Earlier this week I saw on TV an article about a Tennessee woman who complained that her children were being taught the history of Islam in the local public school.

I went online to the Troup County School System website. There under the heading of seventh grade curriculum I found the outline for a six-unit course on Islam. It included a detailed history of the religion as well as a detailed outline of that religion’s beliefs to include the Five Pillars of Islam. One item of note was a 62-slide Power Point presentation on Islam for use of local teachers.

When I asked how this could be, local school board members told me that they were forced to accept the dictates of state and federal departments of education. I call that “going along to get along” or simply passing the buck.

Why should our community be subjected to this without even registering a complaint? What member of the local educational establishment has gone to the governor of Georgia or the U.S. Department of Education and complained about this inequity?

I call this an “inequity” because I am not against our children learning accurate and well-taught history, but I contend that a course on Islamic history needs to be complimented by an equally in-depth course on Christianity. I have heard the contention that the course on Islam also compares it with Christianity. That dog does not hunt.

The curriculum that I read gave absolute minimum time to Christianity. I can teach Christian history in far less than 62 slides! I would begin with the life of Jesus Christ and include the acts of the disciples as well as the Crusades, the Protestant Reformation and other significant events in history.

The course could also include a survey of the clashes between Islam and Christianity from 634 AD until the present. I would even be pleased to co-teach the course in tandem with someone who wants to present an honest history of Islam simultaneously.

The bottom line is this. Someone has to speak up to represent the overwhelming majority of Christians in Troup County who expect even-handed treatment from our educators. If, in fact, this is a policy of state or federal departments of education then someone needs to stand up and let them know that it is an outrage and an affront to Christian taxpayers.

Ford McLain

LaGrange