4/6/2005 5:00:00 PM GMT
Source: eastvalleytribune.com
A world history textbook used by seventh-graders at Scottsdale’s Mohave Middle School in Arizona was pulled from classrooms mid-semester amid growing criticism of the book’s portrayal of Islam.
The removal of the history book came after angry emails were sent to Scottsdale Unified School District officials and entries were made on internet web logs.
One Scottsdale parent, Janie White, complained about the "History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond" textbook in an email to the school's superintendent saying she was against what she believed was "religious bias, dogma, myth and proselytizing."
"I received a significant number of e-mails saying (the book) was Islamic propaganda and we shouldn’t use it," said district governing board member Christine Schild.
Before the board could take action, the book’s publisher requested an end to its trial license with the district in March, and the district quit using the materials.
According to Nancy Bredin, the national sales manager at the publishing company insists that they did not pull the license due to the controversy but that the newly-released state standards did not match the textbook’s focus.
"We pulled out because it became very clear we did not match the standards," Bredin said. The book is still being tried in schools in other states, she added.
The textbook covers history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century to the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century. It devotes 33 pages to Christianity and 42 pages to Islam.
Bredin explained the book is meant to serve as the second in a two-part series.
The previous book in the series does not mention Islam, which was founded in the seventh century. Yet it devotes 19 pages to Judaism, 13 pages to Christianity and more than 20 pages to Buddhism and Hinduism.
The lessons about Islam are what parents are "concerned" about, such as the definition of the word 'jihad'.
The book defines jihad as "a struggle within each individual to please God, but that may also be a physical struggle for protection against enemies."
David Damrel, a professor at the Arizona State University’s Department of Religious Studies, reviewed several chapters of the book at the Tribune’s request. He said the passages generally did a good job of describing Muslim attitudes toward jihad in an accurate way.
Complaints about the book started early this year, when White sent a series of e-mails to Baracy demanding the textbook be removed from her daughter’s classroom.
"I do not want my children trying out Islam, or thinking about becoming a Muslim now, or in the future," she wrote to Baracy on January 25. She did say, however, that she approves of including some information about world religions in history lessons, so long as it is presented factually and briefly.