Parents in Maury County, Tennessee—in the heart of the Bible Belt in the US—were furious after finding out that their seventh-grade children studying in Spring Hill Middle School were taught Islam in their Social Studies class and were even made to declare, "There is no God but Allah."
The parents protested that their children had spent three weeks studying Islam, with lessons they felt have already crossed the line of indoctrination.
"I am not pleased that my 12-year-old was taught the Islamic conversion prayer," parent Brandee Porterfield told Charisma News.
The same thoughts were echoed by Joy Ellis, who was beyond furious after examining her daughter's class work. "I was very angry that my child, my Christian child, was made to profess that Allah was the only God," she fumed.
In the lessons, students were told to write "Shahada," which means "There is no God but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." Students were also taught the five pillars of Islam.
"That was crossing the line between teaching the culture and teaching them the Islamic faith," Porterfield added. "This is not teaching. This is indoctrination."
It wouldn't have been so bad, she said, if the students were also introduced to other religions. However, the school has no plans to do that. "They told me they would not be teaching Christianity," she said. "Because they only taught this one faith—to me that is state-sponsored prayer in schools."
Ellis suspects that the school is pushing for a pro-Muslim agenda.
However, district middle school supervisor Dr. Jan Hanvey told the Columbia Daily Herald that they have no plans of converting Christian children into Muslims.
Hanvey explained that the said curriculum has been in place for more than 30 years, and it does more than just teach Islamic religion since it also covers the geography, culture, economics and government surrounding the religion.
As for the other religions—such as Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism—Hanvey said those have been "put off" for a later date.
