Abused Muslim Boys

I read this post by Ann Althouse and my blood boiled. Muslim boys are forced to spend nine hours a day memorizing jibberish they don't understand to gain entrance into heaven along with ten people they know. The worst thing? They learn no reading, no writing, no arithmatic. NOTHING.

What amazed me were the comments on Ann's site from people who framed the subject in a Judeo-Christian manner. Christians and Jews have religious schools that emphasize their religion, sometimes, it seems, over academics. But that entirely misses the point. The overall message, the implicit message of these schools is not the superiority of a Jewish or Christian state. Perhaps certain extreme cults trumpet this message, but they are extreme cults and average Americans view them with suspician, too.

Another falacious argument in favor of allowing this sort of thing: the public schools suck, hardly teach anything and the "diploma isn't worth the paper it's printed on" says one commenter. This too, is most certainly true. We shouldn't be holding private schools to a standard public schools don't hold to. That does not argue for creating ignorant private schools as well. It argues for holding public schools accountable as well as private schools. The answer to my way of thinking is more privitization of education, but schools must meet certain standards in order to be certified schools.

The desperation a boy feels after accomplishing the memorization and then being outside of society, unable to get a job, unable to think for himself is a dangerous human being. It is very easy to guide the anger and resentment toward a nefarious goal. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Right now, Muslim-American immigrants enjoy a better standard of living and more education than the average American. It is a disincentive to blow up things when you build it. Doesn't mean it won't happen. Just makes it less likely.

To rhapsodize about freedom, and worship and rights and ignore the elephant in the room is the problem: Islam's message is not "love your neighbor as yourself" it is "submission." Their methods are not education and enlightenment, they are, evidently memorization and domination.

This does matter. Being politically correct about this will soe what Britain and France currently reap: a generation of ignorant, angry citizens living outside of society.