'Sickened to My Very Core': Blaze Readers React to Fed-Up Marine Dad Who Confronted School Officials Over Daughter’s Mandatory Islam Assignment

TheBlaze posted a story earlier this week about Keith Wood — a Marine veteran who fought in Iraq and lost friends there — who complained to school officials at La Plata High School in Maryland after his daughter was given a mandatory homework assignment about Islam.

Image source: Fox News

He asked if his daughter could do a different assignment and was denied. Woods was then banned from the school. The 11th-grade assignment was a three-page essay about the “five pillars” of Islam, Mecca and Mohammed. Woods was not comfortable with his daughter completing the assignment, so he confronted school officials.

Woods was angered and told a school official, “you could take that Muslim-loving piece of paper and shove it up your white [expletive]. If [students] can’t practice Christianity in school, they should not be allowed to practice Islam in school.”

School spokesperson Katie O’Malley-Simpson said Woods was removed because he was disruptive, adding that, “We’re not teaching religion, we’re teaching world history.”

Here's what some readers of TheBlaze had to say about the issue:

commonsensechristian

I taught my kids about Islam at home. It didn’t require five pillars for them to learn the lesson – just two towers.

USAF_SP

As a fellow veteran and an atheist, I totally support this great Marine and father. Actually, I’m fine if the parents in that district decided to teach and promote Christianity in their schools. The point is, it should be decided by the parents in that community, by a majority. That’s how our country was founded…majority rule. I recognize that as an atheist, I’m in the minority in most communities and accept that. I’m not bothered by anyone practicing their Christian or Jewish faith. Heck, on most issues, I would much rather stand with the church than with other atheists. In my lifetime the only things I’ve seen Christianity promote are charity, humility, and humanity. The only thing I’ve ever seen Islam promote is caliphate, intolerance, and death to infidels.

SLEAZYHIPPOs ILLEGITIMATE OFFSPRING

If before threatening to cause a disruption he would have simply shouted, "Allahu Akbar,” he would have been invited for show-n-tell, tolerance day, school pep rally, and given the opportunity to share his “religion” during a school-wide function. Not to mention he would have been offered an honorary faculty position to enhance multiculturalism.

plfoht

I have retired as a teacher. This is why I could no longer stomach the curriculum I was expected to teach. BUT unfortunately there are plenty of younger teachers who just toe the line and spout this crap.

johnVMFA122

Only in America can we teach Islam and not Christianity. Every American, regardless of faith (or lack thereof), needs to stand with this Marine and say NO MORE!

I am personally sickened to my very core by what has happened to our country in the time since I took off my uniform.

justangry

I’m an atheist, and I’d stand with him.

formidable_foe

The school calls it world history vs. religion; this is because they view the Quran as historical non-fiction and the Bible as fictional religious stories?

Al J Zira

Shouldn’t the ACLU and FFRF be hauling the school district into court by now? I won’t hold my breath.

JudgeSmails

Love this guy…for his service for us and for fathering that lucky daughter.

AmericanTrucker1973

Take the F on the assignment. Nice job father and Marine, don’t back down, you are 100% correct! God Bless you and your family and thanks for serving what has become an ungrateful nation.

Bill Wallace

Do they teach religious history about Christianity and the Ten Commandments? Those are akin to the five pillars of islam.

Qoheleth

I would find no fault in this assignment with the assumption that other religions were given similar treatment. In my daughter's world history class they did just that. Students got a rudimentary understanding of Buddhism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and a few others I can’t recall. That’s a reasonable approach. There’s a big difference between teaching about what faiths believe and teaching kids to believe any of it. It seems the dad might have misinterpreted that.

As long as they’re teaching and not proselytizing, I’m OK with it.

jay03051983

I normally do not pick a side in news articles such as these, but I agree with the Marine on this one. I may not agree with the manner in which that he disagreed, but I do agree with the principle for which he was standing. If we as a society cannot study Christianity from a “world history” point of view, but are allowed to study other religions from a “world history” point of view, then it is simply wrong. We as a society are sending the wrong message. Either study all religions from a “world history” point of view or study none. Do not pick and choose, because then it appears as though you are discriminating against one religion.

Atrus00

We conservatives often accuse the left of reacting to things emotionally, rather than using logic and reason. I hate to say it, but I think that’s what a lot of us are doing here. Regardless of what the school is or isn’t teaching, the father went in with a hostile attitude. Telling a school official “you could take that Muslim-loving piece of paper and shove it up your white [expletive]” is the perfect way to make sure your argument will never be taken seriously. All you have succeeded in doing is making yourself come across as a hateful bigot, regardless of whether you actually are one or not.

I’m sorry for the losses this man suffered while fighting radical Islam, but it doesn’t give him the right to ban all historical teaching of the religion. You can’t effectively fight an enemy without a deep understanding of who they are and what they believe. Just saying “they’re evil and that’s all I need to know!” doesn’t cut it on the battlefield. Teaching students the origin and beliefs of Islam is not teaching them to “practice” Islam. What this particular Blaze article doesn’t mention is that they also have these same assignments for many other major religions, including Judaism and Christianity. Other news sites that have posted this story have had a few more details which were left out here.

As conservatives we need to challenge our own side’s arguments first to make sure they are solid, and I don’t believe we have a solid argument here.