A Tennessee mother's rant about her daughter being taught the history of Islam at school has made headlines this week.
Michelle Edmisten told a school board meeting on Monday that her daughter's "personal religious beliefs were violated" while studying a unit on Islam in class.
"It is time as parents, teachers, and administrators we stand up and take back our families, our schools, and our country," Edmisten said.
"I will not give up this fight," she added, urging the school board to "stand with the moral compass" which she said the US was founded upon.
She called for the removal of the textbook used for the course.
"I would like to see parents, Christians, veterans, anyone that's anyone, stand up for this fight," she told local TV station WJHL.
"How can I, as a Christian, say that I have these values? And I want to instill these values in my daughter, but then say it's okay, go ahead and do it."
It's not the first time such a complaint has been made. A social media post by a mother in California last year went viral, as she expressed horror that her son had been asked to name the five pillars of Islam and summarise Islamic beliefs and practices.
"My son will not be a part of this in any sort of way," Tara Cali wrote in a note to her son's teacher. "This is bad teaching material. He will NOT partake. If you have a problem with it, call our lawyer." A photo of the homework sheet in question showed Cali had listed six Bible verses instead of the five pillars.
Parents in Tennessee last year also raised concerns about their children learning the Shahada, the Islamic creed of conversion, as part of religious education lessons. Elsewhere in the Bible Belt, more than 3,500 people have joined a Facebook group contesting "Georgia's Islamic Agenda" in the public school curriculum.
So it's an ongoing battle, and not one that comes as much of a surprise. Fifteen years after the terror attacks of 9/11, campaigners say Islamophobia and instances of hate crimes against Muslims are on the rise in the US; a tragic phenomenon no doubt stoked by the divisive rhetoric espoused in the run-up to the presidential election next month.
Republican candidate Donald Trump has called for a ban on all Muslim immigrants to America and pledged to make dramatic changes to US immigration policy if he wins in November, repeatedly promising to put an end to "radical Islam".
A June report released by advocacy group the Council on American-Islamic Relations said 10 US states had enacted "anti-Islam legislation", and that there had been a spike in incidents of violence or intimidation at mosques, with 78 occurring in 2015, compared to 20 the year before.
The climate of fear surrounding Islam in the US is nothing new, but that doesn't mean it should be ignored – or shrugged off as another example of ignorance across the pond. It must be combated.
There is a growing faction of Americans – and over here in the UK, too – that vehemently believe all Muslims are terrorists, and that seems to have been extrapolated to mean that learning about the Islamic faith is tantamount to encouraging terrorism.
There's no shortage of irony in the fact that the only solution to such ill-founded views is education. Understanding Islam is vital if we are to live and grow in our ever-changing global landscape, and schools have a critical role to play in that.
Not only is this integral to resisting ignorance, but it will also contribute to de-radicalisation efforts. It is by understanding the teachings of Islam, and increasing interfaith dialogue, that extremist groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram lose their power to convince people that they are advocating for the true Islam, not by refusing to engage with it.
So schools have to teach about Islam. Muslims, Christians, Jews and people of all faiths and none will always have to find a way to live side by side. Surely that starts with our children?
