In 1816, Thomas Jefferson proclaimed in a letter to a friend an adage that we should be heeding today: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”
Never was this advice more desperately needed — or more consciously avoided — than it is today. American’s educational system has seemed unwilling to enlighten our children to the nature, history, and implications of the war that has been declared on us and on free people in general by Islamist theocratic totalitarians. At best, the subject is entirely avoided in America’s classrooms; at worst, it is ascribed to causes that facts prove are untrue — such as poverty or American foreign policy.
Last August 2007, I was invited by a Phoenix-area high school teacher to address the entire student body on the anniversary of 9/11. I was to discuss the impact of 9/11 from the perspective of a devotional and activist anti-Islamist Muslim. But sadly, just a few days before the event, the principal canceled it. He cited his belief to the teacher that it is inappropriate to discuss matters of faith in public schools.
The teacher had scheduled a few other speakers that week including an American serviceman who had served in Iraq. To cover his bases, the principal cancelled all 9/11-related activities for the entire week. Once the word “Islam” entered a discussion on 9/11, this educator and the system he represented felt it better to sweep the entire discussion under the rug rather than expose his students to the real world issues. Fearing professional repercussions, the high school teacher asked that this story remain anonymous.
We have come the seventh anniversary of 9/11, and sadly, our educational system is still in a collective paralysis over “the Islamist threat.” No issue better encapsulates the long overdue battle of ideas domestically and globally against the Islamists than the woeful coverage our schools give 9/11 and the theology of political Islam.
In short, “political Islam” is a belief that Muslims have both a duty and obligation to promote the public application of their interpretation of sharia, and where possible, establish Islamic states. Terrorists do this by any means necessary; non-violent Islamists do it through patient advocacy and slow societal change.
Few would deny that our nation faces a clear and present danger physically and ideologically. Over 30 attacks against American citizens from radical Islamists have been prevented by our security forces since 9/11. This is not to mention all of the attacks which have been carried out from Bali to Spain to London since 9/11.
And yet, our schools are entirely avoiding the core reasons why these attacks occur. The curricula on
9/11 and the threat of Islamism are all but nonexistent.
When 9/11 is covered it is done so in platitudes with no critical inquiry into the role of radical Islamists or from where their ideology emanates. The fomenters of these attacks themselves have clearly and repeatedly stated the source of their beliefs and actions: they believe that it is their moral duty to conquer the world for Islam. Would it not stand to reason that students should be provided with a solid grounding on the recent history of the Middle East, discussing the ascendancy of both military secular dictatorships and political Islam, as two heads of a snake that has declared war on us?
CONTINUED 1 2 3 Next > 
