“While it is appropriate to teach about various religions – including the teachings of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity – it is not appropriate for a public school to require students to attend a course that violates their religious beliefs,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. “The school is requiring students to participate in a course that clearly crosses the constitutional line and violates the rights of both students and parents. We are demanding that the school eliminate the mandatory nature of this class and give students the opportunity to opt out if it violates their religious beliefs.”

The ACLJ sent a letter to the Byron Union School District in Byron, California following objections from parents to a mandatory three-week course for 7th grade students. According to news reports, the class requires students to pray “in the name of Allah the Compassionate the Merciful,” to chant “Praise to Allah, Lord of Creation,” to “pretend” they are Muslims, wear Muslim clothing to school, stage their own Jihad, and select a Muslim name from a list to “replace” their own name.

In the letter to the school, the ACLJ said the course contains “materials and requirements that impermissibly force certain students to engage in speech and in practices conflicting with their religion, in violation of the students’ free speech and free exercise rights as well as their parents’ rights to direct the education and upbringing of their children.”

The ACLJ urges the school district to allow students to opt out of the Islam course’s requirements if the student or the student’s parents object. The letter also states that the school district should also inform parents who have already objected to the course that it will accommodate their children by allowing them to opt out of the objectionable requirements. The letter is available on the web at www.aclj.org.

Sekulow said no student should be required to attend a course that violates their free speech and free exercise rights.

“We want to make sure this school district knows that it has crossed the line,” said Sekulow. “We also want to make sure that other school districts don’t fall into the same trap and require students to attend courses that violate their religious beliefs.”

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm focusing on constitutional issues and specializing in First Amendment law. The ACLJ is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA and the web site address is www.aclj.org.