This will be the last article (for now) on Donna Garner. I have been getting nice feedback on previous articles and I am glad that a number of websites quote from my article.
I designed these articles in Claim&Answer format so that I could reveal Garner's wrong points and fallacies easily. Honestly, I found a number of points that prove why Garner is wrong, but I did not want to deal with each and every fallacious argument, because there were so many!
I will continue to write on these people like Donna Garner, since there are plenty of them who unscrupulously attack on some charter schools and putting them foolish labels such as "Gulen Charter Schools". Most of those attackers are not aware of the fact that the claims and allegations they made are entirely "null and void". Talking to the parents and students, I gathered invaluable data on these so-called Gulen Charter Schools and parents aptly state that there is no religious agenda at those schools. This issue deserves another article; therefore, I leave the floor open for subsequent articles.
I will answer two more claims:
Claim: Waco Harmony Science Academy students, in a celebration in Indian Springs Park, trampled the United States flag (taken from Garner's talk on City on a Hill radio show, dated April 27, 2011).
Answer: When I first heard this claim, I was really surprised, because it was a serious claim that should be taken in due care. Since Garner resides in Waco, she makes the story more convincing. But the "truth has a bad habit of revealing itself one day."
Donna Garner had a couple of mistakes here: first of all, instead of putting such a bold claim and puzzling everyone in the radio show, she should have asked Waco Harmony Science Academy administrators/students/parents if such an incident took place.
I did what Donna Garner forgot to do. I found Waco school's phone number and asked Mr. Kose (Principal) if there was such a thing. He told me that that festival or celebration took place last year, yet Garner presented the incident as if it happened yesterday. On the other hand, there was no such an incident as Garner alleged. Rather, the students carried American flag on their head let alone trampling it.
Principal's explanation seemed logical to me, because if such a vehement event had occured, the public would have heard about it after several angry parents or any other spectators had reported this incident finally hitting the local papers' headlines. Since we heard nothing about it, then we conceive that Garner is doing nothing but manipulation and distortion of events.
Claim: "Gulen Charter Schools" are trying to bring sharia laws to the United States (taken from Garner's same talk on City on a Hill radio show, dated April 27, 2011)..
Answer: Actually, this claim is the reason why some people never take Donna Garner and similar people seriously, because they do not present any solid claim that could make us say "A-ha". On hearing such an allegation, one would only laugh at that and appreciate the sense of humor those people possess.
In the same vein, Peggy Littleton said something similar in nature a few months ago: "I believe — and this is just my own personal opinion, without any factual data to back it up — one of the only reasons the Obama administration is willing to stand in the face of teachers' unions ... by making states adopt charter school rules ... I think that he's doing that because of these Gulen schools. The Gulen schools are the Muslim schools in our country ... telling the kids of the United States of America, 'Hate Americans' and the whole rest..."
There are so many fallacious presuppositions that one really wonders if it is really possible to give a proper answer to that. It is like trying to operate on someone who has had a tragic accident. We are not sure if we can save the patient after all.
As for Garner, she is just whistling in the dark, having no idea of what she is really talking about. Such a claim deserves a sarcastic tone such as "Oh, really? The I must tell the White House, the Army and all other government entities that America is facing the danger of adopting sharia law (!) Oh, wait a minute, this would be useless, since our President is already Muslim!"
Is this what you want Ms. Garner? As a scholar, I do not think that sarcasm would do good to you, but in the face of such ridiculous allegations, one cannot help but produce sarcasm.
Enough said. I guess the best way is to direct our attention to parents and students who are essential part of those schools and at the end of the day what matters will be what those people say and think rather than the baseless allegations of unscrupulous attackers like Donna Garner or Peggy Littleton.
Of course without the absurd label of Gulen Charter Schools...
