Linda K. Wertheimer, "Test of Faith," The Boston Globe, 9/8/11, (http://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2011/09/08/test-faith/tHJoFiiHL1MW7FKSrKViWL/story.xml)

In this article, Wertheimer writes about an annual field trip that students of Wesslesley Middle School take to a mosque in Boston as part of their world religions requirement at school. It shows positive points from both the Islamic side and the non-Islamic side. Joshua Frank, the school's principal at the time, is quoted, "'I felt it was important to establish we can teach about religion. There is nothing like being inside a mosque, inside a temple. These experiences are powerful for kids. They are going to remember them long after they forget Mohammed was born in 570 AD.'" Although the school's intentions were in the right places, it all went down-hill when a parent chaperone video-recorded one of the fields trips and uploaded it to YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7-I9Qp3d4Y). During this specific field trip, a few of the boys from the class were invited by one of the worshipers to pray with them. The boys may not have known what the motions meant, but to many other parents, it was wrong by all means. The man who runs the mosque, M. Bilal Kaleem, is quoted saying, "'As a mosque, we didn't invite them to pray. It is our clear policy not to invite visitors to pray. This was a learning experience. Once you take kids out of the school, there are challenges. They're curious." Even after this fiasco, the school still takes their kids to see temples and mosques. They believe that the risks of teaching about world religions is less than what can be achieved by it. I think this article is very controversial although not towards Islamic and Muslim culture. The writer speaks respectfully about the culture and religion and is merely stating how difficult it all can be when dealing with specific people or groups of people. The YouTube video really puts into perspective just how hateful people can be towards topics they know rarely of.