Knowledge is power, Kim. There is an abysmal ignorance about Islamic culture in this country and anything that educates us is a positive, even if it leaves us with a negative sense of what life is like over there.

I tend to agree with what Paul just said ... we can only hope that these girls come away from such a lesson understanding the awful and degrading treatment of women in Arabic/Muslim society.

On the other hand, try holding a Passover Seder or Easter Mass inside a public school even simply as part of an educational unit, and watch the ACLU and Americans United come completely unglued.

It's that "required" nature which is the problem, Paul.

No one has the right to demand that my child will dress and act in compliance with a foreign custom.

I'm all in favor of voluntary culture experiences, but if anything like this happened in Texas, I'd have my lawyer file a Cease-and-Desist before the school district could get out Insh'Allah.

On the other hand, requiring the likes of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan to wear head-to-toe black bags whenever they go out in public has considerable appeal.

SS

Nothing in this indicates that the kids are being shown how oppressive and discriminatory this mandatory covering and denial of participation by women. They are being taught that this is 'normal'.

They may allow a Seder, but then they'd provide 'equal time' to show how 'oppressive' the Israelis are towards Hamas.

Although there's no reason to be xenophobic about it (and I'm not saying Kim is... however those feelings were aroused in me while reading this), Kim's question at the end is THE key idea:

"Would the school offer a project in which the kids were required to participate in a Jewish Seder?"

There tends to be a strange twist in our national mindset where ethnic "profiling" is bad, but celebrating this "culture of intolerance and death" is encouraged.

I agree with hermie. If you look at all of the photos, it's clear this was meant as a "they're just like us!" exercise, and not a lesson in what it's really like to live as a Muslim woman (or man, for that matter) in Saudi Arabia.

People were having too much fun to be learning anything of substance.

I'm sure most of them thought it was fun. Because I'm also sure that they neatly sliced off any of the inconvenient rules the children would be subject to if they were actually in an islamist state. The girls weren't allowed to dance or serve food. The horror! Were they allowed to speak with men? Were they chaperoned by their dads? Looking at that picture I see a lot of exposed skin. Did any of them receive detention for that (to use a suitable replacement punishment for a beating)? They certainly also appear to be touching. I could easily be wrong, but I'm pretty sure women aren't allowed to touch like that (please correct me if I'm wrong). Any chance the jewish children were mock-stoned or excluded? How about jewish families? Excluded or threatened? Anybody pretend to be an imam urging the others to rise up against the great Satan, the very same Satan teaching its children to be good little muslims? I could go on, but I think you see what I'm getting at. They got to go outside and 'play dress-up' and eat some funky ethnic treats and giggle and such. Yet none of them faced death for stepping out of their role. None of them faced the threat of losing a hand, etc. None of those girls were going home as the new 'bride' of any of the male teachers. All the fun and none of the fear. Their teachers should be ashamed for teaching them so incompletely. Teach them enough to be curious, but don't teach them enough to understand, and do it while they're still young and impressionable.

Does this same school allow Christmas plays and displays including reading the bible? If not they should be open so several million dollar lawsuits. Thousands of lawyers are standing by. Trial to be moved to the deep South. Not religious, do it for the money.

Chilling.

Time for the school people to "reeducated". I suggest a "teacher" by the name of Mr. Ballbat.

I forwarded this story on to my entire family.

Folks, this is intended to have the kids and families come away with a "see, that wasn't so bad now was it?" feeling.

Famous demonstration...drop a frog in hot water and it will INSTANTLY jump out and save it's life. Put a frog in cold water and gradually turn the heat up and you get a cooked frog!

This customs may have even seemed "charming" to the children and parents. How "charming" would they find them if they were MANDATORY...and non-compliance was met with swift and violent attention??

This is fricking bullshit. Bash and ban any Christan thing in school, but ooooooh, islam is special. We want everyone to know that. What a crock. I'm so tired of "Special" islam and all the bullshit that goes with it.

BTW, before Brian and Lee call me racist, islam is a perverted ideology, not a race, and it has NO PLACE in tax payer funded Public Education.

What is up with that? When I was in the 6th grade, my mom made me a little pilgrim outfit so we could experience part of our OWN history and culture. Why did that requirement get replaced?

LGF seems to be a parody site.

This whole exercise is obscene. The problem that this little show doesn't address is the way Islam is woven into the everyday life of every person in these countries and the oppressive nature that comes with being a woman in them. These seventh graders are playing dress-up, there is nothing being taught about their culture here. Slide shows, games, and dancing obscure what should truly be taught about those places.

Curious: was the "Death for drug trafficing" sign beside other signs that said "homosexuals beheaded" or "honor killings justified?"

Or "women drivers prohibited?" Let's get ALL of Islamic culture out there for the people to see...

Pilgrims are not a religion. Did they dress up as 3 wise men or Mary & Joesph at Christmas?

So did they perform genital mutilation surgery on these girls so they would really understand what it would be like for them to live in a muslim country? Did they even mention that this happens? I doubt it.

Remember, "liberalism is a mental disorder" - as Savage says.

This is a big part of Islam's strategy, they fight war on many fronts, many levels. The military war, the legal/lawsuit war, the cultural war like this example.

Look these terms up: umma, Dar al Islam, Dar al Harb, infidel, kuffar and lastly, dhimmi.

So it's not al Qaeda you hate but all Muslims.

Did any of you even bother to read the mission statement (Turning Points) or the curriculum of the school?

the terrorists who flew into the twin towers and who battle us now profess this is there religion. Why would a school even suggest to children to dress up like that? Would they suggest them wearing sheets and hoods too. get real barney.

Again, Barney, the stick-in-the-craw is "required".

How would you like to be required to participate in a Catholic ceremony, or an authentic two-a-day drill in football? How would you like compulsory celebration of Bible Study in a Baptist Bible School, or compelled to enter a pickled-pig's-feet-eating contest?

None of those things is bad if you have a choice. Any of them crosses the line when a person has no choice.

Anyway, I thought you supported keeping religion out of school?

They should stage a mock execution of students from the "Hindu Awareness Week" taking place at the middle school in the next town over, if those students happen to visit the Saudi exhibition and wander in the vicinity of the plaster-of-paris Ka'ba booth.

Dozens of migrant hindu laborers are executed every year for accidentally travelling through the cities of Mecca and Medina.

Barney, you mean THIS "mission statement"? :

The "open tent" was created to encourage participants to reach out and learn from people around the world, and to promote curiosity and cultural understanding.

Since this is a SAUDI "open tent"...and it supposedly THEIR "culture" the children were meant to "understand"...let's look at how "open" their tent truly is:

From the U.S. State Dept. official website comes this "cheerful" warning:

Women considering relocating to Saudi Arabia should be keenly aware that women and children residing in Saudi Arabia as members of a Saudi household (including adult American-citizen women married to Saudi men, adult American-citizen women who are the unmarried daughters of Saudi fathers, and American-citizen boys under the age of 21 who are the sons of Saudi fathers) are considered household property and require the permission of the Saudi male head of their household to leave the country. Married women require the permission of their husband to depart the country, while unmarried women and children require the permission of their father or male guardian.

Suppose the kids got told THAT??? or THIS:
"Women are not allowed to drive or ride bicycles on public roads."

more from the State Dept. OFFICIAL website:
"Public display of non-Islamic religious articles such as crosses and Bibles is not permitted. Travel to Makkah (Mecca) and Medina, the cities where the two holiest mosques of Islam are located, is forbidden to non-Muslims."

one more State Dept. morsel:
"Saudi religious police have accosted or arrested foreigners, including U.S. citizens, for improper dress or other alleged infractions, such as association by a female with a male to whom she is not related."

Now just how much of ANY of this do you think the children were made aware of??

DJ and Just, you better pull up your pants your bigotry is showing.

Maybe if Bush spent 10-minutes to learn the differences between the Sunni and Shiites our boys (and girls) wouldn't be ankle deep in blood right now with no end in sight, but you just keep promoting your 'only America counts' view of the world.

Barney, I think your misogyny is showing!
Don't give a damn how women are treated, eh?

My post was pulled DIRECTLY from the official State Department site regarding the customs of every nation on earth. Sorry to cloud your head with FACTS...but that is what those were!! (you may not have recognized them...since Leftists are allergic to them!)

One more of the many reasons why we home school our kids.

BarneyG2000, took your lead and went to the school's website and checked out the Vision Statement. Excerpted: "Amherst Regional Middle School is a place in which the uniqueness of each individual is recognized, embraced, and appreciated."
Now why you think this justifies celebrating a culture that obviously does not tolerate individual uniqueness is lost on me. But you've been one weird dude here since day one. No matter the thread it is always used by you to twist it into some Bush bashing.

Barney, have you stopped beating your wife yet?

The difference is that I do not see a problem with learning about another culture, nor am I hypocrite to denounce a whole race of people, but still happily use their chief export (oil).

Barney, you dishonest anti-American, it so happens that I have a number of Muslim friends. So your statement is as stupid as it is malicious. Way to go, you moron.

But just as I would never demand that their children participate in a 'Reverence of the Saints' celebration or a Pork BBQ picnic with beer, I would not accept anyone demanding that my daughter dress or act in any manner which demonstrated preference to a foreign culture, especially in a manner which ignored the nasty bits of modern events.

Again Barney, the difference is what you require. Move to Riyadh if you love it so much, but the Constitution still applies here. And that Constitution says we have freedoms against this sort of compulsary socialism.

Barney, good going on asking people a question then completely ignoring their responses. And extra credit for you for the Bush-bash! My guess is that you'd be at the head of this teacher's class.

Ah Barney, Islam is NOT a race, duh. It's a socio-political-religious ideology. Damn, another lame-brained liberal, "it must be our fault" fool. Tell me, are you a school teacher? Only a teacher can be so friggin naive.

How do I know this? Was stationed in the Mid East several years ago and have lived in the number one Islamic town in the good ol' USA (Dearborn, Michigan) all my life.

Naive is the best word to describe you and others like you.

Islamic nations ARE tribal and primitive - they rank the WORST in literacy (approx. half of the Islamic world is illiterate), unemployment, productivity, individual liberty, political repression, religious repression and intolerance.

A left-liberal is someone without the common sense to even protect themselves or their nation, their culture. Geez, pathetic children.

"Ah Barney, Islam is NOT a race, duh.." The demonstration was based on Arab culture which is a race. There was no mention of any Islamic practices displayed. It is only your bigotry that saw indoctrination where none existed.

DJ, this was a demonstration. Would you forbid your child from participate in play the required your child to play a character other then a christian?

Islamic nations ARE tribal and primitive - they rank the WORST..unemployment, productivity, ... nessy

Unemployment rates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_unemployment_rate)

Kuwait 2.2%
UAE 2.4%
Qatar 3.2%

Have you ever been to Dubai? Got any other observations you want to share?