27th April 2005

Home Schooling: American Madrassas?

What’s the difference between fundamentalisms, between the Kalshnikov and the M14 7.62 caliber semiautomatic rifle?  The Wikipedia avers:

Opposition to homeschooling comes from varied sources, including
organizations of teachers and school districts. Opponents’ stated

concerns fall into several broad categories, including: academic
quality and completeness; socialization of children with peers; and
fear of religious or social extremism.

My concern regarding extremism sparked this flight of fancy, but I can’t find anything to substantiate the idea right now.  We have a constitution that says people can do what they please when it comes to the myths and mysticism associated with their "religion."  And if they want to wear sheets and take target practice out behind the biffy, who are we to criticize?

I’ve googled it and HighBeamed it and I’ve come to the conclusion that the American Madrassas are well hidden.  A less paranoid person might think they don’t exist.

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There are currently 2 responses to “Home Schooling: American Madrassas?”

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  1. 1 On April 30th, 2024, Dean Landsman said:

    Yeah, they exist.

    There’s one of those scary schools a block from my office. It occupies an old synagogue, irony of which is that the old synagogue sold the building to this Islamic group about four or five years before 9/11.

    Before 9/11 whenever I would try to explain to people about this group, their beliefs, and what the children are being taught . . . for the most part people wrote off what I said as alarmist. Some incorrectly jumped to the conclusion that I might be making some sort of paranoid Zionist argument (ha! me!). Yet others reacted as though I was some kind of kook, perhaps the sort who espouse consipracy theories and are generally xenophobic and mistrust everyone.

    After 9/11 things changed. First, the place was all but a ghost town for about a month. Second, the local cops stood guard there almost 24/7, to keep any loonies from taking some sort of vengeance or attack of anger toward all who wear turbans, or anything like that. Major kudos to the local cops, keeping the peace and preventing anything incendiary from occuring.

    But, it being a mosque and a school, after a while as things calmed down (remember, I am about 30 miles from NYC, and about 43 miles from Ground Zero) the activity over there resumed the same pace as ever. Any number of dark cars with official plates or insignia were often parked thereabouts for quite some time, very clearly taking note of the comings and goings of the denizens of the place. The mosque operates on a 24/7 basis, with people coming and going at all hours. There is always much to observe, and for a long time, there were government observers doing just that.

    One local, who had called me a kook when I originally told him of the type of new neighbor we had, changed his tune. “Those Muslim extremist Al Qaeda guys are right under our noses!” he said to a mutual friend, and pointed out that he had spoken with me about this well before 9/11, and that he and I knew about those guys, we knew what they were up to.

    So I went from kook to psychic and seer of the future.

    Funny how perspective changes with hindsight and immediate history, huh?

    But yes, Frank, those schools are all over. Usually it is hard to spot them. I just happened to know some of the telltale signs, did a little research and discovered that this was a sect of extremists, and not the type that feels warm and fuzzy about the US of A.

    Prior to 9/11 when I spoke of this I was perceived as a nut case. Afterwards I was a sage seer of things worthy of paranoia and government intrusion.

    Ah, the words of Rodney King, come to mind; he, the spokesman for the great unwashed. “Can’t we all just get along?”

  2. 2 On April 30th, 2024, fp said:

    Interesting, Dean. And I have to admit that I was actually concerned about the christians who are doing the same thing and setting up a generation of narrow-viewed right wing militiamen and Oklahoma Federal Building bombers and bomberettes.

    I think it’s past time to tax these outfits (christian churches, muslim mosques, jewish synagogues, buddhist temples, whatever mythos is being transmitted, the social costs of transmission need to be offset by taxes to pay for the vaccine.

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