(AgapePress) - An Arkansas lawmaker is calling on the U.S. Senate to look into a controversial program at the University of North Carolina that requires all freshmen and transfer students to read a book of excerpts from the Koran.

Not only is the book Approaching the Qur'á n: The Early Revelations mandatory reading on the Chapel Hill campus, but students are being forced to attend a mandatory discussion segment on the Muslim devotional. According to the UNC website, the reading program will both prepare students for many first-year courses that will incorporate the material, and "stimulate conversation inside and outside the classroom about social issues facing all of us today." The book, authored by a professor of religion at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, is not a political document, the website says -- but a book of "enduring interest" that introduces the literature and culture of a "profound moral and spiritual tradition."

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is often quick to remove any form of Christianity from public life, has been noticeably silent.

Senator Tim Hutchinson says the Education Committee should be holding an oversight hearing on the matter. "That's quite appalling [and] if it were, in fact, a Bible that was required reading, you'd have a hue and cry," he says. "You'd have a tremendous protest -- you'd have the ACLU involved immediately. So it is puzzling that they aren't upset about this."

The Arkansas Republican says such a requirement is way beyond the pale and should not be imposed. "It is one thing to study Islam -- particularly in the day in which we live [where] some of the radical elements of Islam ... have advocated an attack upon our country [and] make no distinction between combatants and non-combatants and have no respect for innocent human life -- and to study the threat that that might pose to a civilized society." But reading a devotional book, Hutchinson says, is a different matter.

On August 19, all entering freshmen and transfer students will be forced to take part in a mandatory discussion segment on the book. There is no alternative assignment for students who find the book offensive to their religious beliefs.

Aggravated Alum
An alum of UNC says he is ashamed to admit he is a graduate of UNC because the school is forcing the incoming freshman class of 3,500 to read the book. Terry Moffitt, chairman of Virginia-based Family Policy Network and UNC Class of 1981, says the required reading amounts to state support for one religion over another.

"I think the University of North Carolina would allow any religion to be studied except Christianity," Moffitt tells Fox News. "Why not make Islamic students read from the Bible?"

Moffitt's group has written to the ACLU of North Carolina, asking their assistance in overturning the requirement. But according to Fox News, a staff attorney with the ACLU sees no problem in the UNC case -- provided one religion is not promoted over another.

"We are keeping an eye on it," attorney Seth Jaffe says, "but so far it does not seem to be problematic."

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