Fundie textbooks

[rmac3]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/1 ... an-Schools

Consider the following claims, from the A Beka Book and Bob Jones University Press fundamentalist textbook lines used in Christian schools now subsidized with state tax money in over a dozen states across America:

- Only ten percent of Africans can read or write, because Christian mission schools have been shut down by communists.

- "the [Ku Klux] Klan in some areas of the country tried to be a means of reform, fighting the decline in morality and using the symbol of the cross... In some communities it achieved a certain respectability as it worked with politicians."

- "God used the 'Trail of Tears' to bring many Indians to Christ."

[skrmom]

Is there a way to find exactly which textbbook these quotes are from? I think it would be interesting to read.

[Mud]

It is not just fundie textbooks that can be misleading.

I attended a secular high school and it contained two versions of the US Constitution: the original text, and a paraphrased text. In my opinion the paraphrased text was misleading in certain places, displaying the opinions of those who did the paraphrasing.

The teacher told us not to bother reading the original text, because people wrote differently in ye olden times and it would be too confusing for our wee tiny brains. We were instructed to stick to the paraphrased version.

I was also told, by a teacher in the same high school, that the Great Depression took place AFTER World War Two. I was the only student who suggested this might not be correct. Without exception, every other student in the class supported the teacher's proposed timeline.

This is just one reason that, though I am no fan of fundie education, I find the quality of education in the average American public school to be rather lacking, to say the least. "YMMV", of course, as the kids say (isn't that what they say nowadays, along with LOL and whatnot?).

[chaotic life]

Bob Jones University and their Press have racist undertones and ties to the KKK from the second rising of the KKK.

If you are truly interested in learning and reading more about the history of BJU and their KKK ties, a former professor there, Dr. Camille Lewis, is working on a book that she has poured extensive research into. She posts information and primary sources documents on her blog and her FB page.

http://www.drslewis.org/camille/

[GenerationCedarchip]

Bob Jones University and their Press have racist undertones and ties to the KKK from the second rising of the KKK.

If you are truly interested in learning and reading more about the history of BJU and their KKK ties, a former professor there, Dr. Camille Lewis, is working on a book that she has poured extensive research into. She posts information and primary sources documents on her blog and her FB page.

http://www.drslewis.org/camille/

Very interesting blog. The BJU crowd are a different branch of fundie-ism than what I was raised with, but a lot of reformed homeschoolers still use some of their textbooks. I wondered how accurate the history was, but I had no idea about the Klan connection. Scary stuff!

[Rachel333]

Interesting. I had BJU textbooks, but I don't remember any KKK stuff. I do remember a lot of other stupid stuff in the textbooks, though, like my history book that said that God caused Pompeii to be destroyed because of their wicked ways.

[pomology]

It is not just fundie textbooks that can be misleading.

I attended a secular high school and it contained two versions of the US Constitution: the original text, and a paraphrased text. In my opinion the paraphrased text was misleading in certain places, displaying the opinions of those who did the paraphrasing.

The teacher told us not to bother reading the original text, because people wrote differently in ye olden times and it would be too confusing for our wee tiny brains. We were instructed to stick to the paraphrased version.

I was also told, by a teacher in the same high school, that the Great Depression took place AFTER World War Two. I was the only student who suggested this might not be correct. Without exception, every other student in the class supported the teacher's proposed timeline.

This is just one reason that, though I am no fan of fundie education, I find the quality of education in the average American public school to be rather lacking, to say the least. "YMMV", of course, as the kids say (isn't that what they say nowadays, along with LOL and whatnot?).

All paraphrasing does that to some extent. All history is subjective. History isn't even supposed to be objective, contrary to popular opinion.

All history has a perspective. That is not to say that some things are not outright wrong or completely fucked up. Saying God used the Trail of Tears to bring Indians to Christianity has no basis in historical fact. Saying the Trail of Tears was a devastating event that helped destroyed native culture has a basis in historical fact, but nonetheless talks about what happened from a specific perspective. A perspective that I happen to think is correct, but a perspective nonetheless. Saying that the Trail of Tears was devastating is a value judgment (like I said, one that I strongly agree with, but a judgment nonetheless). Even choosing to include the Trail of Tears at all in an American history textbook and how much space is devoted to it and if any or what primary sources are referenced all makes history subjective. But it does not make it wrong or completely devoid of historical evidence.

The problem here sounds like your teachers, not the textbooks. The textbook paraphrased the Constitution, but did also have the original document. The teacher is to blame for telling you not to read the original.

How do you choose and therefore judge the average American public school? Admittedly, I did not go to an average American public school. I want to an excellent school in a wealthy town with an elite university whose faculty by and large sent their children to the public school. I received an excellent education. But I think it's difficult to generalize about the average school, unless you have experiences in many public school in many different environments with many different student make-ups.

[ElphabaGalinda]

Any book that praises the KKK and has all those other racist undertones really disturbs me and shouldn't be used for teaching children. These textbooks seem more appropriate to people who want to indoctrinate their children, as opposed to teach them.