I hear he’s a hell of a guy, not to mention deeply moral and religious…..
The "great" state of Texas recently decided to update its social studies curriculum for public schools. In my mind all they are doing is leaving a whole state full of children behind. Because you know Texas is known for being SO Liberal in the first place. I can't imagine their school system is teaching any kind of crazy leftist hippie shit. More likely it's a daily struggle to keep things from going 100% bible camp over there!
Wag of the finger Texas, wag of the finger.....
"AUSTIN, Tex. — After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light. "
March 12, 2010 - The New York Times
FULL ARTICLEShame on Texas for bending the law to their own religious right wing agenda and further limiting the constitutional freedoms of their youth. This recent curriculum change makes me so glad to be born and raised OUTSIDE of Texas!! Thank you parents for allowing me to be educated by books based on actual historical facts. I am so thankful that I was taught by teachers and parents whose chief interest was in giving me the knowledge and the confidence to make my own decisions. Giving me the building blocks of the type of an education our Founding Fathers intended when they put into words the ideals this country is founded on rather than leading me to blindly believe a romanticized fictional version fact spun by the selfish and single minded on either side of the political isle. History is not skewed to the left or to the right. It’s a collection of real life events that shape who and what we are as a society. Good, bad, or God-less, it is what it is and there’s no rewriting it. Is that just too much reality for those who can’t see outside of their stained glass windows?
Allow me to tell you a little about what my public school education taught me about our Founding Fathers.
My education taught me that the Founding Fathers were pretty smart guys. Unlike political leaders of today they could look at what was best for the country as a whole and not just what best suits the party line. And yes, the Founding Fathers were religious, deeply so in fact. The majority of them were members of a church that recognized the King of England as their supreme governor. That’s right, for them God spoke directly through the governing body of another country. Another fair chunk of the gang believed that government authority came from and should be in the hands of the Church. Are you seeing the big connection here? All of these men come from a religious background where Church and State are not just entwined but are one. So why then when creating a new government would them choose to go against their own religious beliefs? The Founding Fathers were so passionate about freedom they realized to truely have it called for a separation of Church and State. To have a country truly formed on the ideals of liberty and freedom for all the two most influential powers in American daily life must be separate. They put aside religious beliefs to allow an entire country the right to worship or not worship whoever they want that government would not be involved other than to provide a place to do so. It’s right there in the good ole’ First Amendment next to things like free speech and freedom of assembly.
The First Amendment calls for, along with freedom of speech, the freedom of religion and there in the separation of church and state in that it states; all people are entitled to practice or not practice whatever religion they like without government interference. Public schools (that would be included in the term “State” or “government”) should be teaching children accurate historical facts free from any religious (that would be the “Church” or “religion”) slant and have been since the signing of the Constitution. It is NOT an excess of books that lean to the political left OR the right that’s ruining America’s education system, it’s this insistence by the older generations in cramming a dated agenda filled with diluted religion bad politics down their throats. Bottom line, children are smart and have a better moral compass than most adults; we just need to challenge them to actually think for a change and they will come up with the right solution for them. Most of the time it will even be the same or pretty darn close to the same ideals their parents have. You want your children to have God interwoven with their education, that’s more than fine with me, enroll them in private school that’s your choice for your child as their parent and I respect that. As for everyone else, allow them the same respect by keeping public schools neutral to either side and focused on what kids are there for LEARNING.
That said, my point is this; if these guys were smart enough to write not one but several documents that our country still uses to this day to shape our daily lives. Then maybe they knew what they were doing by leaving religion out of public schools. You can bend the Founding Fathers personal religious beliefs any way you want but they left them out of the Constitution for the good of the country as a whole as should lawmakers today.
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