scout10290Seeing shit like this kills me. People are so ignorant.
Muslims have a long and proud history of serving this country with distinction for centuries.
Personally I do think it should be required to post some amount of Islamic concepts. Among the many ways we are too provincial is seeing everything through the eyes of a single religion family. Even our friends and neighbors seem alien when we aren’t even aware there are other religions.
Let’s require at least some comparative religion study, perhaps in social studies and history. The major religions have had a huge impact on the development of our societies and we should all be more familiar with beliefs held in common or u destined where they’re actually different (and not just the Fix News version)
Most states do require some comparative religion in high school history. I’ve taught it.
Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Abrahamic faiths were in the curriculum. What was really fascinating was having a high schooler that had no idea what Christianity was. I live in the Bible Belt!
But yeah, understanding things like the Five Pillars of Islam humanizes Muslims. Understanding why a classmate isn’t eating all day, knowing that Muslims are required to donate some to charity if they can…
I think even some of the quasi Christian groups should be covered, but that’s a lot dicier. I don’t know if JW kids’ parents would want them to learn about the Great Disappointment, or Mormon families would approve of discussing Jo Smith’s child brides… (much less that official Mormon theology was that Native Americans would turn white if converted, or the best outcome for black folks was being a servant in the afterlife)