In recent W.T.F. news: a Virginia school district shut down all of its offices and schools on Dec. 18, after the local sheriff’s department received many complaints about a high school project.
Students were asked to copy the shahadah — or the Islamic statement of faith, “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger,” — as part of their world geography class.
It’s part of the curriculum to study about the religions and languages of each region that they study. It just so happened that they were learning about Arabic and Islam, and thus calligraphy.
But many parents and students were not having it, because they actually thought that with a quick flick of the pen, they’d be converted into those darn Muslims.
Outraged parents claimed that teacher Cheryl LaPorte was indoctrinating their kids with Islam, even though students were not told to recite it or translate it.
And it gets worse: About 100 angry parents held a community meeting at a local church, where some parents suggested LaPorte lose her job, even though she did not come up with the homework idea herself. It was an actual calligraphy assignment taken from a “World Religions” workbook, local newspaper News Leader reported.
Don’t lose all your faith in humanity just yet (Trust me, I know it’s getting harder). While many parents were absurdly angry and scared, LaPorte has many supporters.
Both the Virginia Department of Education and Augusta County Superintendent Dr. Eric Bond checked out the assignment and concurred that it was indeed in line with the curriculum. Former students, parents and citizens also took to social media to show their support for LaPorte.
Long story short, parents went a little crazy and feared that their children were being brainwashed by their non-Muslim teacher, when really they were just learning some innocent calligraphy.
If people think that a few words will automatically indoctrinate the masses, then should we also reconsider things like, oh, the national anthem of the U.S.?
No one should be forced into believing something they don’t want to, right? That is the argument of these parents who declared war against an innocent teacher in Virginia, right?
After all this, the school district has decided that although Arabic calligraphy will still be taught in future lessons, they’re going to steer clear of religious texts.
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Written by Hafsa Pathan
Image: Wikipedia
