from the mouths of innocents (or: from your mouth to Allah's ears)
The grade 4s are learning about medieval times, and today we talked a little about the Crusades. Now, I teach at a school with a reasonably high Muslim population, so I never really know what kind of reaction I'll get. Most of the time, nothing.
Today, one of my students was quite offended to hear that some Muslims of the time were involved in the fighting. A small, paraphrased excerpt of our conversation:
Me: It wasn't all Muslims who were involved. It's kind of like today, with ISIS or ISIL. Most Muslims are kind, thoughtful, and peaceful, but unfortunately there's a group who isn't.
Student: Oh, I get it. I just want to tell them, Guys, I get that you want to spread Islam, but this isn't the way to do it.
It's a sad state of affairs when a ten-year-old has more reason than a group of adults. Or maybe it's a hopeful one, because this is the generation coming up.
**
In other news, work is falling apart, I got a free chocolate-chip pancake, and I added a couple hundred words to my fic last night. \o/
Today, one of my students was quite offended to hear that some Muslims of the time were involved in the fighting. A small, paraphrased excerpt of our conversation:
Me: It wasn't all Muslims who were involved. It's kind of like today, with ISIS or ISIL. Most Muslims are kind, thoughtful, and peaceful, but unfortunately there's a group who isn't.
Student: Oh, I get it. I just want to tell them, Guys, I get that you want to spread Islam, but this isn't the way to do it.
It's a sad state of affairs when a ten-year-old has more reason than a group of adults. Or maybe it's a hopeful one, because this is the generation coming up.
**
In other news, work is falling apart, I got a free chocolate-chip pancake, and I added a couple hundred words to my fic last night. \o/