I am an assistant wrestling coach at a local high school in Virginia Beach. This past Thursday, after getting home from practice, I got a phone call from a number in Harrisonburg. Curious, I picked up the phone. “Fuller, this is Adam Wright, did you hear your tournament this weekend is cancelled?” Adam was a former college wrestler at Old Dominion University when I coached there about 9 years ago, and is now a coach in his hometown of Bridgewater. We were supposed to wrestle at a tournament held in Stuarts Draft, but it was cancelled along with all other events and Friday school all over Augusta County. The controversy was over a high school teacher, teaching a course in world geography, had her students write the Islamic Shahada (statement of faith) which reads, “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”
A parent of one of the students found out – a parent who calls themselves Christian – and quickly raised protest, citing that the assignment, which is approved by the Virginia Department of Education in its curriculum, caused students to violate the tenants of their faith, and that the teacher was “converting students to Islam.” Others followed in an uproar, and county law enforcement and school officials decided to cancel all events and Friday classes citing they had received emails and calls that were “concerning in their tone.” I can only assume that “concerning in tone,” meant threats were being made by people who identify as being Christian. As we stand on the eve of our Savior’s birth I wonder, “Is this what it means to be a Christ-follower?”
It is sad that on the eve of our Christmas celebration that such a dark moment exists in this season of joy, peace, hope, and love. I think I speak for many of us who wish it simply wasn’t so. Yet our reply as Christians has to be an emphatic “no.” It must, for to be Christian and to be Christ’s church means to share the light of Christ in the darkness, and to be the light which says no in the face of the clear distortion of Christian faith that happened in Augusta Country this week.
You see, as much as we might think, Christ will not disappear from kids’ lives simply because they write words of another faith for a geography assignment. They aren’t denying Christ, as if we thought Christ’s existence and coming was dependant on human acts of faith anyway! Luke’s gospel, which will be read by many on Thursday night, tells of a Christ who comes into the world amid empire, oppression and violence. Luke’s Christmas story speaks of a God who cannot be stopped, and enters into our lives as Emmanuel. In the face of “Christians” who make threats out of fear, let us proclaim Christ’s coming: the hope of salvation through God making peace with the world, rather than setting Godself at war with it.
This article was written by Rev. Aaron Fuller in response to Augusta County, Virginia closing schools on Thursday, canceling school Friday and canceling all sports and activities through the weekend after a class assignment involving Arabic calligraphy and an Islamic proclamation of faith prompted a massive backlash. Read more about the incident here
Rev. Aaron Fuller serves as Pastor for St. Andrew Lutheran & Holy Communion Lutheran, both of Portsmouth. Pastor Fuller is also a Chaplain in the U.S. Navy Reserve, and is a member on the VA Synod All-Inclusive Outreach Team.
