Tenn. Bill: No Religious Doctrine until High School

The measure, House Bill 1418, would prevent the teaching of “religious doctrine” before 10th grade but does not specify what that would entail.

The nation’s largest Muslim advocacy organization called on Tennesseans to oppose a new bill introduced by Rep. Sheila Butt, left, R-Columbia. “It is reprehensible that our school system has exhibited this double-standard, more concerned with teaching the practices of Islam than the history of Christianity”.

Parents in the state have taken issue with world history classes that teach about the Five Pillars of Islam and other historical lessons about how the religion has influenced regions of the world. She deleted the post and insisted that NAAWP stood for “National Association for the Advancement of Western Peoples”. “I want our children to possess the mental maturity to have a firm foot in their beliefs, as well as the mental acuity to know when to question and report to their parents what they are being taught if necessary”.

State Rep. Tilman Goins (R) complained that the section in the history curriculum on Israel is not titled “The Jewish World”, yet the curriculum includes an “Islamic World” section.

But CAIR said in a statement on Monday that the bill is aimed at discriminating against Islam.

“The bill calls for comparative religion to be taught in high school and simply addresses the balance and age-appropriateness of teaching religion in Tennessee public schools”.

Tennessee law now says that the Bible can be taught in schools, as long as schools aren’t using it to teach “religious doctrine or sectarian interpretation”. Butt claims it would not be hard for the state to discern the difference between teaching religion and teaching religious doctrine, but Tennessee teachers and education officials disagree.

“If you’re teaching the Middle East, then of course you’re going to mention the religion that was prevalent in that area”, Butt said. “No one specific religion is mentioned in the bill”.