Public outrage has been growing over a California school curriculum that allegedly requires students to engage in Islamic religious practices and teaches some tenets of Islam as fact. Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, spoke with Pat Robertson about the situation.

PAT ROBERTSON: Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, Jay Sekulow, is with us. Well, Jay is here, but where is the ACLU, where is Barry Lynn and People for the American Way? They are so intent on suppressing Christianity…

JAY SEKULOW: Can you imagine if you had a mandatory service where the assignment was "You’re all going to be Christians through this course," everybody would be up in arms. Here's an interesting dynamic on this. The ACLU said nothing. The People for the American Way have said nothing. But after we issued some statements, Barry Lynn's office [Americans United for Separation of Church and State] did send a letter out to the school district saying they thought they had crossed the line. So Barry Lynn is actually supporting our position, which is unusual.

You did have a mandatory religious worship service here, there’s no doubt about that. And these students not only take a Muslim name, it’s a persona, and they pray to "Allah the Magnificent," "Allah the Creator." This wasn’t just teaching about religion here, these were actual worship services.

ROBERTSON: They are teaching these kids something wrong as well. They say that Allah is the same as the Christian God. That is bologna, he's not! There are vast differences between what Mohammed taught and what Jesus taught. It’s nonsense!

SEKULOW: Well, I made the argument that this school district has successfully offended Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Muslims don't believe the same things that Jews and Christians do, and Jews and Christians certainly don’t follow the teachings of Islam. And this course makes these assumptions as part of its course material saying it is the same God, it’s monotheistic and therefore everything is the same. But even reading the Koran you would know it is not. That’s the reality of the situation.

However, the difficulty, the danger is this part of the curriculum, this issue of teaching about various religions, comparative religion courses, which are common in schools throughout the country. But California in the way it is has interpreted this went way too far. It doesn’t just teach about, "Here’s what these religions believe," it requires a participation in a religious worship service. You have kids dressed in Muslim garb, carrying Muslim names, and praying in the name of "Allah the Magnificent," "Allah the Compassionate." Now if you had a Christian worship service in the public schools… first of all, it would never happen in California, or anywhere else for that matter, but in that context, we wouldn’t want it. You shouldn’t have mandatory, forced worship service. But that's exactly what you have here. And this opt out idea, which is a great concept and is legally required, the problem is you don't know about it until it’s complete or the course is well underway. That's the problem with opting out.

ROBERTSON: And people say, "Well, I am not threatened by it." The trouble is, we have got a virulent group of probably 150 million Muslims who are fanatic, and if you read the Koran, it says if you see an infidel and if he won't convert or give alms, then kill him. That's what it teaches. That’s what the jihad is all about. But we’re sanitizing that religion to make it acceptable, our President has said it is a peaceful religion. It is no such thing.

SEKULOW: Well, here you’ve got a situation where, not only do the students learn about what jihad is, they actually participate in their own jihad. Part of the course material is participating in your own jihad, that's part of how they teach them. Which is just outrageous.

ROBERTSON: That’s taking the defense away from America though, because we are under attack by these terrorists, our President has declared war on terrorism. And the terrorists are all of Muslim faith, every single one of them are. And they are attacking America and trying to kill people in the World Trade Center and we are teaching our little children that jihads are cool and this is something to participate in. That’s outrageous!

SEKULOW: We notified not only the school board, but also the state attorney general in California and the governor that this statute and the way it is being interpreted — because that’s how they’re coming up with these courses — is being complied with in the wrong way and is violating not only church and state separation but other principles of the Constitution. And it is mandatory. These students are learning that this kind of behavior is normative. And it’s not a comparative religion course, comparative religion courses are fine, but this is not. It’s being taught as normative and that’s wrong.

ROBERTSON: They could say: Christianity says that its founder Jesus Christ was indeed the messiah, the son of God. They can say: Islam teaches that Allah is so and so, or Islam teaches that Mohammed is a prophet of God. But they didn’t say it that way. They say he is!

SEKULOW: That's right. They taught this as fact not just religious dogma from a particular religious faith. And the interesting thing here is the reaction across the country. It has been outrage. I have never seen an issue take on such a life so quickly. The country knows what is at stake here and the war we are engaged in and that Islamic fundamentalists brought this on our country. And they also realize that what’s going on in the school is political correctness run amuck, and the problem with it is our children are learning it as normative.

We are taking all legal actions right now, we’re looking at all the options. What we are hoping to do is get the state of California legislature to put a stop to it now and stop it in its tracks.

ROBERTSON: I am glad you are with it. Ladies and gentlemen, aren’t you just appalled? Why can't these people open their eyes to what is happening in the world and respond to it? That’s what is so incredible to me.

SEKULOW: You’d think that after all this time they would. But the most dangerous thing, and this is what you’ve said, and we need to reiterate it, it’s because they teach it as if it’s normative. A lot of kids are not complaining because the teachers tell them, "This is what we teach and this is how we teach it." So this parental opt out idea is wonderful but it’s too little, too late.

ROBERTSON: Here we go again, ladies and gentlemen. I mean, it seems to be no end of what is being done in schools in this country to harm our children. And with all of the wonderful teachers and people trying so hard and working so hard to teach children the right way, math and science and computers and all of the rest of it, this kind of political correctness drives you up the wall. You wonder if it will ever stop. And California always seems to be the one that leads the way.

SEKULOW: Unfortunately you are right. Hopefully we will get it stopped right there in Byron, California and stop it there.