Los Angeles City Schools Pull Copies of Quran from Shelves

February 16, 2002

Source: Los Angeles Times

On February 16, 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that "this month's flap over whether Qurans containing anti-Jewish commentary should be pulled from public schools underscores a question of growing prominence in today's pluralistic times: How do you make sure ancient scriptures mesh with modern-day sensibilities?... The prevailing answer among scholars: You can't. No scripture is politically correct--nor, many scholars argue, should anyone expect it to be... Religious scholars say there is a plenty of political incorrectness to go around in virtually all scriptures... 'There are things in every religion that contemporary followers of that faith are embarrassed by, and should be,' says Elliot Dorff, a philosophy professor at the University of Judaism. 'The question for believers is: How do you continue to have faith in your own tradition, and nonetheless shape it to accord with modern sensibilities?'... Many Muslims believe that question was never fully--or fairly--vetted before 300 Qurans were pulled from the shelves of the Los Angeles Unified School District last week... On Monday, district officials said a panel of Islamic experts and other educators will review potential substitute translations."