Tax-Funded Muslim K-8 School in Minnesota Reveals Minnesotans' Tax Dollars at Work.

Gary North

April 10, 2008

This story appeared in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune (April 9): "Wall of silence broken at state's Muslim public school."

The school is a tax-funded charter school.

These schools are not supposed to teach religion (it says here). But every system of knowledge rests on presuppositions about God, man, law, causation, and time. The war for control over who controls the answers to these five crucial issues has been going on ever since the first tax-funded school was begun.

The school in question

shares the headquarters building of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, whose mission is "establishing Islam in Minnesota." The building also houses a mosque. TIZA's executive director, Asad Zaman, is a Muslim imam, or religious leader, and its sponsor is an organization called Islamic Relief.

Students pray daily, the cafeteria serves halal food - permissible under Islamic law -- and "Islamic Studies" is offered at the end of the school day.

In the bad old days -- the 1950s -- conservatives were laughed at by liberals for their view of Communist infiltration. Conservatives said, "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck." I think the old slogan applies.

Zaman maintains that TIZA is not a religious school. He declined, however, to allow me to visit the school to see for myself, "due to the hectic schedule for statewide testing." But after I e-mailed him that the Minnesota Department of Education had told me that testing would not begin for several weeks, Zaman did not respond -- even to urgent calls and e-mails seeking comment before my first column on TIZA.

The story goes on to report that an eyewitness saw obvious Islamic prayers and activities on a high holy day.

If this were a Christian charter school, the ACLU would have it in court today.

Conclusion: Neutrality is enforced unneutrally.

Forward this to a friend. This story deserves wide coverage.