Teaching about Islam stirs anger, change in Georgia schools

When it comes to learning about Islam, the line between teaching and proselytizing is so close in some parents' minds that it caused a flare-up of tension in Walton County last week.

A group of parents there pressured school board members, and met with them and the media about this issue. The pressure they created reached the state education department, which removed a teaching guide on the subject.

Learning about Christianity, Judaism and Islam, three monotheistic faiths from the Mideast, and the way they influenced history, is part of learning about the world in middle school social studies classes. However, some of the Georgia parents objected to a worksheet saying all faiths worshipped “the same God,” and complained the lessons had crossed the line into doing more than teaching about religion. Some threatened to withdraw their children from the classroom when the subject of Islam came up.