Texas children roped into Islamic training

I cannot even begin to express my dismay at what happened at this school. While part of me is shocked, the other part is not. The whole purpose of the public school system is to indoctrinate kids with whatever the state wants. Don't believe me? Think I'm being a bit harsh? Spend some time reading articles and books written by some of the heads of the public school system. Trust me. They leave little room to doubt. But even with all of that, this is one of the more blatant steps to undermine everything that these parents would hope to teach at home:

Public school students at Friendswood Junior High in the Houston area have been roped into Islamic training by representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations during class time, prompting religious leaders to protest over Principal Robin Lowe's actions.

Pastor Dave Welch, spokesman for the Houston Area Pastor Council, confirmed the indoctrination had taken place and called it "unacceptable."

In the Texas case, a school e-mail to parents provided only a half-hearted acknowledgement that such mandatory religious indoctrination might not have been the best decision.

"In hindsight, a note should have been sent home to parents indicating the purpose and content of the presentation in time for parents to contact me with questions or concerns or requests to exempt their child," the school note from Lowe said. "This will be our practice in the future, should we ever have another presentation of a similar nature."

School officials also said the "Islamic Awareness" presentation was "to increase understanding of the Islamic culture in response to racially motivated comments that have been made to students on campus."

The pastors said in a statement: "According to students who were forced to attend these sessions, these Islamic evangelists taught them:

• Adam, Noah and Jesus are prophets
  
  
• There is one god, his name is Allah
  
  
• The 5 Pillars of Islam
  
  
• How to pray five times a day
  
  
• Islamic religious garb"

There also was no parental notification, and students were required to attend.

"The kids did not even know they were having an assembly or what topic it pertained to until they entered the gym," the parent wrote. "I send my kids to school for academics. … I teach them religion at home."

The sad thing is that we can no longer send our children to school for academics alone. They will be taught many other things. The question is, whose view point do we want them to hear from? I don't have a problem teaching my children about other religions. I took a "Living World Religion" class in college. I think it's good to know so we know how to defend our faith against theirs. But those are things that I will teach my children. Not the public schools.