Wellesley, Massachusetts Public School Students Learn to Pray to Allah

Public schools taking field trips to mosques. Boys asked to participate on praying to Allah.



I ask that we have discussions on this video and hopefully keep it calm and sane please.

If children are taken to any religious institute it should be to see the art in the facility or architecture only, not to be taught prayers or a religion by the institute. It is wrong for children to be indoctrinated to any religion without their parents present and their parents full knowledge and consent.

reply to post by sweetliberty


WOW, the bigoted undercurrents of this video are phenomenal.

I for one think that children should be exposed to different religions and also the fact that they do not have to believe in any or all. It is called learning.

If they wanted to join in the prayer then so be it, no-one forced them to, it was a choice they made and would probably would have been fun for them.

The video is FULL of mis-interpretation and conveniently cut quotes.

I recently went to the sikh wedding of a friend, I was expected to partake in bowing to the Guru and seperated from my partner (men and women on opposite sides of the room) for the entire ceremony. It was brilliant, a cultural experience which is what these children need.

This video is no doubt made by a "god fearing" "soccer mom" who hates muslims... In fact the more I watch this video the more disgusted I become.

In May of 2010 a parent accompanied a field trip her child was going on. She had some concerns which are stated in the video that prompted her want to experience what the field trip was about. At some point during the visit the students were separated by gender and the boys were asked to join the Muslim adults in their prayer.

This doesn't seem to be an isolated incident. Frankly, I'm not here to judge who is a terrorist or who isn't. I simply feel it clear we all must adhere to keeping religion seperated from our schools.

This is not your typical field trip.

Originally posted by LAinhabitant
If children are taken to any religious institute it should be to see the art in the facility or architecture only, not to be taught prayers or a religion by the institute. It is wrong for children to be indoctrinated to any religion without their parents present and their parents full knowledge and consent.

I totally agree with you. Personally I admire buildings that display such wonderful works of architecture and I wouldn't mind taking a tour of a mosque myself. The time and skill put into building and creating beauty is fasinating to me.

As a parent, I would be very upset if my son participated in any prayers and rituals without forewarning me.

Thank you for posting

Originally posted by Truth_Hz
reply to post by sweetliberty

 

WOW, the bigoted undercurrents of this video are phenomenal.

I for one think that children should be exposed to different religions and also the fact that they do not have to believe in any or all. It is called learning.

If they wanted to join in the prayer then so be it, no-one forced them to, it was a choice they made and would probably would have been fun for them.

The video is FULL of mis-interpretation and conveniently cut quotes.

I recently went to the sikh wedding of a friend, I was expected to partake in bowing to the Guru and seperated from my partner (men and women on opposite sides of the room) for the entire ceremony. It was brilliant, a cultural experience which is what these children need.

This video is no doubt made by a "god fearing" "soccer mom" who hates muslims... In fact the more I watch this video the more disgusted I become.

Exposing children to different religions is fine but even if there was no audio in this video I would have been very upset if I saw my son face down bowing and praying while on a school field trip. If anything, I have to say, good-hearted intentions or not, there are Muslims out there who need to adhere to our schools rules.

I agree there are questionable undertones and persuasion but I didn't see any females praying, they do seem to be seperated by gender. The video did add some facts to it too but regardless, this seems not to be an isolated field trip.
Maybe there needs to be more information given to the heads of these mosques that the children are there for learning purposes and not to be seperated and not to participate in prayers.

To the defense of many "soccer moms", I don't think they "hate" muslims

Thanks for posting
sl

Exposing children to different religions is fine but even if there was no audio in this video I would have been very upset if I saw my son face down bowing and praying while on a school field trip. If anything, I have to say, good-hearted intentions or not, there are Muslims out there who need to adhere to our schools rules.

This is the point I am trying to make, the kids were in their place of worship, therefore the kids should be adhering to their rules. A simple way of getting round this would be to not let the kid go on the field trip in the first place.

I agree there are questionable undertones and persuasion but I didn't see any females praying, they do seem to be seperated by gender.

This is their religion, see my example of the sikh wedding, it is the same principle.

Maybe there needs to be more information given to the heads of these mosques that the children are there for learning purposes and not to be seperated and not to participate in prayers.

Maybe if there was more knowledge within the western community there wouldn't be this fear.
The prayer is part of the learning. You can't teach children half stories or they will grow up with the biased views of the world that are causing this discontent in the first place. There would have been no-one there forcing them to convert to Islam, but by inviting them to pray with them they are getting the full experience of the religion.

To the defense of many "soccer moms", I don't think they "hate" muslims

I apologise that was a bit of a generalisation brought about by my rage at the video

Truth_Hz

reply to post by sweetliberty


I don't understand why being exposed to (not converted to or indoctrinated into) religious customs is so taboo.
After all, for many civilizations it is an important part of culture.
Being exposed to different cultures, traditions, values and religions is of benefit.

I can't imagine parents getting their panties in an uproar if their child is given, lets say a Greek dancing session or an Indian feast.And in an instance of paranoia thinking they are trying to turn my kid Indian/Greek.
But for some reason a one off exposure to religion can leave parents believing that someone is attempting to convert the kids.

I see no problem with this. So the kids learned what goes on in a mosque. Big deal. Good learning experience for them i say. Maybe it'll teach them a bit of tolerance in such an untolerant country. In mosques it's traditional to split people by gender and the men pray together. So what's the issue here? I've got a feeling if they were taken to a Buddhist shrine and gave homage to Buddha no one would bat an eyelid. Maybe the kids taking part were athiest. Maybe they were Christian and saying the lords prayer while kneeling. Maybe they weren't praying at all. What does it matter?

reply to post by Truth_Hz


Yeah I agree....by their parents, not the state. Since when does the state teach anyone about prayer?

Can you imagine the uproar over a field trip to a baptist church? What if the kids were asked to pray their?

Originally posted by mumma in pyjamas
reply to post by sweetliberty

 

I don't understand why being exposed to (not converted to or indoctrinated into) religious customs is so taboo.
After all, for many civilizations it is an important part of culture.
Being exposed to different cultures, traditions, values and religions is of benefit.

I can't imagine parents getting their panties in an uproar if their child is given, lets say a Greek dancing session or an Indian feast.And in an instance of paranoia thinking they are trying to turn my kid Indian/Greek.
But for some reason a one off exposure to religion can leave parents believing that someone is attempting to convert the kids.

edit on 17-9-2010 by mumma in pyjamas because: to add left out word

Being exposed to religious customs is wonderful but imo, participating in a school field trip that turns into praying is a whole different thing.
When praying, you are open and submitting. I feel participating in dancing sessions are preceived different to children. I live for dancing but I am very picky who I submit to and I feel everyone should be that way, lol.

Great post, thanks for posting.
sl

P.S. I like your name there mumma

reply to post by Truth_Hz


It is the parents place to DECIDE if their child is exposed to other religions.

How many other religions do you think Muslim kids are exposed to through their schools programs?

reply to post by hotbakedtater

This is the point I am trying to make, the kids were in their place of worship, therefore the kids should be adhering to their rules. A simple way of getting round this would be to not let the kid go on the field trip in the first place

Please do read my posts before replying.

Truth_Hz

I don't want my child's public school having anything to do with religion in any way shape or form. All organized religion are curses upon society and responsible for most of the planet's suffering wars and oppresion.

It disgusts me that these school districts are so ready to embrace diversity that they allow the male kids to participate in the actual rituals. I can imagine the kids parents were disturbed.

Religious parents do not tend to expose their kid to other religions due to the fact the parent feels his choice is the right one, and it could possibly be sacriligious to attend other churches in some beliefs.

What is wrong with schools today? Stick to schooling my kids not religifying them!!

If you read the comments on youtube, Whitaker411 said something I liked:

We need to see islam as an idology,not a religion, that is trying to transform our country and way of life. Then we can stop them from exploiting the first amendment so people can see it for the threat it is. Here is a grp in UK doing simular stuff Hizb ut-Tahrir. Really makes you wounder how big this really is.

That's what many don't quite comprehend. Islam isn't just a religious belief, it's also a political belief system. We're seeing this happen quite frequently in Europe, even Norway has it's own "Islamic Party of Norway" which is trying to get Sharia laws into the government here. We see day care students taken on "field trips" to Mosques. They're being indoctrinated at an early age. And if the U.S. doesn't keep it's eyes open, you're pre-schoolers will be chanting "Allahuacbar" before you know it.

That may be a little extreme I realize, but it's not far from the truth. People are so concerned about keeping a politically correct view on things, that the harsh truth goes right by them unnoticed. While those who do see the truth for what it is, are called racists, bigots and a whole bunch of names.

Islam is not a religion, it's a political ideology which is covered in the guise of religion keeping it safe from scrutiny and allows them to push their political agenda without opposition, which is the MAIN reason it's gotten so far in the West today!

And I'll bet you my life savings, my car, that if you take away the religious aspect of it, those who claim "Islam isn't a danger" now, will quickly change their tune!

I never had any qualms with Islam or any other religion before I moved from the U.S. to Europe and saw with my own two eyes, what Islam is doing. I've been here now for quite a while and have many first hand experiences. Most of you haven't stepped foot outside of the U.S. and won't bash an eyelid to what many Euro folks say because it's politically incorrect.

Many of you also in the United States can't see with your own eyes because America is a huge melting pot and diverse as it is.

My mother just broke up with her boyfriend of ten years. He's an ex Muslim from Iran. Even he agrees that most Americans (and people across the world) are dumb for not opening their eyes. Shoot, he can't even let his family know back home in Iran that he's turned his back to Islam both out of fear of what might happen to them and himself.

But whatever, you guys keep believing whatever you want in the name of blind political correctness. No problems here right? Of course not, the hundreds of thousands who range from politicians to average folks world wide are all just racist, bigoted and ignorant...

Originally posted by Truth_Hz
reply to post by hotbakedtater

 

This is the point I am trying to make, the kids were in their place of worship, therefore the kids should be adhering to their rules. A simple way of getting round this would be to not let the kid go on the field trip in the first place

Please do read my posts before replying.

Truth_Hz

I did read it, and I also watched the video. The permission slip said it was a cultural center ( like the ground zero mosque ) and there was no mention the kids would be being indoctinated that day. Big difference. A lot of parents are fine with tours and exposing their kids to various cultures (thus they might not have problem letting their kid go to CULTURAL center) but as far as this video shows, every thing I saw was wrong on a million levels. It was straight up proselytizing.

The kids were in a cultural center, not a place of worship. Maybe the permission slip needed to be more clear.

A visit to a mosque or any church is an inappropriate place for any public school field trip and I am disgusted more of these wimpy parents did not stand up and protest this (although they might not have realized it was a place of worship if it was misrepresented as a cultural center).

reply to post by sweetliberty


I probably see it differently because in Oz we have no distinct separation of church/state.
In fact we had half an hour a week of religion at school.
We had 7 different religions and one "no religion" room where the kids played board games.

I tried to "scripture hop" and try them all, but was not allowed to, the school decided that I would be a "disruptive influence" to my fellow students.I guess my reputation as a smarty pants was well established.

reply to post by Truth_Hz

You can't teach children half stories or they will grow up with the biased views of the world that are causing this discontent in the first place. There would have been no-one there forcing them to convert to Islam, but by inviting them to pray with them they are getting the full experience of the religion.

If the children only watched the Muslims while they were in prayer, that would be enough and I don't think not participating in the prayer would cause them to possibly become biased. If given the proper respect by all the surrounding adults, they would most likely feel respect for what they were watching.

You have touched on something though, I wonder if there will be a new subject considered in the future on "Respecting all Religions and the right to worship".

Thanks for posting
sl

Originally posted by hotbakedtater
I don't want my child's public school having anything to do with religion in any way shape or form. All organized religion are curses upon society and responsible for most of the panet's suffering wars and oppresion.

Do you not therefore think it would be a good idea to educate our children on the histories of religion, mixed in with field trips to various religious sites?
In fact with your comments you might as well stop teaching history as well, due to the fact that pretty much everything in history was discovered, performed by, created by and waged by men and women of a faith.

It disgusts me that these school districts are so ready to embrace diversity that they allow the male kids to participate in the actual rituals. I can imagine the kids parents were disturbed.

How dare they embrace diversity! I won't be happy until we are all one race subscribing to the same beliefs.. baaa!

Religious parents do not tend to expose their kid to other religions due to the fact the parent feels his choice is the right one, and it could possibly be sacriligious to attend other churches in some beliefs.

That is their choice as it was the parents choice to not send their kids to the mosque..

What is wrong with schools today? Stick to schooling my kids not religifying them!!

That is exactly what they were doing. they were schooling them on the belief system of approx 1/5th of the worlds population or should we all just close our eyes and pretend they're not there?

reply to post by Truth_Hz


I agree children should be exposed to different religions but I don't think that it is the schools job to take them to different religious ceremonies and have them participate without their parents knowledge which is what happened here. The permission slip was for a visit to see the building, not participape in a ceremony or prayers or be proselytized to.

I believe children need some guidance as they are growing and not just the free will to choose to make whatever mistakes they may in life. Driving a car at 120 miles an hour might be fun too, it can also be deadly.

I recently went to a mosque and celebrated Eid with a number of muslims and we also were segregated. I had a wonderful time which I wrote about on a thread here on ATS. It was a great cultural experience and I enjoy cultural experiences and have taught and had my children experience different cultures.

I can understand why this mother is upset. She was lied to. Parents were asked permission for one thing, and they gave permission to go see the building. What really transpired however went beyond what parents gave permission for.