Islam And Public Schools: Accommodate, But Don’t Promote Religion, Says Muslim Activist

The interminable debate over religion in public schools flared recently when an elementary school in San Diego, Calif., built a short prayer break into the school day. The school believed it was accommodating Muslim students, whose faith requires them to pray five times a day. Critics argued the break amounted to unconstitutional school-sanctioned prayer.

Rob Boston of Americans United, Edina Lekovic of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and Richard Thompson of the Thomas More Law Center discussed the topic Sunday on Fox News’ “Big Story Weekend.”

MPAC’s Lekovic said, “It would be a huge disservice to all Americans if there was school-sanctioned prayer, no matter which religion was being represented…. Schools have a responsibility to provide the opportunity for students to take care of their religious obligations, but it certainly shouldn’t be school sanctioned.”

Americans United’s Boston agreed that public schools could accommodate, not facilitate, student prayer. All three panelists suspected that a school creating a special period for Muslim students to pray crossed the church-state line.

“The idea here of this school creating an entire recess period simply for Muslim prayer is not something that I think even most Muslims support,” said Lekovic. Religious exercise shouldn’t “happen as a matter of school policy.”

Lekovic and Boston said the problem could be easily remedied by following current law, which allows students to discuss and practice religion on their own time.

The conversation then turned from religious exercise to religious objects. The Los Angeles Times reported today that the University of Michigan at Dearborn will install two footbaths for Muslim students to use before they pray. Lekovic disagreed with such an “accommodation.”

“The idea of Muslims needing special footbaths in schools or in public places is absolutely not required in any way,” she said. “I don’t have a footbath at home, and I certainly wouldn’t expect there to be one in another place.”

I can understand how difficult it is for public school officials to serve children from many different religious backgrounds (and none). They should remember, though, that the reason it is so difficult is because America is home to some 2,000 religious groups. It would be impossible for schools to teach reading, writing and arithmetic while catering to even a fraction of this number. Schools, therefore, should leave decisions about children’s religious upbringing to their families and houses of worship.

By Lauren Smith