CAN supporter inquires at school
Following up a Christian Action Network pamphlet warning, CAN supporter inquires at school in Columbia, SC
James Telfer told PRB News recently that he sees an “all clear” signal in responses he received from Irmo High School leaders in Columbia, South Carolina.
Latest reports of a prior school year indicated students had been required to create a pamphlet that would teach people about Islam and discuss the five pillars of Islam.
Telfer said the school has made changes since parental concern became a topic of discussion in numerous media sources and blog sites on the Internet.
“This happened four of five years ago, and the school system looked into it at the time,” Telfer said, adding the complaint by a parent focused on one Muslim teacher.
“He had been named a ‘teacher of the year’ prior to that,” he said; noting the teacher’s poplar appeal, the school had no reason to suspect him of inappropriate advocacy of his religion.
The teacher, Minhaj Arastu, was noted as an “overzealous Muslim” by the website, “Anti-CAIR,” stating he abused his authority as a teacher according to a parental complaint against him.
The website focused on Arastu as director of the Columbia, South Carolina, chapter of CAIR, the Counsel on American Islamic Relations – which Anti-CAIR strongly opposes.
“The guy is not even there anymore, he left several years ago,” Telfer said.
One matter of concern was the school setting aside a Muslim prayer area in the school library. Telfer said the prayer area was the only thing admitted to by school officials.
“Recently, it’s been changed to an out of the way location, and the policy is firmly in place that anyone can use it,” to avoid favoring one religious practice over others, he added.
Among prior comments, resident D.C. Watson complained Arastu taught students that the U.S. is a nation with a “Judeo-Christian-Muslim” heritage, and nice guy aside, he should not teach that.
“Perhaps people like Mr. Arastu should be forced to produce a single quote from the founding fathers about Muhammad or the Qur’an, or immediately resign…for lying to American kids to push an Islamic agenda,” Watson said.
Telfer said he regretted the ongoing impression that there is now a problem at Irmo High School – the information out in the Internet continues to bring negative attention to the community.
“The school administration did take the time to check this out,” he said.