State Rep. Sheila Butt would rather cut back on all religious study than risk the “indoctrination” of Tennessee students.
A Republican lawmaker in Tennessee has proposed a bill that would ban public schools from teaching “religious doctrine” earlier than 10th grade after parents complained that middle school world history lessons on Islam were inappropriate.
Tennessee middle school students currently read from religious texts and learn about world religions, including the Five Pillars of Islam. Butt’s legislation doesn’t specifically mention Islam, but said students aren’t ready to learn about religion before a certain age.
Parents had made similar complaints, saying the curriculum focused more on Islam than on other religions and bordered on “indoctrination.”
Other Tennessee lawmakers also have weighed in with concerns about supposed religious indoctrination in schools — at least when the curriculum involves Islam.
“There is a big difference between education and indoctrination,” U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, (R-Tenn)., said in a statement in September.
