I often find myself saddened by the level of ignorance some Americans seem to strive for. From waking up to the news of a 27 million dollar creationist museum, to watching Bill Nye (the science guy!) get booed for diabolically insinuating the moon only reflects the suns light, I am faced with example after example for why more money should be spent on education.
So needless to say when I awoke this morning to this little gem of pure American paranoia my hope for this country faded just a little more.
A Madrassa (which means school in Arabic but has somehow managed to mean terrorist training facility in America) is a great idea and is exactly the sort of thing that will promote cultural understanding. The children will not only receive a normal education they will also be learning a language which may become very lucrative for them in the future.
It's a win win right? Official Garth Harries what say you?
"It's a core sixth grade curriculum that these kids are starting with, which is the basics - maths, English, history, science,"
Go on...
"And the kids are also going to be learning Arabic, which is an incredibly exciting and unique opportunity for these kids.
Religion plays absolutely no part in the school. This is a public school, it wouldn't play a part in any of our schools."
Yay for education and the future of America! Wait, what's that you say paranoid American?
"We are, all of us, in favour of teaching Arabic, it's not about whether we teach Arabic culture. We're all in favour of doing that too," said Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security and Policy in Washington and a former assistant secretary of defence in the Reagan administration.
"It is about teaching it in an appropriate way and this is not an appropriate way. In fact, it is a way that is fraught with peril, not just for New York but for the country at large."
What sort of peril would we be in for paranoid internet community?
An internet search reveals how heated the discussion has become. A post on one website suggests that the school's football field will be converted into a terrorist training camp.
Another comment reads: "Now Muslims will be able to learn how to become terrorists without leaving New York."
Oh great...
You know I am all for a healthy does of skepticism as I believe it is important in maintaining a well-rounded outlook. However to automatically assume the worst based on what I can only describe as paranoid asshatery is just something I don't believe we should tolerate anymore in this country. The issue here appears to be one of disclosure (I will not even touch the hypocritical assertion of separation of church and state) and while I agree to transparency in education I feel assuming the worst to be in nobodies best interest. Plus as the article alludes to, forcing them to be more transparent than any other school would be a poor example of a fair and balanced system. The school just opened so why don't we give them some time to show us what they are doing there before we jump to any conclusions, OK America?
Iggy Prod loves America and would really like people to learn about things before they run off to protest them.
Oh, shit. This is so embarrassing- I had hoped this would have stayed local news, now even the BBC is talking about this shit.
A grammar school can't train terrorists. Never mind that the very suggestion is wildly racist (Glenn Beck style)... the kids won't be taught anything and will fail the (never-ending) tests.
Not to mention that a school named after Khalil Gibran producing terrorists would be like a school named for Thomas Mann Cranking out Neo-Nazis.
3
Formus
Milwaukee, WI
May 2007
SEP 07, 2007 01:10 PM
I think we need to cut down on the perverse use of the "Enter" key in between paragraphs. It's really getting out of hand lately.
Also, Barack Obama attended a madrassa in his youth. Viva las terroristas! If only John Edwards was a terrorist...to think I was going to vote for him over Obama. I have been forsaken.
oyaji said:
The publishers of the New York Post should be shot in the nads.
Today's headline about OBL was awesome: "Just dye already!"
Yeah, but the Post is still a shitrag
7
Formus
Milwaukee, WI
May 2007
SEP 07, 2007 01:24 PM
oyaji said:
The publishers of the New York Post should be shot in the nads.
Are you kidding? It's the perfect example of quality Conservative journalism, and is millions of times more preferable to this damned thorough, respectful, insightful liberal media!
I hate to disappoint you further but it's not much better in the UK.
When I was still in school a few years ago, we were all going to go on a Religious Studies trip to a local mosque to watch the prayers and learn something about the history of Islam.
More than half the parents wrote and complained to the headmaster saying they were scared their kids would be kidnapped and held hostage by terrorists.
Witches. Communism. Islam....
14
Formus
Milwaukee, WI
May 2007
SEP 07, 2007 01:42 PM
Vermin said:
I hate to disappoint you further but it's not much better in the UK.
When I was still in school a few years ago, we were all going to go on a Religious Studies trip to a local mosque to watch the prayers and learn something about the history of Islam.
More than half the parents wrote and complained to the headmaster saying they were scared their kids would be kidnapped and held hostage by terrorists.
Witches. Communism. Islam....
The UK is also seeing a small upturn in radical Islam in recent years. Though not necessarily violent Islam, it is enough to scare up the protective soccer moms - er, football moms, sorry - into overreacting.
Holy shit! We're in trouble...6th grade terrorists will begin taking over every Chuck E. Cheese in the country and use them as terrorist training grounds too!!!
I think learning any language is cool. I myself am trying to decide between Chinese, Arabic, or Spanish to learn.
I would have loved to be able to go to a school like that.
But sadly I went to a school that barely could teach English. Let alone a language like Arabic.
Metaverse said:
Holy shit! We're in trouble...6th grade terrorists will begin taking over every Chuck E. Cheese in the country and use them as terrorist training grounds too!!!
I think learning any language is cool. I myself am trying to decide between Chinese, Arabic, or Spanish to learn.
Well, basically, if you learn Arabic you become a terrorist, of course.
If you learn Chinese you automatically know kung-fu and love eating cats.
And if you choose Spanish your chest hair will grow overwhelmingly, and you'll never be able to button your shirts up correctly.
That's why I picked French; Now I just have this annoying mustache and an ego problem YOU STUPEED AMEREECAHNS!
That's a pretty good point. I personally have no problem with a Madrassa in NY (anywhere for that matter), but is Arabic really a practical language to learn for any reason other than cultural curiosity?
EDIT: Sorry - meant this as a reply to Oyaji's statement about the practicality of learning Spanish over Chinese or Arabic.
I personally have no problem with a Madrassa in NY (anywhere for that matter), but is Arabic really a practical language to learn for any reason other than cultural curiosity?
It's a good language to learn for the lucrative market of making war on people who speak it natively.
IPOD
RADIO
RandyWatson
Hollywood, FL
September 2007
SEP 07, 2007 12:35 PM