This week, I’ve decided to discuss a scenario that I first stumbled upon a few months ago. The reason for the delay? In school I’ve been learning a lot about Islam lately, and this article discussed an ethical dilemma that is very much at the core of Islamic and Muslim influences and how they are treated in schools.
The article is about a school in Kansas that happened to
have an interesting decoration hanging on its walls on the first day of school.
In the main hallway, the school had displayed a paper cut out graphic of the
five pillars of Islam, the foundational rules of the Muslim faith. Displaying
the Five Pillars is unusual in a school setting, let alone in Kansas which is
hardly home to a large Muslim population. Soon enough, pictures of the
Pillars made it to the internet, and parents and conservatives stirred up a
huge controversy about the display. The school eventually chose to take down
the decoration, which presents us with this week’s ethical dilemma.
Of course, the ethical issues with this situation are whether
or not the school should have put the Five Pillars display up in the first place as well as
whether or not they should have removed it. Those who claim that the display should
never have been up in the first place may claim that this is strictly an issue
of secularism in schools, but I see this as a particularly Islam-based controversy. The Kansas school has several other religious displays
up around the school, including a large painting of the Last Supper, which have never been disputed. This is beyond
a religion-in-schools ethical scenario, it is a specifically Islamic based one.
Proponents of the display claim that learning about world religions is a part of the overall school curriculum, and that the Pillars display was not meant to endorse Islam to its students. They also cite the Last Supper painting and point out that a display of the Five Pillars should be no more controversial. The school claims that it is not trying to convert any students to Islam, ad the students stand to greatly benefit from an exposure to multiple religions and the cultures surrounding them.
Those who oppose the display argue that it is unethical to expose students to the display because it may make students uncomfortable. Religions is a uniquely controversial subject for good reason; it is at the core of many people's values and beliefs. There may be students who walk into school on the first day and feel that the Five Pillars display threatens their beliefs. Furthermore, the student's parents may feel that the display conflicts with everything they have tried to teach their children, and may not appreciate a school exposing their children to these influences.
The Kansas school took down the Five Pillars display after to internet controversy, but claims that it intends to re-post the display when the school covers the Islam unit of its world religions curriculum later in the year. Do you guys think this is the right decision?
Proponents of the display claim that learning about world religions is a part of the overall school curriculum, and that the Pillars display was not meant to endorse Islam to its students. They also cite the Last Supper painting and point out that a display of the Five Pillars should be no more controversial. The school claims that it is not trying to convert any students to Islam, ad the students stand to greatly benefit from an exposure to multiple religions and the cultures surrounding them.
Those who oppose the display argue that it is unethical to expose students to the display because it may make students uncomfortable. Religions is a uniquely controversial subject for good reason; it is at the core of many people's values and beliefs. There may be students who walk into school on the first day and feel that the Five Pillars display threatens their beliefs. Furthermore, the student's parents may feel that the display conflicts with everything they have tried to teach their children, and may not appreciate a school exposing their children to these influences.
The Kansas school took down the Five Pillars display after to internet controversy, but claims that it intends to re-post the display when the school covers the Islam unit of its world religions curriculum later in the year. Do you guys think this is the right decision?
I don't think it was the right decision - I think the school should either have to take down all religious paraphernalia or leave the five pillars up. You mention that some students might feel uncomfortable, or that the display threatens their beliefs, but what about any Muslim students? Do they feel uncomfortable about the painting of the Last Supper? I'd imagine that they do. It reminds me a lot of the controversy that happened locally, with the Caribou Coffee taking down the GSA sign during homecoming. They made the same argument that it would make people feel uncomfortable, but in both cases I'm curious as to how many students/costumers complained about the sign. There should be a protection of freedom of religion, and it seems like the school has not upheld that it's decision.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing particularly pushy or proselytizing about this particular display. If there was a sign that said "What Would Jesus Do?" or displayed the shahada in English, I think the parents would have a somewhat stronger case. It is hard to envision a student feeling threatened by this sign, and I agree with you that it has everything to do with Islam in particular.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to an ethical dilemma for the school, this also poses a question about how to interpret the Constitution. In recent years, the Supreme Court has made it clear that schools, as government entities, cannot do anything which endorses religion over lack of religion, for example, having time carved out of the day for prayer, even if it is non-denominational. If this were a case before the Supreme Court, they would have to answer the question of what constitutes an endorsement/promotion of religion on the part of a school.
To me, it seems like there is an issue with the display not because it is proselytizing but because it isn't. While in my opinion there should not be a painting of the last supper displayed in a public school in the first place, there is a difference between the painting and the pillars. Unless the painting had a sign above it that spelled out Christianity, which I doubt, it's more of a decoration than an educational tool. The painting simply belongs in the school as something commonplace. On the other hand, the pillars are clearly meant to teach the students about Islam. The school is putting the religion on display and thus, in some ways, calling it out as strange and something that people probably aren't very familiar with. There is a clear issue in the difference between the two displays.
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