Reading, Writing, and Ramadan

While some American schools are rushing to ban “Christmas” parties and Bible clubs, others are going out of their way to promote prayer in schools. That is, if the prayers are to Allah.

In a world where the ACLU is suing Christian students faster than you can say “10 Commandments,” it may surprise some that there’s a new movement of religious tolerance afoot. Unfortunately, as USA Today points out, this type of religious expression seems to be a one-way street open only to Muslims.

As part of this wave of preferential treatment, at least 17 universities have made special arrangements to build foot baths and prayer rooms for Islamic students. In San Diego, an elementary school created an extra recess for Muslim children to pray.

The University of Michigan has gone so far as to provide facilities for Islamic students to wash their feet before prayer–all at taxpayer expense! In California, another school hosts a curriculum called “Becoming a Muslim” as part of world history class.

Yet when the families of these seventh graders sued the school for violating the ban on religious establishment, they lost. Sadly, this is all part of broader paranoia in America, in which people are more concerned about offending someone than they are about violating the law.

This same fear is one of the driving elements in the “hate crimes” debate. ACLU’s silence on the matter exposes their anti-Christian agenda.

The group, which is all too willing to sue when a Christian student prays silently, seems completely unfazed when another public school uses taxpayer dollars to ensure that Muslims can pray openly on school time during class.

America may be the Mecca of diversity, but when it comes to certain schools promoting true religious tolerance, one thing’s become clear–the Christian faith need not apply.

Tony Perkins is president of the Family Research Council. This column originally appeared in the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.