The Rev. Franklin Graham backed officials in a Virginia county for closing 24 schools on Friday after parents balked at a homework assignment on Islam.
"This is outrageous!" Graham, head of both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Samaritan's Purse global charity, said
Friday on Facebook. "The parents did the right thing in strongly voicing their concerns, and I agree with them!
"Even if the assignment came from a textbook, the motives need to be questioned," he said.
The schools in Augusta County were closed after Riverheads High School teacher Cheri LaPorte
told students they would be practicing calligraphy as part of a world geography class about various religions.
The sentence in Arabic that students were to practice writing was part of an Islamic statement of faith: "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."
Students also were shown copies of the Quran, according to news reports.
While they were not asked to translate or recite the statement, some students reportedly were upset after learning how the passage translated.
LaPorte could lose her job, as some parents have accused her of religious indoctrination,
The New York Daily News reports. Others have organized a
Facebook page to rally her support, according to
The News Leader in Staunton, Va.
Graham also accused the lesson's publishers with "subtly trying to indoctrinate our youth to Islam.
"School boards need to be more careful about which publishers they use and which books they buy.
"This teacher was entrusted with the safeguarding of these children and should have had enough common sense to put the brakes on this assignment."
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