Atheists to protest new schoolbook standards in Texas

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jezzy on April 15, 2010 at 4:07pm

Why is Texas in charge of anything? I've followed a bit of this and it's a bit crazy when you can't even rely on TEXTBOOKS. I'm glad it's not being ignored, and AA needs some good PR.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Garrick McElroy on July 4, 2010 at 9:15am

They aren't really in charge. Textbook companies cater to them because they are one of the largest buyers of textbooks.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on July 4, 2010 at 9:18am

Grade kindergarten through twelve textbooks weren't always reliable, if they even are now. I haven't seen one in a long time, so maybe they were reliable for a while after I graduated high school in 1978. I had to read on my own about things like the Japanese-American internment camps in the US, for one.

"Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong" is a good beginning point for discovering some things that textbook writers got (still get?) wrong. It was written in 1995... maybe things changed between then and when the Texas Big Brothers decided to filter history through a tea bag.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Black Magick Woman on April 15, 2010 at 4:17pm

Yay! I wish I could make the protest! Damn this ability to not have a car!!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by AcesLucky on April 15, 2010 at 5:01pm

Sounds like a losing proposition. The name alone will stand as reason for most in Texas that the changes must be good -- if atheists are against it. I sure hope those in the AA have some powerful reasoning that is strong enough to overshadow the name of their group because the name of their group is ALL the media will focus on. And that alone will be reason enough to support the Texas decision.

Sorry and sad to say that, but I'll make any wager they'll be made to look like demons, and real reasons will never see the light of day.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Nicole on April 15, 2010 at 11:03pm

Damn, this is when I'd want to be home in Texas to participate. Instead, I'll be in Nevada for my mother's birthday.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mark Horowitz on April 15, 2010 at 11:20pm

From what I understand, the state of Texas places some of the largest textbook orders in the US and has the strictest policies about what should be written in them. This can dictate what children in other states read, as textbook companies sell the same books to other states (it's cheaper than printing different versions for different states). This year Texas decided to minimize the mentions of Thomas Jefferson, among many other questionable decisions. These people really should not have any say in what the rest of the country learns.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Raizinette on April 15, 2010 at 11:46pm

I was just reading about this yesterday in the ACLU webpage here:http://www.aclu.org/blog/organization-news-and-highlights/texas-rew... . The worst part is that these made up insane textbooks are sometimes used in other states also. The textbooks have removed important information about the Founding Fathers, Ted Kennedy, Oscar Romero and so on. The books will have information on groups like the Heritage Foundation and the Moral Majority.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Neon Genesis on April 16, 2010 at 12:08am

Maybe hopefully the rest of the states will stop buying Texas' textbooks and buy from another source and the Texas textbook industry will have to either stop rewriting history or go under? At least I hope other states won't be buying them if they can't be stopped in Texas. I think that would be the most effective protest if other states would just stop buying Texas textbooks.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Wayne on July 4, 2010 at 1:40am

Damn... the problem is that as of now, there are more christians.

• ▶ Reply