Covering the Bible and religion in world history classes is permitted under Tennessee law, and covering religious influences on world history doesn't appear to have been a problem up until this point in time, but some parents and at least one state lawmaker have found a problem now that teachers are covering the historical influences of Islam.
Representative Sheila Butt (R) has introduced a bill on behalf of parents who fear their children are being indoctrinated.
“I think that probably the teaching that is going on right now in seventh, eighth grade is not age appropriate,” Butt, who claims her bill isn’t targeted at Islam, told the Tennessean. “They are not able to discern a lot of times whether its indoctrination or whether they’re learning about what a religion teaches.”
Parents in the state have taken issue with world history classes that teach about the Five Pillars of Islam and other historical lessons about how the religion has influenced regions of the world.
It would behoove the state representative to explain to parents that their children are not being secretly indoctrinated and converted to Islam in public schools because that is, obviously, ridiculous. If these people are "not able to discern" a difference, discern it for them. Don't pander to their dumbassery.
I have a hunch that the number of parents who are concerned their children are being indoctrinated at school parallels the number of parents who indoctrinate their children with Fox News every single day.
Representative Butt may claim her bill is not a response to coverage of Islam in world history classes, but I wouldn't buy that for a dollar. There's no chance in hell she would introduce a bill to ban coverage of Christianity or the Bible in world history classes if a group of Muslim or Atheist parents voiced their concerns to her.