Holey moley ... did you hear about the substitute school teacher? No joke!

Good morning Emeraldisle, Yes, you're right. It is unconstitutional to single one religion out. According to Roger Hedgecock, the substitute teacher has challenged the school-board publicly. Also, Roger Hedgecock has enlisted the aid of a long time associate, a constitutional lawyer to investigate the matter. Together, they have contacted the school district, and an investigation is allegedly underway. The school is: Carver Elementary school, in San Diego, CA. http://www.rogerhedgecock.com/pages/rh_hottopics.html?feed=166517&article=1766069?feed=166517&article=1976790 Roger provided much more detail in his on-air coverage than the synopsis in the link above. Although the synopsis in the link provides one detail that I didn't hear Roger cover on-air: Apparently, part of the preparation for this lead prayer time is to take down, and roll up the US flag. I'm stunned by this!

You aren't alone believe me. I'm stunned by it too. I don't know how they are doing it or how they have gotten away with it for so long. It just doesn't make sense. I have the feeling that things are going to be hitting the fan around there really soon.

I fear you are right Emeraldisle.

Hello Mac1946, Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this disturbing issue. I was unaware that the caucasian race was a minority in Canada. I actually thought that Caucasians were a solid majority up North. I know that Toronto is quite a cultural mix, but what about the rest of Canada? You're right about other cultures treating diversity like a crime. Try being a Western Woman, in Saudi Arabia without a burqa. Fortunately, we in North America are not like that! And, I thought that was part of our greatness. It is simply unacceptable to immigrate here, and ignore our laws in accomodating their cultural differences. It is our laws that make us who we are, as nations. If immigrants do not wish to embrace ALL of our laws, then they should reconsider moving here.

I guess I am exagerating a bit about being the minority,but if this keeps going,it will not be long before it is true. The one facet of this is reverse discimination,if we display our dislike of how they are treating our cultural beleifs,we are being discriminatory,they on the other hand can do and say anything they like against ours and that is fine,nothing is said. They can force their religious beleifs and culture down our throats,but don't dare say anything about it. Like you,I beleive if they do want to keep all their beleifs,fine,keep them at home,or go home.

Hello Mac1946, You've probably been brow-beaten for those ideas, but current events prove you to not be far from the truth. Our fairness oriented judiciaries have allowed our own tolerances to be used against our guiding principles. Does that mean that we should be less tolerant? Or does it mean that we should fortify our own inner structures to disallow our freedoms to present new scenarios in violation of our freedom loving principles, in the name of tolerance? And if so, to what lenghts? That is the question of the day! It is a difficult question to answer!

I completely agree. There are so many better uses of tax dollars. I have no issues with schools teaching about other cultures, but other religions should not be taught in public school at least during school hours. If that school is letting Muslims is, what about other religions? I am sure they feel slighted. What about the kids? I do find it odd that no kid mentioned anything different about school? How did the school even get to implement this without notifying the parents?

Hello Sedel1027. Sadly, I think it was implemented without parental awareness because of lack of parental involvement. Unless the individual school boards have some hot item on the agenda, I doubt many parents fill the seats to educate themselves about what is going on in their children's schools.

Hello Sedel1027, Thanks for your thoughts on this. I think that one of the scariest things about this story is that no one was the wiser. This was a regular routine in the school, with the approval of the teacher, and the administration. Had it not been for the substitute teacher filling in, this would not be in the news. Elementary aged children would probably not understand the illegal nature of this action. Our kids are being taught diversity acceptance from shore to shore. Which is great. It's part of our power as a nation, that we are tolerant of others' religious orientation. BUT, when that religious orientation supercedes our laws, and sends the message that the American flag cannot be present when praying to any god, it becomes an insideous, and perhaps seditious act. It threatens the foundation of the nation! The fact that it was taxpayer funded adds insult to injury, in my opinion.

I hear ya' Sig! I thought we were supposed to be fighting all inequities in our country, for the greater harmony. You're right, allowing exceptions to our laws does invalidate them in an ever growing number of cases. And, this needs to be stopped! You make an excellent point about Muslim's seeking exceptions to the law, in this case. If Muslim's want "Islam Schools" then they should create a curriculum that adheres to our educational standards, than adds religious training. Catholics have had "Catholic Schools" for milennia. They are private institutions, funded by tuition dollars, not the taxpayer dime!

Hello Sarahruthbeth, Your right about any other religion demanding 'in-school' prayer time, being headline news. And, you make an excellent point about there being a contest over which one religion would be afforded designated prayer time. This cannot be allowed to happen in the USA, because the Constitution declares that although we have the freedom to choose our own faith, that the government will not sponsor any particular denomination (paraphrased of course). Which brings me back to the one point in your post that I disagree with. I do not think it's great that the public school system (a gov't sponsored institution) recognizes that Muslim's need to pray during school hours. In the USA, public school is about reading, writing and arithmatec. I went to Catholic school through grade twelve. And, although praying the Rosary was looked upon with great favor before & after Mass, I'm here to tell you that Sr. Catherine would have treated praying the Rosary as just as much a distraction as writing notes to my classmate in the seat next to me, when she was educating us. The point is that American society affords many freedoms to its immigrants. However, choosing to move here should require those same immigrants to be adaptable to our culture. Our publicly funded schools do not promote any single religion during school hours. No exceptions! To afford those exceptions will help the immigrants to avoid adapting to our culture. And, will foster greater misunderstanding of our cultural mix, because when you offer one a bonus, the others will take offense. Further, if the noon hour was designated for teacher-led prayer of any sort, imagine the school yard tiffs that would erupt over "my religion's better than your religion". For the sake of harmony, and integration, prayer should be conducted privately, non-disruptively, and probably after school hours. Unless, Muslim immigrants create an approved US educational curriculum, and fund their own religions schools. But, even then ... they must meet our minimum educational standards. The same is true of the workplace. Part of our American culture is that we designate appropriate time and location to our spiritual pursuits.

I agree with you. When I said that I thought it was great that the school reconizes there are Muslims, I meant finally a U.S. instution finally gets that not all American are Christian.I diaasagree that a immigrant has to change his thoughts on his religion to become more like other Americans.If an immigrant had to choose betwwen his religious practice and public school, I bet he would pick his religion.If a student in the public school sysytem has to pray during school hours there should be a way for him to do it without making others do it or disrupting the class.If he can't, then he should go to a private religious school.In my area there is a private Muslim school and i think that is great. In a perfect world,all religions would have their own version of private school, affordable for all who want to could attend. Until then there will be a lot of these cases where church and state collide and wrongly merge.

Hello Sarahruthbeth, Thank you for your clarification. I believe that we're in full agreement about establishing private schools, that meet our ed. requirements, if our public schools don't work with an immigrant's reality of religion or culture. But, what if those new Islam school's submit appropriate lesson plans, yet fail standardardized testing because they're teaching an all religious curriculum, yet ignoring the basic standards. The schools will have how many years to improve it's standardized testing, and if they don't, their students will be offered the opportunity to change schools, which they won't, and in the end, we'll have a bunch of madrassa's teaching spousal abuse, patriarchal rule, and perhaps violence rather than rational disagreement, around the nation. If you and your family were to be moving to Saudi Arabia, for career opportunities, would you expect that Saudi government to adapt, or even recognize your spiritual needs during work, or school time? These are weighty matters to consider.

Hello Angelfantasy23, Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this issue. I'm not sure that I concur with your thoughts about immigrants buying their 'work-around' of our laws. Most of the immigrants referenced were Somali Muslims. It's rather unlikely that they have the funds to bribe their way around the law. No, I think that what's going on here is far worse. Immigrants are using our own tolerance of diversity to their own end. You're correct though, about it not being right or fair. And, what we can do about it is to send emails, and letters to our elected representatives. We can make phone calls, and pay a visit to local school board meetings, to act as the eyes and ears of all equality loving Americans. Moreover, we can spread the word about this kind of news to friends and family. That is how Americans become informed about this type of injustice.

Hello Mjsdls, Your avatar is really beautiful! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. Are you from CA? Is that what you meant about "... our governor"? We are a nation built around our laws. And, so it remains that our most powerful weapon is the mighty pen. This is how we demand equality under the law. The American People won a great victory in defeating the horrible immigration legislation last week. The bill was riddled with inequities. Let's not let that be our last great victory. We need to let our elected representatives know that it is unacceptable to allow one religion to be stifled, while another is taxpayer funded. This includes going to our school boards, and making them aware that any such attempt to imitate will be met with a flat refusal. Sadly, California has a long history of leading trends throughout the nation. This should not be allowed to trend within our borders. And, it is you and I, everday Americans who can bring this inequity to a screeching halt.