MOM SAYS, N.J. SCHOOL TRIED TO MAKE MY KID MUSLIM. JUDGE SAYS, GO TO COURT.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
MOM SAYS, N.J. SCHOOL TRIED TO MAKE MY KID MUSLIM. JUDGE SAYS, GO TO COURT.
By Allison Pries | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, June 22 2018
© Local News RSS EN-US
Minimally reported by MSN News: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/local/mom-says-nj-school-tried-to-make-my-kid-muslim-judge-says-go-to-court/ar-AAyXnOp
Judge Kevin McNulty said in the decision, on a motion filed by the school district's attorney to dismiss the lawsuit, that the 'untested' scenario merits further exploration.
The whole story reported on NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
A federal judge on Wednesday refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Chatham mother who says the school district forced her son to watch Islamic conversion videos and ignored the study of Christianity and Judaism.
Libby Hilsenrath filed the lawsuit, on behalf of her child (identified as C.H. in the suit), against the Chatham School District and Board of Education, as well as the superintendent, assistant superintendent, middle school principal, Social Studies supervisor, and two Social Studies teachers.
Judge Kevin McNulty said in the decision, on a motion filed by the school district’s attorney to dismiss the lawsuit, that the “untested” scenario merits further exploration.
“As a lawsuit, this matter may present controversial issues,” McNulty said in the 9-page opinion issued June 13. “As a motion to dismiss, it does not. There will be opportunity enough to consider the substantive issues when evidence has been developed in discovery and the facts have been developed.”
McNulty also advised the two sides to talk about reducing the number of defendants in the case.
“They may wish to focus in particular on the necessity, and the pedagogical ramifications, of retaining the two defendants who are middle school social studies teachers,” the judge wrote.
An attorney for the Chatham School District did not return a call for comment.
“This ruling comes as no surprise, said Kate Oliveri, an attorney for the Thomas More Law Center who is handling the case. “The motion to dismiss was a further attempt by the school district to bully and silence Mrs. Hilsenrath. The school district ignored the legal standard and ignored the facts, attempting instead to fool the judge with a poor attempt at sophistry.”
The Thomas More Law Center is a national, non-profit conservative Christian law firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Hilsenrath filed the lawsuit in January on behalf of her then-12-year-old son who was taking a World Cultures and Geography class at Chatham Middle School during the 2016-2017 school year. The boy was forced to watch two videos and do a worksheet that promote and advance the Islamic religion under the threat of lower grades, she alleges in the suit.
An “Intro to Islam Video” and “The 5 Pillars of Islam” were assigned for students to watch at home, without supervision, and did not include a disclaimer that the content does not represent the views or opinions of the school district, the lawsuit says.
Students also had to do a fill-in-the-blank version of the shahada, the Islamic conversion creed and prayer, which contained a link to a webpage that explains “the ease with which they could convert to become Muslim,” the lawsuit says.
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I must say that I'm surprised that the left-wing MSN News reported this at all, and even left the original headline. MSN News should be more careful, or it could get itself listed on the SLPC "Hate Map".
Hi, Buzz - I know that you don't have access to YouTube videos like the meeting that's embedded in your article, so I thought it would help if I posted this link. There are videos of the meeting that aren't from YouTube:
Thanks, but they're all YouTubes.
Sorry!
Oh for fucks sake, the kid was in a world cultures and geo class, and amazingly enough, Islam is kind of a big part of that. It would stand to reason that the kids would have to study the basics of the religion given the nature of this class. This woman is a goddamn moron and probably should have never procreated in the first place.
Apparently they made the mistake of assuming this was obvious and didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to assume otherwise, but then this dunce made herself known...
Did the instructions explicitly state that? If no, then fuck off.
Ah I am done with this, people like her just kinda make me hope a large asteroid hits Earth today for the good of the universe.
I'm not so quick to put this down as you are, since, perhaps because of my profession, I think the matter should be tried with evidence given before making a decision about the veracity of the claim, but you have every right to take a side in the issue, although you should really try to control your language, because after all, isn't it a sign of maturity to be civil?
So I see, in the case of Islam, you are against the separation of church and state. If the last two paragraphs are indeed what happened then this needs to go to court. Since Christianity went through this then so shall Islam.
BTW an asteroid already hit earth for the good of the universe.
Note: comment directed at Thrawn 31
Ooops! Sorry, I didn't notice that - thought it was directed to me because it was right under my comment. I'm deleting my comment.
It seems you missed this part of the article:
A child brings candy with an appropriate Bible verse tied to it to his classmates and the lefties were out to string the poor kid up. The school assigns a how to become a Muslim assignment and that is OK with them .
A school choir is scheduled to sing at a well known traditional Christmas festival and the atheist are all up in arms that they are forcing the kids onto church grounds yet say nothing when those kids are indoctrinated in Islam.
Do you have a link to this supposed sucrose outrage?
Learning about other's beliefs is not an attempt to convert you, unless you have the intellectual abilities of a snail.
I can't find it now. It was a couple years ago. There was a lengthy discussion about it on NV.
Loony.
Are you signing in? I thought your name was Lenny.
Lol, good one Buzz, but this whole premise is pretty frickin' loony, sorry.
Extra marks were given for outbursts of 'Allahu Akbar' during class!
LOL
I recall a movie I saw years ago called "Ticket to Heaven" about how young people get sucked into a cult, and how difficult it is to escape it.
From IMDB:
I posted this because I was thinking that if older youths can be sucked into a cult, then it has to be a lot easier to influence a kid around the age of 12, when such kids have not yet matured intellectually and are vulnerable to such proselytizing.
All religions by definition are a cult.
Sorry but it's almost 10 pm here and I'm turning off the computer. As this topic could get controversial and will need to be moderated, I'm locking it for the night and reopening it about 10 to 11 hours from now.
Now unlocked and open for business. Sorry to inconvenience anyone, if I did.
Muslims get away with too much
This kid was taking a world studies history course so shouldn't world religions be part of that curriculum? How would you teach students about world religions in such a comphrensive course?
I just watched this series of video about the history of Islam. Am I now converted?
I thought all religious issue should be kept out of the public schools, as some here actively harp about all the time, calling believers "dumb bigots" and worse.
Are you an impressionable, and intellectually vulnerable, 12 year old?
I took a Comparative Religions course in university, and wasn't asked to write out or recite the shahada. Of course relatively equal teaching time was given to Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism.
Absolutely! That's why you're wearing a niqab !
Religion can be taught as an optional comprehensive survery couse, but they all have to be taught equally instead of them being taught from the perspective of Christianity. Non-belief must also be taught as an equal to religious belief. This idea only applies to public schools so religious schools can do what they want to do because of their religious rights.
Bible study as a religious book is not permitted in taxpayer-funded public schools. It can be mentioned in history and literature class but it must be taught as a secular idea/perspective.
That looks like it would be very hot in the summer, plus it would mess up my hair.
I was forced to attend Catholic mass every week as well as CCD, plus I took the 4 sacraments and it still didn't make me a Catholic. Right now I could recite 3 of the major prayers (Our Father, Hail Mary and the Glory Be), plus the Apostles Creed that is the Catholic statement of faith from memory but it doesn't mean that I believe a word of that nonsense. You need to give these kids more credit than that. The teacher should have read a statement in class as well as sending it home to the parents that this is just a section of classroom work about middle eastern history and culture, and not in any way a religious study, just to ally the fears of a few religious conservative parents.
I went to Catholic mass a few weeks ago for my uncle's funeral but it didn't make me want to become Catholic.
Sure... but on the other hand... you'll never again have any need for make-up...
It would be a wonderful world, would it not, if everyone, especially vulnerable 12 year old children, were as perfectly capable as you of not being influenced by and being able to withstand propaganda.
that stuff did not work on me and you, just made me more stubborn
When was the last time that public schools were out of session for Ramadan in the US?
i never heard of Ramadan when I was in school, I graduated in 1973
Sounds like you would have benefited from a class like this.
I had never heard of Ramadan in 1973 either, but I was only 7 years old at the time.
I wonder if the school taught the meaning of the word "Islam". For those who do not know, it means SUBMISSION, submission to Allah.
In christianity submission and obedience is not a demanding factor? Accept and be saved and all of that?
Religion. A serious discussion too seriously taken.
I'll take this seriously when a court vindicates the mother... shortly after Hell freezes over...
Are you assuming it will be a leftist liberal court?
Without reading the lawsuit I'm assuming that any sane court will see this for what it is.....a right wing Christian freaked out that her kid's school mentions anything about Islam or other non-Christian superstitions.
Okay, then even if they don't learn it in school, you must teach your children and/or grandchildren the shahada.
Why would that be mandated? This class is an elective, so it is not required for graduation.
What is it about learning about Islam or the Shahadda that is so frightening to you? Do you think that anyone who writes it or says it is automatically converted to Islam against their will? Does this apply to the recitation of the Apostle's Creed which is the similar statement of belief for many Christian faiths?
I was relating to what is stated in the article - at least I attempt to stay on topic. The article stated this:
Quakers?
Unitarian Universalists?
Bahai?
Buddhism?
The Jains?
Actually, in terms of intolerance towards other belief system, I have certainly know some extremely close-minded bigoted Atheists! (And the most obnoxious followers of Atheist cults are continually proselytizing-- obsessed with seeking converts!)
Some cults just have more members than others.
Secular Humanists are welcome to join and have discussion groups in the UU church, because I am part of one. I also support the Society of Friends and a Buddhist prayer group.
I was married in a UU church. When I first told my Catholic parents that that was where I would be married they almost disowned me, lol.