By ROBERT L. LEE
The United Nation of Islam's Allah's Temple Academy in not a place for followers. Instead, it is more on the side of a classroom where its members learn how to develop a stable community and how to think in a factual, mathematical manner.
"Our will is to produce a place where the people in the community can come and learn how the reverse the decay process in the community," explained the national secretary, who assumes the name James 2X. He said Solomon was the author of this idea and their spiritual head, but "we don't follow him. He established the mathematical thinking class and taught us how to use the formulas, but by learning, this makes us independent of him."
The Allah Temple Academy on Kilmer St. in Vacherie welcomes students of the United Nation of Islam to participate in mathematical thinking and civilization classes. Here, the students learn how to apply mathematical formulas to everyday activities, this helps them understand what is timely and right. The civilization classes teach skills necessary to maintain an upstanding household and community. (photo by Robert Lee)
He said this teaches the members how to be a "knower," not a follower. "Either you know that one plus one equals two, or you don't," said 2X.
He said the Academy also teaches a civilization class. Here people learn everyday skills, such as how to take care of a household and how to treat everyone right, according to Solomon's idea.
2X said the students are expected to practice what they have been taught. The person's household or business is considered an extended classroom. "By practicing what we have been taught, we start thinking outside the realm of belief and into knowing," said 2X.
He said this is how the members work together to magnify this idea of what is right and timely. "We want to do right for the right reasons," he continued. 2X explained what they consider right is that which can be proven.
"We operate from a standpoint of knowing, which eliminates the possibilities of being in error. The person has to gather the facts and come to an absolute answer," he said
He explained how this is "the United Nation of Islam" and said it differs from similar followers of Islam because "theologists like Louis Farrakhan have religious practices to relive or revive something and never see evidence of what they're talking about. Because of this, Farrakhan may be free, but his followers are not. For us, Islam is a way of life, we live this."
Another example of how the Allah Temple Academy tries to raise the standard of living and the benefit the community is their program based in Kansas City, Kan., which takes in 75 children for three months at a time to teach them every facet of life. 2X said the child can learn to master the practices of life itself by being put in a situation and being given the knowledge of how to deal with it. One of his examples was if a child wants to be a baker, to put the child in that position with the needed knowledge so the child can learn and make decisions.
"We develop these places as an inheritance for the children of the community," he continued. "The way our structure is, the ones who participate with the way of Islam learn and grow to responsibility. Those children who master the skills can then take over the responsibility. We make sure there is someone to fill the void. This is timely and the right thing to do," he concluded.
Allah Temple Teaches it's [members] critical thinking