For years, politicians around the country have striven to allow families to leave public schools and attend religious (largely Christian) schools through voucher programs. However, many people are alarmed by the call of Rep. André Carson (D-Indiana), a Muslim member of Congress, that our schools should be modeled on Islamic schools or Madrassas. As a staunch supporter of public schools and an educator, I strongly oppose the intermingling of religion with our public schools. I also do not find Madrassas to be a particularly compelling model for education in the United States.
In a recent speech, Carson stated “America will never tap into educational innovation and ingenuity without looking at the model that we have in our Madrassas, in our schools where innovation is encouraged. Where the foundation is the Koran.”
Whether the “foundation” is the Bible or the Koran, the relevance of such religious structure to education is dubious at best and a threat to the separation of church and state at worst. To be honest, it is doubtful Carson’s speech would have generated such controversy if he praised Catholic schools as a model for education. Indeed, we have seen politicians object to the use of vouchers for Muslim schools.
Leslie and I have kept our children in public schools despite our unhappiness at times with class size and bureaucratic nonsense. I believe deeply that our public schools are a critical democratic training ground for tolerance and pluralism. They must be secular and free of religious training by definition as public schools.
I fail to see what the Madrassa model has to offer our school system. Any “innovation” clearly exists outside of such religious systems and is not unique to their religious focus.
Rep. Carson indeed took over the seat after the death of his grandmother. His district is the 7th congressional district in Indiana. It has voted D since 2003.
Prior to this speech his most notable comments were; ” Tea party wants blacks ‘hanging on a tree'” and that he heard racial slurs from members of the Tea Party including the “N” word. As to the alleged racial slurs Andrew Breitbart is pledging a large contribution to the United Negro College Fund if someone can can provide video proof. A contribution that to my knowldege has gone unclaimed.
The guy is from Indianapolis. He took over the seat from his grandmother upon her death. Wiki notes his religon as Islam. I’m not so sure he will lose his seat over this. As in most elections, you’ll have to look at the demographics of his district.
ARE,
Why do you think George got his “seat”` It sure was not smartness. He does share a religion—-power worship. So what’s so bad about this one? Ehhh?
Barkin’Dog
said:
“But what I want to know is how a state like Indiana could send a muslim off to Congress? ”
You like myself, know very little about muslim immigrants and of our real history here.
There are examples of where muslims immigrated from common emigration areas, settled in the midwest in common areas where they dominated. About the same motivation as other national or religious groups did on arriving here. Italian, irish, jewish, german, etc.
The rest is deocracy and the number who are represented by a House seat.
More could be added. Like where do we get AA congressmen/women? Or what pejorative claims can we lay upon them?
This guy is a black American convert to Islam as a manifestation of black nationalism. He got his seat because I think it was his mother who was the previous Rep.
I’m impressed that Johnathan Turley sends his children to public schools. He must be part of a very tiny minority of people in his position.
This guy is nuts. His proposal is nutty and ill informed and it will go nowhere. His political career will go no higher and I would not be surprised if it ends in an election in the near future.
I agree with JT that a madrass ( or however you spell it) is not a good model for a school here in the U.S. of A. I am thinking along the lines though of all these Catolic schools run by these anal rapists of children. No vouchers for them. Then there is the school of Hard Knox up in Galesburg. No vouchers for them. But what I want to know is how a state like Indiana could send a muslim off to Congress? In the 1920s Indiana had something in the neighborhood of 250,000 members of the KKK.
Just goes to show that there are idiots on BOTH sides of the aisle!
raff, I am exhausted. I left Nashville at noon today with temps at 104 degrees and had a really long drive. Walking out the door felt just like when you open the oven door to take out a roast.