Multi-denominational panel convenes to discuss the Muslim prayer controversy at Valley Park Middle School
As indicated in yesterday’s post , I have expended a great deal of electronic ink covering the continuing controversy surrounding the Muslim movement as some have called it, regarding flashpoint crisises ranging from the building of the Ground Zero Mosque to fearful warnings of a global assimilation.
Yet despite these newer developments the long standing debate over prayer in school has again resurfaced in of all places a secondary school in Toronto, Canada.
In Tuesday’s segment of the PI Window, which will air live across the Blog Talk Radio Network at 9:00 PM EST, I will be welcoming to the show a guest panel that includes representatives from the Jewish Defence League of Canada and the Canadian Hindu Advocacy, to talk about both their individual and collective response to the district’s decision to allow 300 Muslim students to worship in the Valley Park Middle School’s cafeteria during school hours.
One of the questions I will be asking is if the fear of Muslim encroachment is at heart of the Valley Park controversy, or more of a reflection of the collective apathy of the followers of other faiths who have in the past perhaps failed to rigorously challenge the abolishment of praying in our schools?
Certainly, and as discussed in previous PI Window segments and posts, individuals such as 911 Hard Hat Pledge Founder Andy Sullivan, who is now running for Congress, have expressed concerns that activities such as the proposed building of the Ground Zero Mosque is a clear indication of an overall Islamic plan to overtake America.
While there is little doubt that this is a growing concern – after all the fact that Sullivan is seeking political office in the first place speaks to the breadth or influential reach of sentiments such as his, I have only heard the expression of concern as it relates to Muslim activities. Interestingly enough, and prior to the Valley Park Middle School controversy, there has been little if any direct involvement on the part of representatives from other denominations in terms of carving out a place within our schools to freely worship.
Unlike the Mosque in New York, perhaps the motivation behind the collective intervention in Valley Park by the Jewish Defence League, Canadian Hindu Advocacy and Christian Heritage Foundation is that school prayer is an issue that while seemingly out of the public eye, remains a point of contention that has simmered uncontested beneath the surface for several decades.
Now that prayer regardless of denomination, has been re-introduced into the school system, how does one get Pandora back into the proverbial box re do you shut down the Muslim Friday worship service or alternatively establish multi-denominational venues throughout the school? What is the ideal outcome for all parties concerned?
Once again, join me on Tuesday, July 26th at 9:00 PM EST on the PI Window on Blog Talk Radio.
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The Light of Love 
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