Despite Protests, Texas Board Passes Conservative Textbook Curriculum
The Texas Board of Education has been meeting this week to revise its social studies curriculum. During the past three days, “the board’s far-right faction wielded their power to shape lessons on the civil rights movement, the U.S. free enterprise system and hundreds of other topics”:
– To avoid exposing students to “transvestites, transsexuals and who knows what else,” the Board struck the curriculum’s reference to “sex and gender as social constructs.”
– The Board removed Thomas Jefferson from the Texas curriculum, “replacing him with religious right icon John Calvin.”
– The Board refused to require that “students learn that the Constitution prevents the U.S. government from promoting one religion over all others.”
– The Board struck the word “democratic” from the description of the U.S. government, instead terming it a “constitutional republic.”
As the nation’s second-largest textbook market, Texas has enormous leverage over publishers, who often “craft their standard textbooks based on the specs of the biggest buyers.” Indeed, as The Washington Monthly has reported, “when it comes to textbooks, what happens in Texas rarely stays in Texas.”
-----Justice DeMatteo
6/2/2010
They are downplaying Thomas Jefferson as an inspirational founding father. He WROTE the declaration of independence with his own hand and quill. The truth is they are fundamentalist christian republicans on the Texas board of education, and they want to teach creationism as our source of origin and they hate Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers because they don't fit into their small brained idea of our founding fathers and the writers of the Constitution that they are actively trying to undermine. (Bush signing statements, patriot act, patriot act 2 and a number of other legal anti-constitutional legislature). These acts should show you that the far right has once again shown their allegiance to big business and evangelical brainwashing. You can always spot a dangerous overzealous group from their indoctrination of the young. They have to pound their FAIRY TALE ideas into your head while you are still too young and inexperienced to know any better. Much like the despicable cultist reeducation of young men in Afghanistan and Pakistan done by the Taliban, the fringe right can't let their children learn things about for instance: the tenacity of the civil rights movement, or the open minded writings of one of the greatest founding fathers, and of course evolution. Because if they did learn about these TRUTHS it would be that much harder to convince them otherwise in the short time they have on Sunday mornings. With all of the evidence surrounding us that the principles of the founding fathers and true american ideals, by definition ,are so far from the far right's idea of principles it would make your head spin. To display the true level of hypocrisy in the right's cause take immigration and welfare issues. The republican party and subsequently our new "TEA" party have adopted Jesus, as well as Ronald Reagan and a few others, as their mascot. However the teachings of Jesus himself were as follows-
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.'"
-Matthew 19:23-24
"Jesus answered, 'If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'"
-Matthew 19:21
and my personal favorite;
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least among you, you did not do for me.'"
-Matthew 25:41-45
Now let's see how much of Jesus own teachings his professed followers have learned.
From the new "papers please" law in Arizona to the Katrina fiasco, i would say we have their opinion of the poverty stricken areas of our country. It's out of sight, out of for these so called "conservatives". I'm pretty convinced the only thing they have in mind to conserve is the big business death grip around our country's throat.
--Justice DeMatteo
