A few weeks ago, Virginia schools saw some of the worst religious bigotry, racial stereotyping, and hypocrisy that they have in a long time. A group of "outsiders" tried to push the government to not allow a group of believers to have their own private school because of their faith. Sound familiar? Well, it's not- this time the believers are Muslims and the outsiders are Christians.

On March 5, a Loudoun country private school for Islamic children went to the local school board with a request to build a bigger campus. They had outgrown their current school and were required by law to get approval before building a bigger one. What should have been a simple civic procedure turned into a national controversy.

Even though this school has never been a problem to the community, an angry group of residents led by Revered James Ahlemann protested the expansion. Their reasons they gave were ludicrous.

From CNN: "One couple is afraid that bullets fired by terrorists from within the compound would kill local children. A woman is positive the students will grow into terrorists. An unsigned flier warns that Middle Eastern strangers will roam the streets wh ile real Virginians are away at work."

The school is funded by Saudi Arabia. This is a sticking point for Rev. Ahlemann. From CNN: "Saudi Arabia persecutes, imprisons and kills Christians, Jews and other faiths. I don't believe the Saudi Arabian government has the right to enjoy favored st atus while they're killing people," said Ahlemann, whose church is near the proposed school.

I've tried several times to contact Rev. Ahlemann to confirm the genocide of non-Muslims in Saudi Arabia, but he has never replied. In fact, I am having a hard time finding any evidence of this at all. The main piece of information on Saudi Arabia available is that it is one of our closest allies in the Middle East. I am sure that they don't appreciate us thinking that they are all a bunch of terrorist Christian-killers over there.

The school board wisely ignored the bigoted ramblings of Ahlemann and his cronies and approved the new school.

Now, I believe, as the supreme court does, that there should be a clear separation of church and state. So, I'm not too happy when I see Christian activists trying to strong-arm the government into giving them money to run their own school programs. Howev er, it appalls me to see a religion try to build their own school with their own money and be blocked by another religion who is trying to get the government give it money for schools. And it infuriates me when I see racial stereotypes and religious bigotry used as an excuse to deny people their rites.

We have a long way to go.

Loudoun County

Information on Islam

Revered James Ahlemann's church

Seperation of Church and State

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