“Under the guise of teaching history or social studies, public schools across America are promoting the religion of Islam in ways that would never be tolerated for Christianity or any other religion.”
These were the words of Richard Thompson, Chief Counsel for the Thomas More Society, who represented 11th grade student Caleigh Wood.
You see, in 2014, Caleigh was told by her school that she had to write something that violated her Christian faith.
She was being forced to write out the Islamic Creed of Conversion.
“Many public schools have become a hotbed of Islamic propaganda. Teaching Islam in schools has gone far beyond a basic history lesson. Prompted by zealous Islamic activism and emboldened by confusing court decisions, schools are now bending over backwards to promote Islam while at the same time denigrate Christianity.”
“The general point is that there’s nothing wrong in teaching about other religions, whether it’s Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism. The question is when you cross the line between giving an objective, accurate account of presenting a religion and go into proselytizing a religion.”
Freedom of Religion is the premier right written for us in The Bill of Rights. However, for one Maryland student, her right to choose her religion has been severely threatened.
She was being forced by her school to write out the Islamic Creed of Conversion.
What is this creed? It is the creed that is proclaimed when a person decides to convert to Islam. This creed states that, “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah,” and this did not sit well with miss Wood.
Furthermore, she did not agree with the way La Plata High School taught their students about Islam. In the slides that were shown to the students, they were told the following statements:
“Most Muslims’ faith is stronger than the average Christian.”
“Islam at heart is a peaceful religion.”
Jihad is a “personal struggle in devotion to Islam, especially involving spiritual discipline.” (As well as jihad being a holy war.)
“To Muslims, Allah is the same God that is worshipped in Christianity and Judaism.”
“Men are the managers of the affairs of women.”
“Righteous women are therefore obedient.”
Many of these statements are skewed and sugar-coated. Why would a school want to sugar-coat the religion that they were teaching their students about? Are they possibly trying to make it sound appealing to the students?
Miss Wood did not want to write something that she did not believe in. She felt like it would be against her religion and her God. But when she refused to turn it in, she was given a failing grade.
Her father was outraged. Caleigh and her family sued the Charles County Public Schools in Maryland, but the outcome was not what they had hoped for.
The Woods lost the lawsuit and Appeals Court Judge Barbara Keenan agreed with the ruling stating, “A reasonable observer, aware of the world history curriculum being taught, would not view the challenged materials as communicating a message of endorsement.”
But the Woods disagree. Helped by the Thomas More Law Center, they are taking their case to the Supreme Court.
The Thomas More Law Center strongly supports the Woods and their goal of stopping schools trying to proselytize students to Islam.
They were disturbed by the fact that miss Wood’s “world history class spent one day on Christianity and two weeks immersed in Islam. Such discriminatory treatment of Christianity is an unconstitutional promotion of one religion over another.”
The TMLC are a nonprofit organization that states that they are dedicated to “preserve America’s Judeo-Christian heritage; defend the religious freedom of Christians; restore time—honored moral and family values; protect the sanctity of human life; promote a strong national defense and a free and sovereign United States of America.”
This is a strong statement, and they are not going to give up their battle. Neither are the Woods.
They are looking for justice for their daughter and for any other student that feels as if they should not have to do anything that violates their religious beliefs.
They are fighting for the freedom of the First Amendment.
They are fighting for our freedom to worship and serve our God, our heavenly Father.
Let us pray for the Woods and for anybody who is fighting for our right to be Christians, and everything that entails.
We will have many battles to come, but with God by our side, we will win the war.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
