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Texas Board of Education stirs controversy


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On March 11, the Texas Board of Education made some very controversial decisions regarding the materials that will be covered in curricula.

 

These changes that were made by the board are based heavily on conservative Republican principles.

 

These changes included more emphasis on the importance of American capitalism and the Christian beliefs on which the Founding Fathers based the government of the United States.

 

One notable change that will be made in future textbooks will be that "capitalism," a word with an arguably negative connotation, will now be referred to as "free enterprise."

 

Another change being made is the large emphasis put on Christian principles, like the basis on which the forefathers of America developed the country. This is quite a push away from "separation of church and state," which has been the basis for the removal of prayer in schools and the hesitancy to even mention biblical passages in classrooms.

 

http://www.baylor.edu/lariat/news.php?action=story&story=70959

 

This is disgusting, I dont know why I live in a state filled with such idiots. They are also taking out Thomas Jefferson out of the textbooks and instead replacing him with John Calvin, wow.

Edited by YugoRocketsFan
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And now the neoconservative majority on the State Board of Education has succeeded in imprinting its own revisionist view of American history into Texas textbooks. It's all being done, they say, in the interest of countering "leftist influences" in history texts. Among the "leftist influences" they are countering is Thomas Jefferson. They're dropping most references to the author of the Declaration of Independance because he also coined the phrase, "separation of church and state." Their new and, according to outgoing board member George McLeroy, "balanced" viewpoint reflects current conservative politics.

 

So who are they replacing Thomas Jefferson with? Well, American political ideals now seem to be derived, in large part, from foreign religious figures like John Calvin and St. Thomas Acquinas instead of the 18th century Enlightenment. Communist witch-hunter Joe McCarthy gets a face-lift too and new emphasis is placed on the sterling contributions to American life by Phyllis Schlafly (a conservative activist best-known for her opposition to feminism and the Equal Rights Amendment), the Republican Contract With America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association.

 

No wonder political commedians like Stephen Colbert are having a field day with the Texas State Board of Education's new history amendments. As former Texas Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby commented on a blog post last week, “Texas — From Lone Star State to Laughing Stock State.”

 

 

http://www.examiner.com/x-8947-LA-Atheism-Examiner~y2010m3d18-Stephen-Colbert-takes-on-the-Texas-Board-of-Edjukashun

 

Heres a summary of all the changes.

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