TENNESSEE MUSLIMS BLAST RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE BILL

Tennessee, 1 Muharram 1437/14 October 2015 (MINA) – A leading US Muslim advocacy group has urged Tennesseans to oppose a bill on religious doctrine at public schools proposed by a Colombia Republican lawmaker Sheila Butt.

“Islamophobes like Rep. Butt fail to recognize that there is a big difference between teaching students about religion as an important part of world history and promoting particular religious beliefs,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Government Affairs Manager Robert McCaw said, On Islam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“The education of children in Tennessee should not be delayed because of anti-Muslim bigotry.”

Claiming that middle school world history lessons on Islam were inappropriate, Butt has proposed a bill that would ban public schools from teaching “religious doctrine” earlier than 10th grade.

She said the bill is an attempt to balance the mention of religion and religious indoctrination.

“It is interesting that CAIR would comment on my bill since the legislation never even mentions a particular religion, but instead explicitly states that no religion shall be emphasized or focused on over any other,” Butt said in a prepared statement.

“The bill calls for comparative religion to be taught in high school and simply addresses the balance and age-appropriateness of teaching religion in Tennessee public schools.”

Butt’s bill came in response to complaints by parent who claimed that students were asked to write down “Allah is the only god” and memorize the five pillars of Islam.

“If you’re teaching the Middle East, then of course you’re going to mention the religion that was prevalent in that area,” Butt said.

“But to teach the doctrine is another thing. It’s just a bill about balancing the teaching of religion in education.”

Defending the current curriculum, Tennessee education officials and teachers argued that it was based on secular facts and provided historical context.

“The reality is the Muslim world brought us algebra, ‘One Thousand and One Nights,’ and some can argue it helped bring about the Renaissance,” Metro Nashville Public Schools social studies teacher Kyle Alexander recently told The Tennessean.

“There is a lot of influence that that part of the world had on world history.”

Data released from the 2010 US Religion Census shows Islam was the fastest growing religion in America in the last 10 years, with 2.6 million living in the U.S. today, up from 1 million in 2000.

Un-official figures put the number at between seven to eight million.

A recent Gallup poll had found that the majority of US Muslims are patriot and loyal to their country and are optimistic about their future. (T/P006/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)