Murfreesboro resident calls for ban on Arabic numerals

First it was outrage over a 52,000-square foot Islamic center facility. Now some residents of the Middle Tennessee town of Murfreesboro are asking the Rutherford County Commission to ban the use of Arabic numerals after one mother heard her fourth grader refer to them while doing his homework. "I found out from my son that the numbers they're using in school were invented by Arabs," said Murfreesboro resident Mary Faulkner. "We are fighting these people, for crying out loud. My children should not be learning about these numbers from a purple vampire on 'Sesame Street.' I knew Congress should have cut their funding." The digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, though popularly referred to as Arabic numerals, were developed in India in approximately the year 500. The numeral system has no known ties to terrorist organizations.