Muslim Prayer In Public Schools

In a case that illustrates how separation of church and state applies only to Christianity, various courts have given a public school district permission to continue teaching Islamic indoctrination that includes reciting prayers and adopting roles as Muslims.

By rejecting an appeal this week, the Supreme Court has let stand two lower court decisions that allow a northern California public school to teach middle school students about Islam by having them recite language from prayers and making them adopt roles as Muslims for three weeks.

Students use Muslim names, pray in class and memorize passages from the Quran. They also give things up, such as television or candy, to simulate fasting during the month of Ramadan. When a group of Christian students sued, claiming that the activities had crossed the line from education into an official endorsement of a religious practice, a federal judge and appeals court ruled against them saying that the class had an instructional purpose.

The courts have not been so friendly to Christians and neither have public school districts across the nation, which have prevented Christian students from engaging in activities that supposedly violate the separation of church and state. Examples include a court ruling that the word God in the pledge of allegiance violates church-state separation and the recent disciplinary threat against a Maryland middle school student for reading the Bible during her free time at school.

One blog sarcastically writes; Christians praying during school hours? We can’t have that. Teachers leading Muslim prayers in class? Why not. It goes on to say that Supremes okay establishment of religion in this case.