Seriously, things like this article are going to give me an ulcer:
Texas is the second-largest buyer of textbooks in the nation, after California. Books purchased here wind up in classrooms across the nation, because publishers are loath to create new editions for smaller states.As a result, five social conservatives on the 15-member Texas board, frequently joined by five more moderate Republicans, have enormous clout — and often control the content used to teach millions of children.
...
Conservatives' efforts over the years to edit textbooks are legendary here. In a nod to those who believe God created the Earth 6,000 years ago, a sentence saying the ice age took place "millions of years ago" was changed to "in the distant past." Descriptions of environmentalism have been attacked as antithetical to free-enterprise ideals; a passage describing the cruelty of slavery was derided as "overkill."
Among the "five conservatives" mentioned is Terri Leo, whose most recent triumph was this campaign against health textbook publishers:
One agreed to define marriage as a "lifelong union between a husband and a wife." Another deleted words that were attacked by conservatives as "stealth" references to gay relationships; "partners," for example, was changed to "husbands and wives." A passage explaining that adolescence brings the onset of "attraction to others" became "attraction to the opposite sex."
So what can we do about this? If this loony is going to listen to anyone, it's sure not going to be some bleeding heart like me from godless, liberal Massachusetts. But these people are effectively deciding what gets put in textbooks across the country! What to do? Maybe one thing is to make a donation to the Texas Freedom Network, a non-profit group working against this kind of bullshit. You could also write to your local school board and demand that the textbooks in your state or district contain actual facts; perhaps if enough states start demanding alternative books the small states can find strength in numbers and convince textbook publishers that it's worth it to do two editions.
Posted by hilatron at November 23, 2004 09:38 AMThink that's scary? Take a peek at the rubbish that ends up in American history textbooks used in public schools -- out-and-out lies, as well as the usual distortions and mealy-mouthed "glosses" over the facts. Read Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James W. Loewen. He examines the content of 12 American history textbooks published between 1976 and 1991 in widespread use in this country, and compares their presentations to simple documented fact.
Loewen (as I recall -- I read this some time ago) does not state this, but I believe the process of gilding American history is part of what has allowed the fundamentalist movement to develop the highly questionable theology that the US is the "new Israel," God's "chosen people." This is one of the most dangerous aspects of the fundamental movement (or at least those parts of it which espouse this theology).
It's this idea which grants so much wholesale support to so much dodgy US foreign policy. Once you start believing the US is somehow anointed by God to lead the world to judgment, then you kind of have to swallow the idea that everything the US and its current leadership does is Absolutely Right (TM). It combines church and state into one particularly nasty and unholy wedlock, while simultaneously silencing the one institution with any authority to speak truth to power. (Look what happened to the German church under the Third Reich. It's why we MUST INSIST on separation of church and state!)
And yes, I AM a Christian. And NO, I do NOT support Biblical inerrancy, creationism (now allowed in Wisconsin public schools!!), etc. etc.
There ARE thinking Christians out here. We've been too damned quiet, and are in serious danger of allowing these nutcases to hijack our faith.
TAKE BACK CHRISTIANITY! AND SPEAK UP, DAMMIT!!
1. Nowhere, NOWHERE in the four canonical gospels did Jesus say one word about homosexuality. If he wasn't worried about it, why should we be?
2. NOWHERE in those gospels does Jesus suggest shutting women up and keeping them subserviant.
3. NOWHERE in those gospels will you find anything remotely resembling the Prosperity Gospel, one of the most evil crocks of shit to come out of this fundamental movement.
4. Explore those gospels, and you will find a man who asked many more questions than he offered answers.
5. Examine those gospels and you will discover a man who spent his ministry working among AND EMPOWERING those people most deeply despised by the power establishment of the society in which he lived -- the poor, the sick, the weak, the disenfranchised, the disdained.
6. Read what's there, and you will discern an agenda which is dedicated to exposing and shaming the power elite of the time for the evil sham that it was . . .
and continues to be. You will find a message that says, "Stop fearing the powerful; they are only powerful when you surrender your power to them, through fear. Take it back by ignoring them, exposing them for what they are, and using your own power on your own behalf. Do as I do; show them up for the ridiculous, petty, thieving scam artists they are."
I'm pissed. Most of the people I know who regard themselves as Christian are now afraid to say so in public, for fear of being branded a frootloop.
Christians have the power to change this -- but to do so, we have to SPEAK UP. Nowhere in Jesus' teachings does he suggest that "morality" is a territory bounded on all sides by bedroom doors. NO. "Morality" is a territory which OPENS the doors of economic and social justice to ALL PEOPLE, and WELCOMES THEM IN WITH LOVE AND HOPE.
THAT is the Good News. It has nothing to do with sexual orientation, being punished for our sins, or attempting to capture the transcendant in the much-translated, re-interpreted, and probably deeply misunderstood ancient words between the covers of a book.
It has nothing to do with following rules, and everything to do with questioning and re-inventing them.
Jesus was radical. Get with it!
Posted by: Doombot at November 23, 2004 11:10 AM
Preach it, Doombot! If the progressives don't have a horde of pissed-off liberal Christians fighting at our sides in 2006 and 2008, I am going to personally walk to the offices of the DNC and punch the entire PR staff in their damn noses.
Also, check this link: http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/textbookdisclaimers/
Funny stickers for you and your kids to put on altered textbooks; read carefully!
Posted by: Hilatron at November 23, 2004 11:35 AMI just e-mailed the American Textbook Council (http://www.historytextbooks.org/), whose director is quoted in the Yahoo article calling these people on their bullshit, to ask if they have any advice about how out-of-staters can affect this process. I'll post here if anything comes from that.
Posted by: Hilatron at November 23, 2004 01:41 PMHeliocentrism is the next target...you watch.
Posted by: aaron at November 23, 2004 02:54 PMEXCUSE ME, JOSH!!!
Posted by: ubermeep at December 2, 2004 09:35 PMMy friend Dave, who requested that he remain otherwise unidentified for job security purposes, has some great wisdom to share about school textbook hijinks:
"As an employee of one of the larger textbook publishers in the country, I can tell you that more and more states are demanding state-specific content in their text books. We are currently in the process of creating state-specific social studies books for over 20 states. With that said, the influence of Texas is still overwhelming. Not only is Texas the largest textbook market in the country, but it also has the most money to spend on research, review committees, etc. As a result, most of the states in the West and Midwest base their textbook adoptions on Texas, on the premise that Texas has already spent the time and money to researching the best programs. Textbook publishing is a business, and in order to compete we have to provide the content that the school systems demand.
Believe me when I tell you that no one is more pained by this than textbook editors. Most editors are former teachers who are passionate about education and want to create the best and most accurate textbooks possible. It is deeply frustrating to them to have to change content in order to fit a political agenda that very few of them share. Ultimately, the final decisions are made much higher up the corporate food chain where sales numbers are paramount.
Fortunately, as publishing technology advances, it has become more and more affordable for publishers to create and print state-specific content. More and more states are demanding their own books, and publishers are climbing over each other to provide that content in hopes of winning the market. That's where writing to your local school boards and/or state textbook adoption boards can make a real difference. As the ability to diversify these products becomes more and more affordable, the influence of Texas will become less and less. We just have to make sure that the people responsible for choosing our children's textbooks are aware that they have a choice and that we expect them to make the right one."
I also heard back from a member of the ATC, who pretty much said "Yep, there's not much you can do about Texas. Sucks, don't it?" only more elegantly. So I guess it's all about the local rabble-rousing. Get those keys clicking, lest your kid come home some day all "Evo-what-now?"
Posted by: Hilatron at December 8, 2004 11:19 AMSo until we get this fixed what the hell are we supposed to do? Teach our kids the truth and have them study lies for the purpose of passing tests?
Posted by: Meo at December 12, 2004 10:06 AM