Source: Religion News Service
(RNS) Opponents of lessons on Islam often claim that Christianity takes a back seat in public schools’ religious instruction. That’s what an Augusta County, Va., mother argued recently when she opposed a teacher’s use of the Muslim statement of belief in a calligraphy exercise. She held a forum at a local church to protest how her religion wasn’t allowed in schools, but Islam was.
Evidence, however, points to the contrary.
A much bigger problem is pro-Christian and anti-Muslim bias that some educators may bring into the classroom. Sometimes that bias, promoted by policymakers involved in textbook adoption or aimed at a Muslim student in a classroom, is intentional. Other times, teachers may be unaware how their personal beliefs can color the way they teach.
Uproars over lessons on Islam have happened nationally. Protesters, whether objecting to a guest speaker on Islam in a Tampa, Fla., high school or a mosque field trip by a suburban Boston middle school, respond with accusations of indoctrination. Hate and fear of Muslims take center stage.
In Augusta County last month, school officials shut down the school system for a day in response to hate-filled emails and threats. The objections overshadow a critical need in education that requires addressing, given increasing anti-Muslim sentiment. Terrorist attacks have fueled the hate, as has presidential candidate Donald Trump’s call to bar Muslims from entering the U.S.
Yet even educators who have taught about world religions as part of state standards for nearly two decades tend to know very little about Islam.
They often lack resources and training to teach about Islam in a balanced and nuanced way. At most, they may have taken a world history or comparative religion course in college.
Textbooks aren’t always a reliable resource, and reviews by religion scholars have been a mixed bag. Some books gave balanced treatment, but others skewed in favor of Christianity and against Islam. Some texts repeat the fallacy that Islam was spread only by violent means, while Christianity was only spread peacefully via missionaries.
Categories: Christianity, Education, Islamophobia, Religion, The Muslim Times, USA