October 3, 2008 8:07 AM
Textbooks promote Islam, denigrate Jewish and Christian heritage
'Jesus was a Palestinian,' claims U.S. history text
Study: American public school books have 'same inaccuracies' as Arab texts
Posted: October 03, 2008
By Bob Unruh © 2008 WorldNetDailyA new study reveals that if Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wanted to criticize the nation of Israel before the United Nations, he could use American public school textbooks to do so.
"It is shocking to find the kind of misinformation we discovered in American textbooks and supplemental materials being used by schools in every state in the country," said Dr. Gary Tobin, president of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research and a co-author of the study.
"Elected officials at every level should investigate how these offensive passages are creeping into our textbooks. Presenting false information in the classroom undermines the very foundation of the American educational system," he said.
Tobin teamed with insititute research associate Dennis Ybarra for the study, titled, "The Trouble with Textbooks: Distorting History and Religion." The five-year effort, which looked at 28 prominent history, geography and social studies textbooks, reveals American public school students are being loaded up with indoctrination about Christianity, Judaism, Islam and the Middle East, to the cost of Christianity and Judaism and the benefit of Islam.
The study also supports other assessments of U.S. texts on which WND has reported.
The new study by the IJCR found more than 500 erroneous passages in the books, including one textbook that charged that early Jewish civilization contributed little to the arts and sciences.
An excerpt from "World Civilizations," by Thomas Wadsworth, for example, said, "Excepting the Old Testament's poetry, the Jews produced very little of note in any of the art forms ... There is no record of any important [early] Jewish contributions to the sciences." [my emphasis]
The level of outrageousness grew: "Christianity was started by a young Palestinian named Jesus," claims "The World," by Scott Foresman.
"The textbooks tend to be critical of Jews and Israel, disrespectful about Christianity, and rather than represent Islam in an objective way, tend to glorify it," said co-author Ybarra. "To teach children, for instance, that Jesus was a Palestinian and de-emphasize his Jewishness does a disservice to Christians and Jews as well as anyone who cares about historical accuracy."
The institute analyzes issues such as racial and religious identity, philanthropy and higher education. Its full report is available at TroubleWithTextbooks.org, where all 28 books that came under its review are listed.
Read entire article here.
Other resources:
American Textbook Council: Islam in the Classroom: what the textbooks tell us
Just another reason this election is so important. Beyond personalities and idealistic words like "hope" and "change" being bandied about, we must safeguard our country and our heritage. We need leaders who are clear on the basic goodness of our country, who are committed to freedom - and who don't confuse healthy diversity with self-denigration in the face of those who hate our country and what it stands for.
If your children are in public school, please read your child's history textbook. If you find anti-American and anti- Judeo/Christian material and if you have the time and energy, lobby for changes. If you don't have the time and energy to do something on a larger scale, at least you can discuss it with your children and reinforce the values you want them to grow up with.
Remember, delegating your child's education to government schools should not mean you turn them over blindly, but that you manage and oversee what they are being taught.
If you went to school in the 80s, please know that things have changed enormously. With kids ranging in age from 8-39, I know firsthand. Today's parents need to work much harder to safeguard their child's intellectual freedom. Don't forget to lay the groundwork by teaching them critical thinking skills.
See
Teaching kids to think for themselves
Critical Thinking skills for elementary age kids
Posted in Continuing chaos, Public schools | Permalink
