Homeschool Mom Protests 'Muslim Indoctrination' At School Her Kids Don't Attend

Nothing more patriotic than a flag-waving beaver shot

A super-patriotic homeschooling Tennessee mom organized a protest Friday against what she was pretty sure is Islamic indoctrination of children in the public schools, although she pulled her own child out of the public school system last year because she didn't want him tainted by the Common Core curriculum. The protest in Bristol, Tennessee, went off without a hitch, although the local paper notes that of the 109 people in attendance, only two of the families there actually have children in the city's schools. Still, the protest was definitely a success, since it raised awareness of what the protesters are sure is a wave of Muslim indoctrination in the schools, even if there's no such thing. 

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Patty Kinkead is just an average everyday stay-at-home mom who can't stand that Common Core is trying to turn innocent Tennessee schoolchildren into Muslim terrorists:

“I’m involved with Tennessee Against Common Core. I want to actively educate people about what Common Core is and some of the parts of Common Core that are most offensive. One of the most offensive parts is the Islam content that is with Common Core,” she explained.

She's also written a wonderful "children's book" called  What's Right,  featuring lovable patriotic rodent "Stumpy TheBeaver,"Squirrel"* who we guess likes America and Jebus, which will be getting reviewed by Wonkette pretty soon, God help us. On her own Facebook page, Kinkead explains that the protest wasall about being a Christian Warrior:  

We are living Revelations. On which side of the battle will our God find you? Join us on the frontline against Islam in schools. Come and make a stand. Friday Sept. 4th at 6: 45 am. We will stand across from Vance Middle School as a testimony that Jesus Christ has soldiers in East Tennessee. Come and join the fight

When Kinkead arranged the protest last week, she said that she hadn't seen the course material, but was awfully worried about stories she heard from elsewhere in Tennessee, like some parents in nearby Kingsport who she said

were distraught because their children were asked to bring towels to school so the kids could do some prayers from the Islamic unit they were on ... The parents asked me if there was any way we could raise awareness, that’s why I’m doing this. I feel like there should be a voice for the children that don’t have a voice.

Ms. Kinkead's determination to go ahead with the protests was apparently not affected by meeting with Dr. Amy Scott, the principal of Vance Middle School; in a phone interview, Dr. Scott told Yr Wonkette that she had met with Kinkead last Tuesday and shown her copies of the instructional materials as well as the state standards for 7th grade social studies, which address teaching about Islam as a world religion in a historical context.

Dr. Scott confirmed that, no, schoolchildren in Bristol are not bowing to Mecca, saying Muslim prayers, or driving around in scale model ISIS Toyota pickups with machine guns shouting "Allahu Ackbar!" She seemed pretty sure of that.

Scott also told the Bristol Herald Courier that the social studies unit on Islam is part of a larger discussion of the historical development of Judaism and Christianity as well, and that the school is careful to give equal time to all three Abrahamic religions. She also told the paper that the protest had at least sparked some useful communication about what the schools are actually teaching:

This morning, I have had some reports of very appropriate conversations from kid to kid and kid to adult,” she said. “We have worked with our students on understanding differences of opinions and today our students got to see that in action. What a great teaching opportunity for us. We seize those moments when we get them.”

It appears that everyone is fairly satisfied with the outcome of the protest: Dr. Scott said that parents had been calling to support their kids' teachers, and Ms. Kinkead is posting on Facebook that America is losing its religious freedom because that Georgia high school can't have baptisms at football practice, and also she found some scary passages about Malcolm X and 9/11 and Benghazi in a high school textbook that her kid also will never read.

* Update/correction: As you'll see in ourbook review, Stumpy is a squirrel, not a beaver, which is what we get for relying on RawStory's description of the book. Wonkette regrets the error, especially because "beaver" jokes are a lot funnier.

[ RawStory / Bristol Herald Courier / Patty Kinkead on Facebook]