So Much For "Separation Of Church And State."

The Thomas Moore Law Center is taking a review decision of the most liberal court in the land, the infamous 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court.

The decision in question allows a California public school (Yep, that's right, funded by your tax dollars.) to engage 7th grade students in an intensive course on how to "become Muslims."

The following is taken from World Net Daily. All bold type by Brooke.

The 2001 course had students take Islamic names and wear identification tags that displayed their new Islamic name and the Muslim star and crescent moon. They also were handed materials that instructed them to "Remember Allah always so that you may prosper"; complete the Islamic five pillars of faith, including fasting; and memorize and recite the "Bismillah," or "In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate," which students also wrote on banners hung on the classroom walls.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that um... Teaching religion? Where the heck is the ACLU? Heh.

Students also played "jihad games" during the course, which was part of the school's world history and geography program.

I'd like to know exactly what "jihad games" consist of...

Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, said the "case cries out double standard."

"The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is the same court that held our Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because it contained the phrase 'under God,' and yet they allow a three-week intensive course on how to become Muslims, including class memorization of Islamic prayers and participation in Islamic religious rituals," Thompson said.

Hypocrisy? Nah... *snicker*

Edward L. White III, the Law Center's trial counsel handling the case, argued that although a public school may teach about religion, the school district "went far beyond an explanation of the historical or literary significance of Islam and placed these seventh graders into the position of becoming trainees in that religion."

"These young children were indoctrinated in Islam, which the Constitution forbids," White said.

The Supreme Court will decide within the next few months whether to review the case.

It's SO clear cut what went on here... I wonder if the Supreme Court will have the stones to take the case, or if they'll just hide under their benches?

The Law Center argues the panel did not address the plaintiff's claims that their free exercise and parental rights had been violated.

White says parents were never told about the Islamic program and didn't know they had the option to remove their children from such an activity.

There are not words in the English language to describe how pissed off I would be if I found out my kid were being forced to participate in this!

One of the parents found out by accident, looking through her son's schoolbag after the program had finished.

In December 2003, the San Francisco court determined the school district had not violated the Constitution.

In her 22-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton determined Excelsior was not indoctrinating students about Islam when it required them to adopt Muslim names and pray to Allah, but rather was just teaching them about the Muslim religion.

Uh-huh. So am I then correct in the assumption that the children were then told to wear crosses, take Christian Biblical names, carry Bibles about, and recite the Lord's Prayer and the Sinner's Prayer in class?

So they didn't? *crickets*

But White insists a line was crossed, placing the students in the "position of being trainees in Islam, which is impermissible in a public school."

When WorldNetDaily first reported the story in January 2002 shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks committed by 19Islamict terrorists, major controversy ensued nationwide.

The course was part of a curriculum taught to seventh-graders all over the state, included in the state's curriculum standards required by the state board of education. Although the standards outline what subjects should be taught and included in state assessment tests, they didn't mandate how they're to be taught.

At the end of the three-week course, Excelsior teacher Brooke Carlin presented a final test requiring students to critique Muslim culture.

The Islam simulations at Excelsior are outlined in the state-adopted textbook "Across the Centuries," published by Houghton Mifflin, which prompts students to imagine they are Islamic soldiers and Muslims on a Mecca pilgrimage.

The lawsuit also alleges students were encouraged to use such phrases in their speech as "Allahu Akbar," which is Arabic for "Allah is greatest," and were required to fast during lunch period to simulate fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Nevertheless, Judge Hamilton ruled the program was devoid of "any devotional or religious intent" and was, therefore, educational, not religious in nature.

That, dear readers, is the biggest load of male bovine excrement that I have ever heard! This sort of double standard is appalling! Where are thatheiststs; the ACLU? Their silence screams out their discriminatory agenda as word alone could not.

My eyes will be peeled for the Supreme Court's take on this. I pray that they will do the right thing... Whether or not the decision is politically popular, or some Muslim takes offense.