A Virginia school district closed all of its schools and offices after an outcry over a high school geography lesson that included an example of Arabic religious calligraphy.
All schools were closed over this? Are people insane or completely insane? Please tell me it’s a joke and an entire school district didn’t freak out because of a calligraphy assignment. “There is no God but God” scares them? Monotheism is suddenly intolerable?
Freaks.
“There is no God but God” scares them? Monotheism is suddenly intolerable?
As part of a world geography class in Riverheads High School in Augusta County, Virginia, students were asked to copy the Arabic “calligraphy” that stated that “There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”
The phase is known as the shahada, the Islamic profession of faith. Conversion to Islam is accomplished by saying this statement three times in front of witnesses. At the time, the children were unaware of what they were writing, according to district officials.
I agree that for the school district to close all of its schools was an absurd over reaction. A better, and more responsible, reaction would have been to tell the teacher to learn what he/she is asking students to write.
There is an interesting video at the end of the linked article about a school visit to a mosque.
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I hope nobody thought there was a danger of these children converting to Islam. Because that would be way too medieval. I’ve said the phrase “There is no God but God” in 3 different languages (including Arabic) in the course of my Hispanic Civ class dozens of times but I haven’t converted to anything. 🙂 Especially since the God in question is the same God as that of Jews and Christians.
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\ “There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”
I believe in Israel teens themselves would be very angry after finding what they were writing.
I would not want to write such myself.
” Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” =/= Monotheism
Allah =/= God, if we talk about how Israeli Jews feel when they hear the word. “Allah” = the God of Muslims.
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“Allah” is Arabic for God. Like “Bog” is Russian for God. Islam is a monotheistic religion. The existence of Moses doesn’t make Judaism any less monotheistic. The existence of Virgin Mary doesn’t make Christianity any less monotheistic even though people actually pray to her. The existence of Muhammad, as the conduit of the word of God, doesn’t make Islam any less monotheistic. Let’s try to be a bit more educated.
“I believe in Israel teens themselves would be very angry after finding what they were writing.
I would not want to write such myself.”
I’m sorry but this is simply willful ignorance. Especially since it’s the exact same God that is worshiped by Jews. THE EXACT SAME ONE!
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\ The existence of Muhammad, as the conduit of the word of God, doesn’t make Islam any less monotheistic. Let’s try to be a bit more educated.
I know that, obviously. What I wanted to say was that not believing in Muhammad (or even being against Islam) does not equal being against monotheism. (You wrote: “Monotheism is suddenly intolerable?”)
\ I’m sorry but this is simply willful ignorance. Especially since it’s the exact same God that is worshiped by Jews. THE EXACT SAME ONE!
Muslims have a different religion, not Judaism. Each of the three main religions imagines its God and his desires (what people should do to serve him) differently.
I am not sure how religious Jews and Muslims worship the same God, if Jewish God has Jews as his chosen people, while a Muslim version sees Jews as inferior infidels. (I know about “people of the book” in Islam, yes) And Christian version says both Jews and Muslims will burn in hell for eternity for not worshipping the true God.
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“Muslims have a different religion, not Judaism. Each of the three main religions imagines its God and his desires (what people should do to serve him) differently.”
“And Christian version says both Jews and Muslims will burn in hell for eternity for not worshipping the true God.”
More on hell according to Jesus: http://www.godsplanforall.com/jesusdidnotteachhell
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I don’t usually preach but since I’m given this opportunity, here goes. 🙂 Christianity is a religion of inner contemplation. It’s very much turned inwards, like psychoanalysis. If you go to a good, legitimate priest (pastor, preacher, etc.) and try discussing Jews, Muslims, your neighbors, the sins of humanity, you will be stopped and gently reoriented towards discussing your own inner life. Again, exactly like in psychoanalysis. This is why the whole “they will burn in hell” slogan is medieval garbage that never came from Jesus. Christianity is a way of establishing a relationship between oneself and the world and between oneself and God. Of course, before proceeding to do that, one needs to have a self, and that’s the main goal of this religion. The main task is not to judge others and mete out imaginary punishments to them. The task is to understand the meaning of life and death. And that’s a grand assignment that can’t be trivialized with frying pans and demons.
Yes, there are stupid people who are too limited to understand religion and they reduce it to silly shit like frying pans in hell or 40 virgins in paradise. But those are idiots. Just like the people who read Don Quijote and saw nothing but a madman tilting at windmills.
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The existence of Virgin Mary doesn’t make Christianity any less monotheistic even though people actually pray to her.
There < a href=https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090407103358AAvK60S”>are Protestants who strongly disagree and consider Catholics heathens.
I believe in Israel teens themselves would be very angry after finding what they were writing.
I would not want to write such myself.
Clarissa, I think it’s less about monotheism, and more about historical attempts at conversion. Is writing the shahada once on a piece of paper that has your name on it equivalent to conversion? No. Could it be misused to say you converted by unscrupulous people who’ll bend definitions when it suits them? Yes. Even if anusim is a concept, it still rankles.
Look at the case of Edgaro Mortara
It’s really quite ridiculous that the same people who absolutely freak out about calligraphy and henna want to compel everyone to say “Merry Christmas” and loudly whine about mangers being removed from government buildings and Jesusy school prayers in public schools. They would consider a Jewish student who refused to sing Silent Night a troublemaker and a pedantic asshole. They only claim this right to literalist temper tantrums for themselves.
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I know better than most that any text can be interpreted by anybody in any way they choose. But that doesn’t mean that all readings are equally valid. 🙂
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I do want to note that closing all schools and offices is an insane reaction, which constitutes bowing down to Christian extremists. Also, many angry reactions were coming from people not living in the area, who have no right to complain, in my opinion, unlike the children involved and their parents.
I wonder whether they show Hebrew writings too.
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“I do want to note that closing all schools and offices is an insane reaction, which constitutes bowing down to Christian extremists.”
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Monotheistic religions, especially those that aggressively proselytize and convert others, often use very fast and easy methods of conversion and are not above trickery or coercion. Thus they get very suspicious of anything that resembles or gets within shouting distance of their own methods.
In addition, a lot of fundamentalist and evangelical branches really lean on the first commandment and the threat of eternal hellfire for disobeying.
Also, for a lot of people, exposure to a religion is tantamount to a conversion attempt. So they very carefully avoid learning about other religions.
To illustrate, when I was about seven or so, I had a friend who lived across the street. When we were playing in her yard, she said if I didn’t believe in Jesus I’d go to hell. I reported this to my mother with a shrug and a “she doesn’t really know what she’s talking about.”
An ex of mine was raised Southern Baptist. A kid he was playing with told him he was going to hell if he didn’t believe in Jesus, and he broke down in sobs and could not be calmed for the entire evening. Now, he was five, so that may account for it.
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There are crazies and idiots everywhere. But I’d expect school district officials to be a bit more educated and civilized than a bunch of illiterates.
“Also, for a lot of people, exposure to a religion is tantamount to a conversion attempt. So they very carefully avoid learning about other religions.”
They must feel SO secure in their own faith.
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I did all my schooling in a christian school (back in the day these schools would have the best teachers and facilities). We were required to recite the lord’s prayer at the beginning and end of every school day. And nobody’s parents — almost all of them Hindus — ever gave a shit about this.
I love that about India. All ‘outside’ religions and influences become Indian-fied. You bring pizza to the subcontinent, we’ll just put curry chicken and garam masala on it. You bring tea, we’ll add cardamom and ginger to it.
I bet the Saudis would consider Indian muslims apostates, the way they practice their religion here.
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That’s an approach I can understand.
I’m not a Koranic scholar but I read the Koran, I learned about Islam, and still, I sit here completely unthreatened in my faith and not worried about forced conversions.
People fear-monger over nothing. This is a fun exercise, and I remember doing something like this with Chinese when I was a kid. And that didn’t harm me
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I swear I was not searching for this on purpose (I was searching something about Israel 🙂 ) :
The Professor Suspended for Saying Muslims and Christians Worship One God
It was her theology—not her hijab—that got her in trouble with the evangelical college.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/christian-college-suspend-professor/421029/
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I know. And I’m very interested in how this will develop given that I say the same thing in class minus a hijab.
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One of the parents who is a ringleader
She should be FIRED for that. She should be fired because she had them write an abomination to their faith and causes a little girl to cry herself to sleep because she was worried she had denounced her God.
Ok, who teaches and encourages their kid to be super duper literalist? It’s not the the teacher.
Where is the bible? Can I take a bible and place it in every single class room tomorrow? If we are allowed to pass that around every single day then we wouldnt have this mess to deal with. Mrs Laporte is to my understanding claiming to be a Christian. How can she be a Christian when she obviously is more concerned with our children learning the idolatry of the Koran than the gospel of the bible?
See, she’s just fine turning school into Jesusy Sunday School and is angry that public school isn’t 8 hours of the Jesus Show.
Then me a woman of sound Christian background who has given up sleep, and comfort for days for fear of this woman planting the seed of satan into the precious minds of those innocent children, I am thrown to the wolves??
CALLIGRAPHY = SATAN. Clearly the Lord is weak and the devil is strong and insidious like radiation and white noise. The minute they see any deviation from 24-7 Jesus Time ™ her children will glom onto it like fiends.
I was accused of doing this for attention. Like I would go to this length of trouble for an attention high? What on earth is wrong with people
Yes. You absolutely would do this for attention because you are so very ordinary in every way possible. You graduated high school and you can’t use spell check. Plus you get your Jesus Warrior stamps ™.
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\ The minute they see any deviation from 24-7 Jesus Time ™ her children will glom onto it like fiends.
After being raised by such a wonderful mother, her children might do exactly that in the attempt to gain some freedom. So she may be right, but not why she thinks.
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“After being raised by such a wonderful mother, her children might do exactly that in the attempt to gain some freedom. So she may be right, but not why she thinks.”
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Poor kid. That’s the real tragedy here, being stuck with am unhinged narcissistic mommy like this one. 😦
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