Who Died & Left Texas in Charge?

For anyone that doubts the influence of Christian Dominionism and the tearing down of the wall between church and state…it is so important to read the following. They are targeting our children with a vengeance…

They say we coexisted...

AUSTIN, Tex. — After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday voted to approve a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Father’s commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light.

In recent years, board members have been locked in an ideological battle between a bloc of conservatives who question Darwin’s theory of evolution and believe the Founding Fathers were guided by Christian principles and a handful of Democrats and moderate Republicans who have fought to preserve the teaching of Darwinism and the separation of church and state. [...]

They have removed Thomas Jefferson who they see as dangerously secular.

The Texas Board of Education: America’s Taliban.

by Ed Tubbs

[...]“The board insisted that references to Margaret Sanger be included because “she promoted eugenics.” Also insisted upon was language that would tout Ronald Reagan’s “leadership in restoring national confidence,” following, as it did on Jimmy Carter’s weaknesses. Also to be included as essay assignments for Texas students, “describe the causes and key organizations and individuals of the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schlafly, theContract With America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association.” The board also required consideration the contributions of “great Americans” that included Billy Graham, Newt Gingrich, and William F. Buckley Jr., and that students were to compose essays noting the contributions of these Americans. Diminished to the maximum extent achievable were positive references to Thomas Jefferson, because of his Deist proposition there ought to be a “wall of separation between church and state;” a proposition the Texas board members cannot abide.[...] ~ OpEd News

And even more tell-tale is that they have proposed adding John Calvin (who we will discuss at another time in some length), who is routinely credited with beginning the Protestant movement of Dominionism.

The reason this is so significant beyond the boundaries of the Texas state border is…

“The outcome of these hearings will be used by publishers to determine what goes into their textbooks. As the second-largest bulk purchaser of textbooks in the country, Texas determines what students learn not only in Texas, but in many other states, where districts purchase the same versions.”

One of the most influential salesmen behind this whole revisionist history push is a guy named David Barton. Chris Rodda has written extensively about Barton and his antics for years.

“For those unfamiliar with Barton, he is not only the most popular of all the Christian nationalist history revisionists, but a former vice-chair of the Texas Republican Party who was used by the GOP in recent elections to travel the country stumping for their “family values” candidates, and is very well connected with the far right members of Congress. In 2005, was named one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America by Time Magazine. But, outside of evangelical Christian circles, and those of us who fight the religious right, few people know who he is.

Barton’s pals in Congress, who regularly appear on his radio show to push their far right agenda, include Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Randy Forbes (R-VA), Mike Pence (R-IN), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Joe Pitts (R-PA), Trent Franks (R-AZ).”

Barton has committed his every waking moment to reclaiming America for Christ through education, and what is happening right now in Texas demonstrates how these people insinuate themselves into our lives while we barely notice them. Rodda has written extensively not only about Barton, but the Texas Board of Education and why this matters to the entire country.

David Barton - Reclaiming Education for Christ

“First of all, very little of what I’ve been reading about the Texas BOE seems to convey just how dangerous Barton really is. His agenda for the teaching of American history is not merely a somewhat more religious “interpretation” of history, as some are describing it — it’s an all out, lie packed, completely revised, Christian nationalist version of history, designed to muster support for a very clear political agenda.

Second, I’ve read much about Barton’s utter lack of credentials to be in any way involved in the development of new textbooks — textbooks that, as Barton has been gloating about on his radio show for months now, will not only be used in Texas, but, because of the economic realities of the textbook publishing business, will find their way into the public schools of all the states. (California, with the largest state population, has always been the other state, along with Texas, the second most populous state, to steer the content of new textbooks, but, because of its current economic crisis, California is out of the picture this time around, leaving the Texas board of wackaloons as the only voice in what will and won’t appear in the next wave of textbooks.)

Now, getting back to Barton’s credentials, or lack thereof, many people have been pointing out that he has no degree in history. His educational credentials consist of a B.A. in religious education from Oral Roberts University, and an honorary doctorate from Pensacola Christian College. But, what bothers me far more than his lack of a history degree is his pumped-up bio, in which he claims to have been been involved in the development of the history/social studies standards not just for Texas, but also for California and other states.

Well, like most of his historical claims, this claim isn’t quite true. In reality, Barton’s “involvement” in developing curriculum standards for any other state besides Texas has consisted of nothing more than being enlisted by some conservative member of that state’s standards commission or legislature — someone who shares Barton’s agenda — as an “expert” for their side. It does not mean that he was appointed by that state, and, thankfully, he hasn’t actually been able to succeed in screwing up any textbooks — at least not yet.”

Unfortunately, since Rodda wrote this article at talk2action last July 2009, her last sentence rang truer. As we see from the firestorm brewing around the Texas B of E currently, he is enjoying frightening success. She goes on to write…

Another example of Barton’s grossly exaggerated role in a state’s curriculum development involves everyone’s favorite nut of a congresswoman, Michele Bachmann. Back in September, when Barton had Bachmann on his radio show — introducing her as “a rock solid lady,” and a “real class act” — he brought up his previous encounters with her, including this:

“As a matter of fact, I worked with her on history standards up in Minnesota — doing some history legislation, and making sure that they could not censor religious references from history books.”

So, what was Barton referring to here? Well, back in 2005, when Bachmann was still a senator in the Minnesota legislature, she and some of her fellow legislative wingnuts had bought — hook, line, and sinker — the wildly distorted story and propaganda about California banning the Declaration of Independence in public schools because it mentioned a creator.

Bachmann. This isn’t trite. And though Barton is getting minimal exposure primarily through the lenses of Fox right now regarding the Texas textbooks, he is very much involved. And if his friendship with Bachmann isn’t disturbing enough, recently Glenn Beck has embraced Barton and teamed up to promote his latest book.

April Castro, ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUSTIN, Texas — A far-right faction of the Texas State Board of Education succeeded Friday in injecting conservative ideals into social studies, history and economics lessons that will be taught to millions of students for the next decade.

Teachers in Texas will be required to cover the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation’s Founding Fathers, but not highlight the philosophical rationale for the separation of church and state. Curriculum standards also will describe the U.S. government as a “constitutional republic,” rather than “democratic,” and students will be required to study the decline in value of the U.S. dollar, including the abandonment of the gold standard.

Here is a video of Cenk discussing how far reaching and absurd this revision proposal is…

And hey…maybe Palin could write the chapter on abstinence, Purity Balls, virginity vouchers and the evils of birth control. And if you think I am being gratuitously snarky, think again. These people spend enormous amounts of money and effort in promoting this agenda to the detriment of young women. Remember Palin’s compassion for rape victims as mayor of Wasilla when she implemented a requirement that they pay for their own Rape Kits? As absurd and harmful as this all is…they are not joking! More on Barton and Palin later…

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