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, whats 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.

RandomNerd

I'm lost

January 2005

SEP 07, 2007 01:02 PM

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.

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.

Gerry_D

Los Angeles, CA

May 2003

SEP 07, 2007 01:18 PM

graduates will have immediate offers from AT&T/NSA in the field of translating

Virtute

Brooklyn, NY

July 2007

SEP 07, 2007 01:19 PM

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!"

RandomNerd

I'm lost

January 2005

SEP 07, 2007 01:24 PM

JohnHaverchuck said:

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

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!