Here We Go Again: Tennessee Islam Indoctrination Bill Reeks of Fear Mongering
I see U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Franklin) is getting involved in this too. You might recognize her name as she’s a climate change denier and rejects the theory of evolution, so given those credentials I’m not at all surprised that she’s also jumping on the Islamophobia train in this matter. All aboard!
Also note that every state elected official mentioned in relation to this bill is also a Republican. Quite a coincidence, isn’t it? (Not.)
U.S. Rep. Marsha BlackburnThe premise of House Bill 1418, sponsored by Rep. Sheila Butt, R-Columbia, is that Tennessee is allowing its schoolchildren to be indoctrinated by particular religious viewpoints or beliefs. Companion SB 1439 was filed by Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald.
That is why the proposal would preclude the state Board of Education from including “religious doctrine in any curriculum standards for grades prior to grades ten through twelve.”
Butt told The Tennessean: “They (schoolchildren) are not able to discern a lot of times whether it’s indoctrination or whether they’re learning about what a religion teaches.”
Teaching students in any grade about a particular religion is far different than an educator trying to proselytize one’s ideas or inculcate students with a particular dogma, which is unspecified in the bill.
Interestingly, the religion that has concerned Butt as well as other elected officials such as state Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, and U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Franklin, is Islam. […]