Dan Broadbent
They say that ‘everything is bigger in Texas,’ and given the Texas Board of Education’s latest decision, I assume this phrase includes the amount of stupidity.
Last week, the Board of Education in Texas voted to remove many historical figures, including Hillary Clinton and Helen Keller, but include other figures, including Moses. Yes, the Moses. The guy from the Bible who parted the Red Sea. That one. They voted to remove real people who actually existed and have had a tangible impact on our civilization in favor of an imaginary character.
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According to the Dallas Morning News:
As part of an effort to “streamline” the social studies curriculum in public schools, the State Board of Education voted Friday to adjust what students in every grade are required to learn in the classroom. Among the changes, board members approved the removal of several historical figures, including Clinton and Keller, from the curriculum.
The board also voted to keep in the curriculum a reference to the “heroism” of the defenders of the Alamo, which had been recommended for elimination, as well as Moses’ influence on the writing of the nation’s founding documents, multiple references to “Judeo-Christian” values and a requirement that students explain how the “Arab rejection of the State of Israel has led to ongoing conflict” in the Middle East.
Outstanding.
This is a clear attempt by the religious right to literally rewrite the history books, at least in Texas. The religious right is furthering the myth of the Constitution of the United States being founded on “Christian values,” which it objectively is not.
I always wonder what people mean when they say “Christian values” anyway. Does being a “good Christian” and demonstrating “Christian values” mean you stone unwed women who aren’t virgins (Deuteronomy 22:13-21)? Does being a “good Christian” mean that you only keep a slave for “no more than six years,” then let him go free afterwards (Exodus 21)? I’m of the opinion that if your book tells you how to treat your slaves, your book is invalid as a reference for morality.
The Dallas Morning news continued:
The work group had recommended these be removed.
– Reinsert references to “Judeo-Christian (especially biblical law)” in section on “major intellectual, philosophical, political, and religious traditions that informed the American founding.”
– Reinsert the biblical figure of Moses and remove Thomas Hobbes from section on “individuals whose principles of laws and government institutions informed the American founding.”
– Reinsert reference to “the Judeo-Christian legal tradition” in section on “the development of democratic-republican government from its beginnings.”
At no point does the Constitution of the United States mention the word “god” or reference any sort of divinity.
This is an enormous disservice to the children of Texas – rewriting history books to include Christian propaganda – and seeks to further erode the wall between Church and State.
