Kuwaiti lawmakers warned the government yesterday against bowing to US and Western pressure to change school textbooks to omit references seen as promoting terror and extremism, and insisted they would not accept the âAmericanizationâ of education.
| Okay by me. Why not contract with the Japanese? They seem to write textbooks, retain their culture, and still manage not to go back to the wonderful world of jihad... |
Islamist MPs in particular cautioned the government against changing âIslamic fundamentalsâ in text books, insisting the curricula do not encourage extremism or breed terrorists. âWe warn the (education) minister and other officials against amending textbooks, especially (on) Islamic educationâ to remove subjects important to Muslims, Islamist MP Abdullah Okash told Parliament. âDo you have a new religion you want to teach students? Is it the Western religion? Is it the new American religion?â he asked.
| I think it'd be a great idea if they learned something about other religions. It'd be even better if they were exposed to some solid agnostic philosophy. |
The warning came during a debate on Kuwaitâs education policy, which was opened Monday by the government when it informed Parliament it was modifying textbooks to promote tolerance and fight violence and extremism. âOur curricula will remain influenced by Islam and Arab nationalism. Those who donât like this should leave the country,â Islamist MP Khaled Al-Adwah said. âWe will not accept Americanization and Westernization of our school books. After all, Americans respect the people who respect themselves.â
| That we do. We don't respect those who engage in mindless violence, though... |
âI hope the government will not bow to external blackmail and threats... and be forced to delete important sections of Islamic education,â said Shiite MP Hassan Jowhar. Other MPs insisted that there should be no link between Islam and terrorism because terror is present worldwide.
| It only wears a turban in most cases, not all... |
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