An Islamakazi Pledge
Of Allegiance
Denis Schulz
2005/11/07
“As
an American Muslim, I pledge allegiance to God and his prophet. I respect and
love my family and my community, and I dedicate my life to serving the cause of
truth and justice. As an American citizen with rights and responsibilities, I
pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America
, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice
for all.”
This
is the pledge of allegiance recited by children attending the
New
Horizons
Elementary School
in
Pasadena
,
California
. It’s not something one would hear in a Catholic or Christian school. The
closest thing to it would be a diehard Red Sox fan keeping a picture of A-Rod on
his dresser. And it’s not a benign pledge. There is nothing benign about
pledging oneself to Islam, the prophet, and Islamic Law.
The
bureaucrats in the Department of Education must have been asleep on this
one—or maybe they don’t read the fine print. Anyway the Department of
Educations awarded its Blue Ribbon for Excellence Award to New Horizons
Elementary. Did anyone bother to inform Lynne Cheney? Was Jerry Falwell asked
his opinion? Does Shmuley Boteach think it was kosher? What would Thomas
Jefferson and James Madison have thought of this? Would they have looked with
disfavor at a pledge that would have put, not all religions but just one
particular religion, on a par with the US Constitution? It would have been time
for another Kentucky Resolution.
Jefferson
fought a war against the expositors of this particular religion for seizing US
merchant ships on the High Seas, for enslaving American seamen, for turning
preteen cabin boys into sex toys to sate the sexual appetites of assorted emirs
and Mullahs. This particular religion never apologized for any of those crimes
and never intends to.
And
what about this ‘under God’ stuff? Do Michael Newdow and the American Civil
Liberties Union intend to do anything about it?
In
all fairness, the Blue Ribbon Award is part of the No Child Left Behind scheme
and doesn’t really amount to much. Any school that can demonstrate academic
superiority or display dramatic increases in student achievement can receive an
award—especially if the school is a minority or non-white institution. Bob
Jones Grammar Schools need not apply.
Students
at New Horizons spend an hour and a half each school day on Koranic and Islamic
studies and Arabic language instruction. “And on Friday,” says principal
Judy Khaloui, “all of our students come together to pray. It is important that
our students understand their faith, and to be proud of their religion and
cultural heritage.”
Cultural
heritage? This is where it gets tricky. This is where the diehard Red Sox fan
sticks A-Rod’s picture in the bottom drawer of the dresser—face down. Is
anybody going to tell the students at New Horizons about Jefferson and his war
against the Barbary pirates; about the separation of Church and State; about how
Islam stole
Israel
from the Jews; about the extermination of the Zoroastrians and the Assyrians;
about the murder of millions of Christians and animists in
Sudan
? Of course not, that would not make them feel proud of their religion, but they
will be told about Habib who was detained for ten minutes at the airport by
racist security guards and about the Golden Age of Islam when anything worth
thinking had been thought and anything worth doing had been done.
Sahar
Jahani, New Horizons class of 2005, says, “Not only do the students at this
school learn Islamic principles and values, but they also have the opportunity
to grow and have fun in a safe and welcoming environment.”
Here
are some Islamic principles—or maybe they are values. It is difficult to
tell.
Qur’an
5:51: “Believers, take not Jews or Christians for your friends. They are but
friends and protectors to each other.” (Is
that an outright rejection of cultural diversity?)
Qur’an
3:56: “As for those disbelieving infidels I will punish them with a terrible
agony in this world and in the next. They have no one to help or save them.” (That
sounds like out-and-out Islamic Jihad!)
Tabari
IX: 113: “Allah permits you to shut them in separate rooms and to beat them,
but not severely…Treat women well for they are like domestic animals and they
possess nothing in themselves.” (Shocking!
Hillary Clinton and Patty Murray please take note)
Qur’an
9:29: “Fight those who do not believe until they all surrender paying the
protective tax in submission.” (George
III tried that principle—taxation without representation. That was another
thing
Jefferson
didn’t like)
Qur’an
5:73: “They are surely disbelieving who blaspheme and say: ‘God is one of
Three in the Trinity’ for there is no Illah (God) except One, Allah. If they
desist not from saying this (blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall
them—the disbelievers will suffer a painful doom.’” (Okay,
all you believers in the Holy Ghost—take the down elevator to Beelzebub’s
waiting room)