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Texas Approves Conservative Curriculum
Macharius writes "Today, the Texas Board of Education approved 11-4 a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the role of Christianity in American history and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light. The article goes on to mention that Texas's textbook approvals carry less influence than they used to due to digital localization technology, but is that even measurable given how many millions of these textbooks will still be used across the country?"
Don't hire kids from Texas, they they do not have a real education
The fact that anyone else in the rest of the country gives a damn is an example of how eroded state's rights have become. Why should I care? I don't live in Texas. What if this were another country? Would it be our business? No. It's really not any other state's. Local decisions like this will help or harm them.
First Amendment - "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
1st, the very first word of the amendment is "Congress." It doesn't say anything about any of the states, but this has been normally implemented at the state level as well, by law or otherwise. 2nd, I can't see how a board of education allowing textbooks stress "the role of Christianity in American history" counts as a "law" or how it establishes a religion, or how it prohibits anyone's free exercise or any other religion, or anything else mentioned in the amendment.
Liberals and other anti-Christians have taken the original text and intent so far out of context as to barely resemble it at all. In fact, in many many cases, the implementation of this imaginary "separation of Church and State" has in fact violated the real 1st amendment by prohibiting many people's free exercise of their religion and their freedom of speech, and their right to peaceably assemble, merely because it may have happened on some public property.
... The fist step towards gaining control over people, is to gain control over their minds. Monkey see, monkey believe, monkey do.
And now FOX News is becoming your history and science source.
Please, to the majority of Americans, who are still healthy real Americans: Let Texas secede. Or throw them out. Let Mexico have them if they want. You’d do yourself something good. ;)
But wait Mexico, there’s more! You can also get Alabama for the low, low price, of one Taco Bell in every town!
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Cognitive Dissonance is an amazing thing.
Without it, you couldn't write one sentence thanking god for conservative bias in textbooks, and in the next asking what is wrong with just teaching historical fact.
Why is this a problem for anyone not living in Texas?
If an employer wants a candidate with a full, rounded education, they need only look to where the individual got their education.
If it's Texas, no problem, automatic social Darwinism, and on to the next candidate.
For others, a real interview (with someone intelligent enough to understand the nature of the qualifications) may be in order. If they've been educated with a Texas textbook, that's easily discernible.
They've just condemned themselves to second-class citizenship, unless Texas secedes from the Union. Then, they're foreign.
dot-sig.
If everyone were forced to pay for their own education, we would have a less educated populace, as fewer people would be able to afford it, or would consider it valuable. We would have a less educated populace, creating less value, and we would be worse off overall.
We would be better off honestly. Think about it this way, how many people in your high school were complete idiots yet managed to pass? Right there we reduced the value of a high school education. Now think back to your college education, how many people there had no clue yet still got a bachelors degree? We just cheapened that degree. Add in colleges where you basically just pay money and get a degree and we have a system where no one can get ahead unless they pay -a lot- of money.
We now have a situation where you have to pay for more education than you would have with a private school (not to mention you still pay taxes even when you and your family don't use public education...) and "waste" a lot of time in school.
How many classes have -really- been of use to you in life? How many classes (especially in elementary/secondary/high school) have been ruined because some people who have no interest in the subject were simply there taking up space and disrupting the class?
In a pre-internet world and in a caste system world, public education paid by all was a good argument, we had classes to teach -thinking-, today? We don't even have them in university level. The point of education isn't to make everyone be educated but rather to make sure that the best people end up with the best roles. That a shepherd who was great at science could become a scientist, not that the shepherd who was great at raising sheep -had- to be the scientist which he was terribly poor at, which is what we have today.
When we have near universal access to the internet in the western world, there will be nearly no need to continue public education, all the information is there. If we taught thinking in school, there might be an argument to save it, but with the way that it is now? The sooner it dies the better for all.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
You've fallen for the false notion that people with obscenely disproportionate amounts of wealth and income earned it by "working hard" and contributing value to society as opposed to just gaming the system, and that the poor are only poor because they're "lazy". It's hilarious seeing so many Americans fall for corporatist propaganda and vote against their own interests, making the rich richer, the poor (read: anyone not filthy stinking rich; enjoy your shrinking middle class!) poorer, and their little corner of the world overall a shittier place to live. Have fun running your country into the ground though, I'm certainly having fun watching it.
You know, I would actually welcome a proper libertarian government. I wouldn't be happy about about the government withdrawing from areas where I think it should go, but at least I could look forward to a robust economy.
But you're deluding yourself if you think that it's not the social conservatives manning the grassroots barricades. They're the ones fighting gay marriage, they're the ones primarying weak, centrist Republicans, and they're the ones rewriting textbooks in Texas so that the next generation of Americans think that Thomas Jefferson didn't exist. Good luck getting an abortion if they succeed.
Unless, of course, you mean actual libertarians, not just the libertarian wing of the Republican party, in which case, you're a fucking joke. How's Ron Paul working out for you? Back on the gold standard yet?
Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
>>>college has a way of forcefully opening your mind
Yeah it does. It teaches you that FDR was the savor that ended the Depression (he did not), and does not tell you about the Depression of 1920 which was actually worse in terms of drop in GDP/unemployment, but only lasted a year because the government wisely cut spending (which provided extra funds for businesses to recover). College also does not tell you about the existence of Amendments 9 and 10 in our Bill of Rights, and leads you to believe that the U.S. Congress has practically no limits on its power (obviously not true).
It took me about 5 years to unbrainwash myself of that pro-"government is your daddy" bullshit that high school and college put into my head. Government is not your friend. Government is the enemy, as the ~100 million dead citizens of the last century can attest. They trusted their governments, and the government rounded them up, lined them up against a wall, and shot them in the head.
Take some time and read the words from the Founding Fathers and others in the Age of Enlightenment (1600s-1700s). Why? Because college conveniently skipped over that part of history. Like this one: "The powers of the central government are few and explicitly defined, while those of the state governments are several." - Madison, author of the Constitution. Or: "It is only to protect our rights that we resort to government." - Jefferson. Or: "What is the militia? Why it is the whole of the People of course." - Patrick Henry
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
or it'll be our goddamned god-given right to shoot you full of holes and pump the oil out of you, boy.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
MLK Jr. was a known communist and as such would be welcome by both the modern DNC and most of the modern GOP. Face it, we're essentially a one party system anymore, and that one party is against the citizens of the USA.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
>>>God - religion - Two very separate and very different things: One can be taught. The other is pure faith and belongs in a church, not a classroom.
>>>
You first.
Stop teaching that Earth is a "mother" and needs us to worship the holy beauty or we shall all surely kill her. Amen. ----- I'm all for not polluting our planet or our air (emissions controls on cars and power plants), but lately schools have been taking this stuff in a fashion where my niece sounds like she's WORSHIPING at school instead of learning bare facts.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
The point is, when we give editors power over the source, we end up with bias one way or the other. Rather than having people -tell- us about things, why not read them ourselves?
Imagine you're 5 years old, and you ask a professor and a redneck what causes rain. The professor spends hours telling you about weather patterns, condensation, etc., while the redneck tells you the rain is caused by God taking a piss.
I, as a former conservative Christian (now an atheist), find it strange that they feel that god needs the government's help to promote his message. They're going to help GOD ALMIGHTY to get HIS message out because he's obviously having a hard time doing it himself. Kind of like how they are fucking screaming mad if you suggest taking "In God We Trust" off of the currency, meanwhile we spend just about as much as the rest of the world combined on our military.
We don't need the government's help to promote His message. It is nothing of the sort and would mean preaching would be in the classroom. Given the fact that liberals want to diminish or totally hide the fact that the Founding Fathers had faith and a religious background, the other side of the debate simply wants to make sure that those facets of the Founding Fathers' lives remain known. There is no reason to hide that fact unless the agenda is to try to make our country look like it was not founded on religious beliefs. So there is no message trying to be forced upon or preached to the children. It is simply a matter of not wanting to hide our history.
As far as taking "In God We Trust" off the currency, it is for the same reason as what I stated above. There is nothing wrong with making known our history just because it has a religious foundation, except for those who hate religion. Why religion is the aspect of people's lives that shouldn't be known in history class is beyond me but that's really the topic up for debate (well, not anymore, at least in Texas). So taking that phrase off our currency means that a little more of our history is erased. It isn't for enforcing a religion; it is intended to remember our history. In both situations, those who disagree can simply do that. Just like they can disagree, if they are a student, with anything else that is taught in their respective school. It is not the law but a reflection of where we came from. Those who question that or outright deny it are also against this vote most likely. Again, what is wrong with stating what history has to say? Is there something you don't want the public to know? Is religion *that* bad? No, it isn't.
this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. -- Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
I see how it is. Don't set yourself up for a fall, and all will be forgiven. In other words, in your view we shouldn't even *try* to live a christian life! Never mind the fact most (more than 50%) don't have the fortitude and perseverance to do so. Riiighhhtt..
Life is not for the lazy.
MLK WAS a communist and Obama IS a socialist (actually given his own comments in interviews, he's probably a communist as well, but he knows that the US would have to transition to socialism first because the populace would never tolerate such a drastic change). Learn what you're talking about before you spout of the bullshit that people like Obama tell you to in order to try to distract you from what they're doing.
Sadly you're one of the many who were brainwashed into thinking that government having total control of industries and redistributing wealth is somehow not socialist / communist.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
I read this thread and it makes me sad. It makes me sad for the future of my country. It makes me wonder, was it worth it to serve my country in the armed forces? I did it because I care, because I love my country and what it is supposed to stand for.
More and more it's clear that our leaders just don't care what happens to this once great country. It also seems the people don't care either, otherwise we would have found better leaders.
What do you people think will happen when this current generation takes over? This generation of "Global warming is hoax, evolution is a hoax, science is hoax" generation. There is a reason why my company gets most of it's engineers from Germany. Most of the current generation are mine me mine morons who expect to get time outs when things get hard.
I literally weep when I think about what has happened to America.
It makes me sick that a small minority of people were so easily able to fuck this whole country up.
I always hear people say, if you don't like, leave! Well you know what, I am leaving. I am moving to Germany next month to get the fuck away from you wackos. What the fuck does that say, that I need to go to Germany to get away from crazies.
Don't get me wrong, I love America, but right now, I hate Americans. I say fuck you, you crazy bible thumping wackos. You can have it. Enjoy your army of McDonald's workers. I'm outta here.
Because I'm a decent human being, and while their hypocrisy annoys me I'm not going to destroy their lives to punish them for it? That doesn't stop it from being hypocrisy though- if you're against taxes, you ought to refuse them on principle at all opportunities. I don't see any of you doing that. On the stimulus you made some noise about it- then started campaigning on those very same projects.
Although trust me, if I could vote for the South to be kicked out of the union, I would in a heartbeat. The coasts would finally get much needed health care, be sanely governed, and the south would become even more of a hellhole than it already is.
I don't object to the taxes. I should be paying *at least* twice what I currently do in taxes- I make 6 figures and pay almost the same amount as my sister who makes less than half that. All inclusive of federal, state, real estate, and sales I paid less than 20K, and with no deductions other than mortgage interest. There needs to be a social safety net. People have a right to health insurance. We have to have public transit, roads, fire, police, parks, etc. We have a massive debt that needs to be paid off at some point. That costs money. Large amounts of it. There are places without all those things if you don't like taxes- I hear Somalia is nice this time of year.
BTW, unless you're making 250K+ a year there's no way in hell you're paying anywhere near 50% in taxes. And if you are- quite frankly I don't give a fuck, you're well enough off that you ought to be. Until world hunger and homelessness are solved you have no right to more of the world's resources than that.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Atheistic socialists are just as happy to force their values on everyone.
>>>Have not met a democrat with an altar to any human being at all.
Then you're not looking closely enough. There are several current and former staffmembers on President's Obama's team that are avowed communists. They may not have literal altars but it's clear they have a great deal of admiration for folks like Marx or Mao. QUOTE ANITA DUNN (communications director): "My two favorite philosophers are Mother Theresa and Mao Tse Tung." She then goes on to explain why she admires mass-murderer Chairman Mao's accomplishments. VAN JONES is another communist who Obama personally selected for his staff.
>>>prejudice.
It's not prejudice. It's an observation about specific individuals. Which IS acceptable.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall