complete an assignment that had an emphasis on Islamic Faith. The assignment covered some sensitive topics that are of importance to Islamic religion and caused some confusion around whether we are asking students to believe in or simply understand the religion.”
Read: Billboards in US aim to raise awareness about Islam
“It is our job as a public school system to educate our students on world history in order to be ready to compete in a global society, not to endorse one religion over another or indoctrinate. I encourage all Maury County parents to be their child’s first and main teacher. It is our job as parents of our own children to instill in them the beliefs of our individual households,” the statement added.
According to city data, 52.6% of the population does not subscribe to any particular religion. However, 44.9% are adherents of Christianity (either Protestant or Catholic), and only 2.4% consider themselves “other.”
This article originally appeared on Yahoo