Biden Didn’t Say Schools Should Teach Children Islam
The Claim
Joe Biden said that schools should teach children Islam.
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Emerging story
Following Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s July 20, 2020 online summit addressing Muslim voters, users on social media began posting comments using the hashtag #ShariaJoe, asking if Jihad will “be part of the curriculum,” and comparing the use of face masks to face coverings sometimes used in Islam.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar's investigation found that the circulating claim is based off a misinterpreted quote. After thanking the Muslim political group Emgage Action, who endorsed his campaign, in a recent online summit, Biden said: “I wish we taught more in our schools about the Islamic faith.”
The comment was immediately shared and misquoted to imply that Biden wants schools to indoctrinate children into the Islamic faith. However, listening to the entire speech shows that Biden approached the topic from an academic theological perspective. He said that he wished schools taught students about “all the great confessional faiths.”
The furor over his comment is likely because Biden is one of the first presidential nominees to directly address such a large group of Muslims. This stands in opposition to President Donald Trump, who in 2015 said there should be “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on.” Trump's statement was viewed as Islamophobic.
About Trump’s travel ban, in his summit speech Biden said: “If I have the honor of being president, I will end the Muslim ban on Day 1. Day 1.”
Biden is a practicing Catholic.
Further, he believes that the separation between church and state should not be “messed with,” so it is very unlikely he wants schools to teach students the Islamic faith. Teaching students about the history and meaning of a religion is vastly different from teaching them to follow that religion.
The summit speech is below.
