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Oakland Tribune – October 21, 2005
Anti-Islam books distributed to students
Aaron Swarts
TRACY — Another church has been vying for the attention of students in the Tracy Unified School District. On Wednesday afternoon in front of West High School, members of the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Tracy handed out "comic books" to students leaving school.
The small publication warned of the dangers of Islam, homosexuality and the teaching of evolution, while hailing the importance of traditional Baptist Christian values.
Pastor Gregory Bowser said he was not targeting Tracy Unified specifically with the message, but rather a national school system that promotes "anti-Christian propaganda" and its own "cultural agenda." "There is too much anti-scholarly information being disseminated in schools across the country," said Bowser, noting that his church's presence was an informational effort and "not a protest."
Although the comic book discouraged homosexuality and identified Islam as a dangerous belief, Bowser said his main issue was with the teaching of evolution in public schools.
"There is nothing scientific about evolution. It is more of a philosophy than anything else," Bowser said, adding that he had studied science before finding his way to the ministry. "Unless it can be tested and proven, it's not science."
Rather than evolution, Bowser said students in the eighth grade and up should be taught the "scientific method" and all theories should be held to that standard….
School board member Gerry Machado said he's not concerned by the handing-out of comic books, noting that the event was an example of "free speech and the general mood of the country."
"I don't agree with all of the things the church advocates, but I do agree with some of it," he said. "And I support their freedom of speech."
Machado added that he "would like to see more tolerance in the world, but that hasn't happened for thousands of years."…..
http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_3138271
ABC News – Oct. 19, 2005
Debate ensues over teaching Islam in schools
By Lyanne Melendez
Oct. 19, 2005 - Does teaching about Islam violate a child's right to be free from religion in a public school? One Contra Costa family thinks so. They claim their daughter's school lesson on Islam went too far. Their case was heard today before the ninth U.S District Court of Appeals
The California Department of Education says every public school has to teach world religion. Now the 9th U.S. Circuit court of appeals has to decide whether this school in Contra Costa County did just that -- teach Islam or did the school endorse it.
Three years ago Excelsior Middle School in the Delta community of Byron began teaching about Islam. It started as a lesson in tolerance toward Muslims. The case has now ended up in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Linda Lye, attorney, Byron Union School District: "The teacher at issue here was very creative and energetic and engaged her student's interests and tried to bring the subject matter alive. What the plaintiff is trying to do is attempt to get the teaching out about Islam out of the public schools."
For 8 weeks, the 7th grade history class focused on Islam.
The teacher encouraged students to pick Muslim names and dress up in Arabic-style clothes. The teacher even read a line from a prayer out of the Koran: "Remember Allah always and you shall prosper."
At that point, the Eklund family accused the school and the Byron Union School District of trying to indoctrinate their daughter, Samantha.
Ed White, attorney for the Eklund's: "If the school had used the state-approved book and taught about Islam there would be no problem. But here they went beyond that and crossed the line and started teaching Islam which they can't do whether it's teaching Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism etc."
The family even took their case before a federal judge and lost. But they appealed. Today a three judge panel heard their lawyer's arguments. The court will decide if while teaching about Islam did the Byron Union School District endorse Islam. The issue has divided parents in Byron.
North West Indiana Times - October 20, 2005
Muslim program upsets parents
BY ELIZABETH HOLMES
A presentation about Muslim culture last month to students at Porter Lakes Elementary School upset parents and sparked an argument about the role of religion in public schools.
On Sept. 30, a second-grade class and the entire third grade listened to a cultural presentation by the family of some Muslim students who are new to the school. In addition to talking about Muslim traditions, the children were read the book "Ramadan" by Carol Gnojewski.
"The presentation was intended to share information, hopefully to answer some of the questions children had," Porter Township School Corp. Superintendent Nick Brown said.
The presentation involved a lot of religious content because religion is heavily intertwined with the Muslim culture, Brown said.
The religious aspect of the assembly angered parents, who say that religion has no role in the public school setting.
Brown said the assembly was never meant to offend anyone. The school teaches its students about a variety of cultures with the hope of widening their world views, he said. "We have Chanukah presentations, we do Christmas," Brown said. "It falls just within enlightening people."…….
http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2005/10/20/news/porter_county/22dab5b9b4a016ed862570a000095404.txt
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