Gretchen Carlson Validates 'Outrage' Over Islam Lesson

Along with being ever vigilant about the creeping gay agenda, Fox Radio's Todd Starnes is always on the alert for creeping Sharia in Jesus' favorite country. In January, he had his nice, white Christian panties in a wad because a Colorado high school culture club had said the Pledge of Allegiance in - OMG - the satanic Arabic language. Monday, he broke the story, now gone viral in the Islamophobic blogosphere, about how patriotic Texas Christians are outraged because a teacher brought Islamic garb to school which she then allowed students to voluntarily try on. Students also claimed that the teacher told the students to refer to Muslim terrorists as "freedom fighters." So as the media morning mouthpiece for anti-Muslim hysteria and Christian victimization, it wasn't surprising that Fox & Friends got in on the action this morning by presenting the issue as an "outrage" and part of the "trouble with schools."

Both the title graphic and the background graphic cited "The Trouble with Schools." Former Miss America and Jesus BFF Gretchen Carlson, looking mighty pissed, said that "this is not what parents had in mind when they sent their kids to schools earlier this month." (OMG, Christian Texas kids being forced to lean about non-Christian cultures!!! Oh, noo.....) She reported that students were told that they could don burqas during a lesson on Islam. She said, without using the word "allegedly" that they were told to refer to Islamic terrorists as freedom fighters. The chyron further framed the Fox lesson for the day with a classic Cavuto marked question: "Education or Indoctrination? TX Public School Students Don Islamic Garb." Gretchen introduced her guests - no, not anybody from the school district but an outraged student with her outraged mother.

To Carlson's scripted question about whether geography lessons about other countries included religion, the girl said that this was the only geographical lesson that included religion. The chyron, a statement of Fox fact, set the patented "outrage" theme, "The Trouble With Schools, Parents Outraged Over Islam Lesson Plan." Carlson cleverly "explained" that the teacher brought in clothing that women are "forced to wear" in observing the "strictest version of Islam." As the chyron further reinforced the Fox message about this Islam-symp lesson, "Battle over Burqas, TX Teacher Gives Unusual Islam Lesson," Carlson, with a perky smile, asked the mother how she found out about it. April LeBlanc said that she saw it on Facebook. While the accusations about the actual lesson haven't been proven, the chyron further defined Fox reality: "Extreme Lesson Plan, Call Terrorists Freedom Fighters."

LeBlanc said that when she found out about the burqa, she assumed that the teacher would have mentioned that it is connected with "oppression." As she spoke of how "alarmed" she became when she saw the worksheets, the Cavuto marked chyron doubled down on the agitprop: "Radical Teachings? Texas Students Encouraged to Wear Burqas." (As the student had noted, it was voluntary.) Carlson provided further messaging for the audience with her explanation that the mother was alarmed over classroom discussion of "freedom fighters and sort of the impression that was given about terrorists?" LeBlanc said that her daughter claimed that the lesson focused on Islam while never mentioning Christianity and briefly touching on Judaism. Carlson worked in a Texas complaint about pro-Islam school bias as well as the patented Fox & Friends persecuted Christian meme with the comment that "Christianity is not allowed to be taught in schools but yet this part of history was." In the last seconds, Gretch read a statement from the school in support of the lesson.

Fox News has no problem with public school cheerleaders jumping through banners with Christian bible messages, public school football players being subjected to Christian proselytization, and Christian prayer being blasted by loudspeakers at public school football games. But a lesson in Islamic culture is a problem? And while we don't know if the "freedom fighters" allegation is true, it is, LOL, the term that Pres. Reagan used to describe those in the Afghan resistance who were fighting the Russians and whom we armed - the same folks that became the Taliban!!! But once again, the American Christian patriots of Fox & Friends take a local issue and, in taking it national, fan the flames of intolerance and resentment. Praise the Lord and Roger Aisles!

*When Gretch said that Christianity isn't allowed in, one assumes, Texas schools, she missspoke. A report, cited by the Dallas Morning News, showed that Irving Texas schools, despite allegations of pro-Islam bias, are actually more biased towards Christianity. The controversial 2010 conservative curriculum (supported by Fox & Friends), "strengthened requirements on teaching the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation's Founding Fathers." Thomas Jefferson's role in the Enlightenment was eliminated from the curriculum while Thomas Aquinas was added.

Do you like this post?

	Tweet

Showing 10 reactions

M M commented 2013-02-28 18:40:14 -0500 · Flag

Great post, Priscilla. My last comment on this for a while – I promise! On the whiteboard behind the students in the Facebook photo: (http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/02/25/facebook-photo-of-female-students-dressed-in-burqas-for-lesson-on-islam-prompts-state-investigation/ ), you can see Islam, Judaism, & Christianity written, with related terms. So the INTENT of the lesson was to discuss all 3 religions, either in one class session or over several. Perhaps the teacher ran out of time to get to Christianity during the lesson (easy to do when you have hands-on activities, like trying on the garments.) Since the lesson was on the Mideast countries, it makes sense to spend more time on Islam. I really fail to see what was so inappropriate about the lesson. Interesting also that the mother apparently was concerned about calling the terrorists “freedom fighters,” but she gives no details. It would be interesting to see the worksheets she talks about, but again, she doesn’t show them or give any details. And one last minor point, the student is an AP 9th-grader, yet she barely spoke. The mother wasn’t in the classroom-I’d have liked to have heard more from the student. BTW, kudos to the principal, who is supporting the teacher.

M M commented 2013-02-28 15:48:42 -0500 · Flag

One last point- Tx State Sen (and radio host) Dan Patrick is launching an investigation into this “outrage”. According to Wikipedia:
“On January 27, 2011 on his radio show, Patrick defended his proposed 20% cuts to Texas education funding by saying that anything but engineering and medical research is “research nobody cares about” which he "will get rid of.” WOW.
(Sorry for my previous long posts, but I’m pursuing a special education career, so this topic hits close to home for me.)

M M commented 2013-02-28 15:42:11 -0500 · Flag

More info on the lesson here: http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/state-investigation-launched-after-students-dress-in-burqas.html

(Article was written by Todd Starnes, so consider the source.) What I found interesting was the lead-in states that the teacher instructed the student to call “Muslim terrorists freedom fighters.” However, there’s nothing specifically stating that in the article. The closest I could find was: “They were asked about their perception of Islam,” she said. “Most of the class said they thought about terrorism. And her response was, ‘we’re going to change the way we perceive Islam.’” President Bush would even agree with that statement! If the teacher said not to call terrorists what they are – terrorists, yeah, I have a problem with that. But if she said not to call Muslims terrorists, what’s the problem. This issue needs to be cleared up. Another interesting quote: A parent “wondered why the teacher was giving children lessons about Islam in a geography class.” You can’t really separate the two. For example, Afghanistan’s official name is “The ISLAMIC Republic of Afghanistan”. It’s 99% Muslim (Supposedly, there is only one Jew left in Afghanistan.) Just like you can’t teach a lesson in early American history without mentioning religious persection in Europe, and the early American views on religious freedom and the Puritans and other religious sects of the time, you can’t study the Mideast without talking about the powerful role Islam plays in its government and society. I’m not saying that maybe the lesson could have been presented in a more balanced way. I remember being shocked many years ago to learn that women couldn’t drive alone in Saudi Arabia (and even more shocked, decades later to find out that that’s still the case!). But I fail to see the outrage.

M M commented 2013-02-28 15:06:58 -0500 · Flag

The lesson does not seem all that controversial to me. In my public school Spanish class many years ago, my teacher brought in sombreros and serapes, samples of Mexican food, etc. We learned about Mexican culture, the Aztec civilization (and religion), etc. We learned that the population is largely Catholic. In social studies/history, we learned about other cultures. Our teachers didn’t bring in Muslim garments, b/c for one thing, I think back then, it would have been hard to procure them. But I remember learning about the importance of oil, how much power the Saudi Royal Family has, the the Beduoins, etc. Honestly, though, my education was very Euro-centric. Asia and Africa were given short shrift. I think it’s important, especially in today’s world to learn about other cultures. Islam is very important in Middle Eastern culture-you can’t authentically teach a lesson on the Mideast without at least touching on Islam.

Janet Tuhey commented 2013-02-28 13:48:03 -0500 · Flag

How dare their teacher try to expand their horizons!
They had no need to cover Christianity since most of them have probably gone to church all their lives.

Thx4 Fish commented 2013-02-28 01:29:00 -0500 · Flag

Well they did not show the worksheet so who knows if this use of ‘freedom fighters’ was in the form of a question or even true. But this mother sure could compete with Sarah Palin in a word salad competition! She didn’t form any coherent sentences. It seems the real problem for Fox is any mention of Islam in the classroom that’s not a negative one.

Visitor 55 commented 2013-02-28 00:12:39 -0500 · Flag

retchin gretchin and her fellow Islamaphobes remind me of the intolerant ultra-conservative Sharia extremist Taliban in Afghanistan who demonize all other religions. Same fears. Same closed mindedness. Same ignorance.

Average American Patriot commented 2013-02-27 17:12:33 -0500 · Flag

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Waleed_bin_Talal

Charitable activities

Much of the charitable activities of Al Waleed are in the field of educational initiatives to bridge gaps between Western and Islamic communities. Over the years, he has funded a number of centers of American studies in universities in the Middle East and centers of Islamic studies in Western universities, which has given rise to concerns about their academic autonomy from Campus Watch and Jewish American interest groups.¹⁵

Gretchen is going to have her panties in a bunch in 3, 2, 1…

scooter commented 2013-02-27 16:32:26 -0500 · Flag

She makes me want to bleach my eyeballs. There is no end to the depths of my disdain for her and her companions on the curvy couch.

NewsHounds posted about Gretchen Carlson Validates 'Outrage' Over Islam Lesson on NewsHounds' Facebook page 2013-02-27 14:23:30 -0500

Gretchen Carlson Validates 'Outrage' Over Islam Lesson