1.  On what grounds did two families in California bring a lawsuit against their school district, Byron Unified School District?  What do the California state education standards require public schools to teach 7th graders about Islam?  How many weeks did student spend on the unit?  Do the families object to the teaching of the history of Islam?  What is their objection?

2.  What activities did the attorney for the families list as among those that went too far?

3.  Who is Edward White?  What is the Thomas More Law Center?  Mr. White says that "all of these actions are crossing the line".  Do you agree?  Explain your answer.

4.  When a federal judge threw out the case in 2003, the families appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.  One of the three judges now hearing the case, Judge Dorothy Nelson, said "Doesn't this seem more like a secular experience than a religious experience?"

Do you think Judge Nelson would feel the same if the unit, instead of "the role of Islam in civilizations of the Middle Ages" was on the role of Christianity, and students were required to dress like priests, nuns or Crusaders, memorize and recite phrases from the New Testament and write them on posters to be displayed around the classroom, mimic the fasting of Good Friday and reenact the walk to Calvary where Christ was crucified, as well as take a Christian names and wear name tags with crosses on them and Christian teachings were described as fact?  Explain your answer.

5.  In a commentary on this court case, Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum says:
"Militant Islamic lobbying groups want Islam taught as the true religion, not as an academic subject. They take advantage of this indulgence, exerting pressure on school systems and on textbook writers. Not surprisingly, Interaction Publishers thanks two militant Islamic organizations by name (the Islamic Education and Information Center and the Council on Islamic Education) for their 'many suggestions.'"  Are you surprised by Mr. Pipes statement?  Explain your answer. 

6.  How did judges of the 9th circuit court rule on the use of readings about sorcery and witchcraft?  How did they rule on the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance in public classrooms?  Based on this information and the arguments made by these judges in this case thus far, what do you think the outcome of the case will be?

7.  Define double standard.  Do you agree with Mr. White's assertion that the courts apply a double standard between Islam and Christian & Jewish faiths?  Explain your answer.