A very interesting article struck me in a recent edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer. In fact, I believe it was Thursday, March 15, 2000. The article was a very informative look on the Muslim pilgrimage known as hajj. More specifically, this article focused on a Cincinnati couple that was planning to make this spiritual journey.

The couple are Eastern Indian, devout Muslims. The wife is a school teacher in one of the Cincinnati Public School Districts--North College Hill to be exact. I have no doubt the couple is a very nice couple, and the article certainly portrayed the couple as devout in their convictions. In fact, there was nothing noteworthy about the article whatsoever--until I realized and dwelt on one particular aspect of the story.

The article mentioned that on one particular occasion, the wife taught her class in the full dress garb that she will wear when she goes to the Middle East for hajj. This itself would not be anything noteworthy as I do support the right of any person to dress in such a way as to freely exercise a religious practice. However, the teacher spent class time explaining the meaning of the garb, the backgroung of the pilgrimage of hajj, and the basic tenants of the Muslim faith, going so far as to explain that the Muslim god is the same God that they (the students) believe in.

We can debate whether this claim is true. I don't believe the god of the Muslims--Allah--is the same Jehovah of our Judeo-Christian beliefs, but my opinion is worth as much to this school teacher as her's would be to me. What disturbed me initially was a comment by a 13 year old student when this student commented that the Muslim religion was interesting to him, and that he thought he would enjoy going on the hajj pilgrimage.

It then struck me. If this teacher had been a professing Christian and shared her Christian views with a class of students in an arguably evangelical manner, the ACLU would have had the lawsuits and injunctions filed before the ink on the newspaper dried! We as a general society preach this 'separation of church and state' thing to the point where the ACLU fights to prohibit the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools, even when an overwhelming majority of that particular community wants them posted. Yet, when another religion is presented to our school children, society treats that as educational enlightenment.

The double standards have to stop in this country. Either allow all people to share their religious convictions in our schools, or allow no one to do it. It is unacceptable that this teacher is allowed to influence the spiritual lives of her students by sharing the Muslim faith with them, while any teacher that is Christian in that school district knows he or she would never have the equal opportunity to present the true living God to this same group of students.

We preach this idea of 'freedom of religion', and every human being has the inalienable right to practice any form of religion they choose. Even the true God, which never forces belief or faith from His creation, recognizes the importance of free-will in terms of worship. But if we protect the freedom of religion with one arm, should we not also protect the idea of fairness of religion with the other?

--------Felix Weintraub