A Virginia school district is defending a classroom assignment that required students to practice calligraphy by writing the Muslim statement of faith, “There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”
Female students at Riverheads High School in Staunton, Virginia, were also invited to wear Muslim clothing — a story first reported by The Schilling Show.
The school district convened a meeting on Dec. 11th to discuss the assignment with outraged parents.
The Muslim-friendly calligraphy assignment took place in a world geography class. The teacher had the kids copy the Muslim statement of faith, also known as the shahada.
“Neither these lessons, nor any other lesson 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,” the district said in a statement provided to Fox News.
Yeah right.
Parents told The Schilling Show that their children were not given the translation of what they were writing.
In other words, there were more than likely a few Christian teenagers in that room who had no idea they were writing, “There is no god but Allah.”
But the school district doesn’t seem to think that’s a problem.
“The statement presented as an example of the calligraphy was not translated for students, nor were students asked to translate it, recite it or otherwise adopt or pronounce it as a personal belief,” the district stated.
They said it was all about the art — not about the theology.
“They were simply asked to attempt to artistically render written Arabic in order to understand its artistic complexity,” they stated.
And out of sheer coincidence — out of all the Arabic words and phrases the teacher could have selected, she picked the Islamic statement of faith?
And what about having the female students dressing up in Islamic garb — is that consistent with the state mandates, too?
The district said the students were taught about the “modest dress adopted by many in the Islamic faith and were invited to try on a scarf as a part of an interactive lesson about the Islamic concept of modest dress.”
I mean, if they really want to go crazy and teach kids about modest dress, how about the fingertip rule for shorts and skirts, or maybe having young men pull their pants all the way up? Or perhaps that’s just too radical.
Source: Students practice calligraphy by writing There is no god but Allah
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