Oh Texas, Not Again

[Azull]

Don't you mean re-write history?

While we won in the philippines, any mention of it is almost removed entirely from textbooks.

Go ask a high school kid what happened there at the end of the 1800's, see what they say.

Id expect an answer of something like "Who's Phillip Pines?" or "Is that somewhere in South America?" knowing highschool kids these days.

[Fhqwghads]

This. That system is utterly retarded.

You people disappoint. How am I supposed to poke fun when you're making sense and staying grammatically correct on top of it.

Should have read: "This. That system is udderly retarted." At least give me some ammo here.

[Demosthenes11]

Here's a whacky idea, just take out any religious nonsense and leave it up to the individual to go explore that on their own. Nothing wrong with having the historical impact of religion in there, such as the Spanish Inquisition, and other wonderful examples of how awesome religions are. As soon as schools and/or their textbooks expound upon various belief systems, and exploring religious dogma they're going too far. That kind of depth belongs to churches or for personal research.

lol no. I understand the OMG RELIJUN IS BAD stuff that is oh so original, but if you don't actually delve into many religions it is almost impossible to understand the historical context of many cultures around the world.

[Furoris]

I always hated on my Catholic private school once I got into High School. Then I learned about how much shittier it could have been thanks to Texas. Creationism was completely set aside at my school. What the fuck is this shit Texas.

Also, to take out religion from history books is tantamount to taking out evolution in biology books. Religion has long been a cultural phenomenon to study. You can say that it only focuses on wars...which is absolutely absurd on the publisher's part (if that were the case). Maybe you should take some actual history courses outside of your Gen Eds to get a good grasp on some of the social and cultural changes that religion forged through the centuries. Of course, I'm most interested in the architectural development due to rituals, customs, religion.

Fundamentalist Christians are fundamentalists. (I'm surprised they care about the Crusades having a bad image - lol. Thought they hated Catholics, even though it was pre-Reformation).

The funny part is that it was the abuse of power the resulted from the crusades that had a lot of sway in causing the reformation.

I also went to a catholic high school. Generally religion was only kept only to one class in the year, the rest had no perceptible bias, and we actually covered the Philippians, native american death marches etc, and a few other world history things that tend to get overlooked such as the Armenian genocide. I even took an elective that was on world religions that focus on beyond even just Abrahamic religions to include Hinduism, Buddhism, and many others.

[Akucaen]

You people disappoint. How am I supposed to poke fun when you're making sense and staying grammatically correct on top of it.

Should have read: "This. That system is udderly retarted." At least give me some ammo here.

Because not all Texans are fucking retarded? I like the area for numerous reasons but the people and culture are horrible. I know you were making a joke somewhat but still.

[Kazen]

It's ok he still has the accent! I remember from the L4D days.

Spoiler: show

not really

[Plow]

See up here in Ohio we were taught scientific facts in school, none of the creationism crap. My Biology teacher was a hillbilly (and a great teacher) and we got the best education in evolution possible for a high school. I didn't hear of anyone petitioning for more christianity or more creationism in my school, not even a hint of religious bias, which I guess I should be thankful for. Looking back, our textbooks were very true to history and unbiased. I can't imagine going to school in a christian-biased community where fantasy is taught instead of reality...

I live in the boondocks in Kansas, the school I went to is in a "town" that's technically not a town, it's a church and a bunch of houses around it.

They ran extra busses on certain days for kids to go to religion classes at the church, which was basically across the street from the school.

Catholic church, super conservative. Constantly protesting shit, everybody had 15 kids and was related, anti-abortion signs every half mile, yada yada yada.

They taught us some stuff about evolution, I never remember any bias in history or social studies, absolutely none of this crap you hear about from Texas. I remember them telling us about the big bang and how the universe was billions of years old, dinosaurs (without people around lol) etc. etc., and this was 20 years ago.

It's so weird how much crazier some people are than what a lot of us think of as completely batshit.

[Yabby]

I live in the boondocks in Kansas, the school I went to is in a "town" that's technically not a town, it's a church and a bunch of houses around it.

They ran extra busses on certain days for kids to go to religion classes at the church, which was basically across the street from the school.

Catholic church, super conservative. Constantly protesting shit, everybody had 15 kids and was related, anti-abortion signs every half mile, yada yada yada.

They taught us some stuff about evolution, I never remember any bias in history or social studies, absolutely none of this crap you hear about from Texas. I remember them telling us about the big bang and how the universe was billions of years old, dinosaurs (without people around lol) etc. etc., and this was 20 years ago.

It's so weird how much crazier some people are than what a lot of us think of as completely batshit.

It sounds like you just had a really responsible group of people to me. They were giving you both sides of the story and expected you to make the choice, which i respect. Most of the people that are trying to get involved in shit like Texas are the people that would rather keep their children in the dark about anything other than what they believe. Kudos to the people you grew up with.

[Fhqwghads]

You can easily get into the historical impact of individual religions without having to crack any doctrine open. If someones interest is piqued they can use their own time and money to go find out more. I don't want my tax dollars being spent on teaching religion.

[Fhqwghads]

Because not all Texans are fucking retarded? I like the area for numerous reasons but the people and culture are horrible. I know you were making a joke somewhat but still.

I didn't even realize you were living in Texas until this post.

[Demosthenes11]

You can easily get into the historical impact of individual religions without having to crack any doctrine open. If someones interest is piqued they can use their own time and money to go find out more. I don't want my tax dollars being spent on teaching religion.

are you purposely this ignorant or ? Did you even read what I said? How can you understand religious cultures without understanding the religion itself

[Yabby]

are you purposely this ignorant or ? Did you even read what I said? How can you understand religious cultures without understanding the religion itself

Because he learned everything he wants to know on 9/11.... TOKYERJERB

[Demosthenes11]

also, ITT: teaching about religions = pushing religion on people.

It's incredible how logical some people can be and then religion comes up and they become completely irrational in either extreme

[Melchiah]

The Hubris is strong with Texas.

[Hyan]

Why shouldn't religion be taught in schools?

The opposite extreme is no better than what seems to be happening now... religions are quite interesting and important even if you believe in something else.

Also, BG has taught me to hate Texas

[Fhqwghads]

Is it necessary to examine the religion in order to understand the impact a religion has on history? You don't need to know the details of Christianity, and crack open the bible, to have a basic education on the Crusades. I fail to see how you don't understand this.

Also, by all means feel free to toss around the ignorance retort, makes debating with you on the subject really pleasant. I didn't say a damn thing to provoke that kind of reply. Stop getting so personally insulted over somebodies views.

[isladar]

You don't need to know the details of Christianity, and crack open the bible, to have a basic education on the Crusades. I fail to see how you don't understand this.

Why did they care about Jerusalem?

[Fhqwghads]

Why did they care about Jerusalem?

I think you're going about this the wrong way. Posing questions trying to trip me up and put me in a position that would compromise my opinion on the subject is pretty weak. How about you just explain why you feel that it's necessary for the education system to delve into the nuances of popular religions, past or present, in order to teach about their historical impact? That would be a lot more simple than the route you're trying to take.

[Correction]

God forbid kids understand the western canon they should be reading in school.

[Gadritan]

I think you're going about this the wrong way.

Yes, you are.

What's the most important question when studying history? "WHY?" Not when. Not who. Not what. It's the "why," that's critical to comprehending history. That's one of the biggest fundamental flaws in how history is being taught in the US. Students spend their time memorizing dates, names, etc, yet they can't explain why those events occurred. It's completely fucking backwards.

If you don't understand the principles of these religions, you can't understand their motives. Of course, this means you can't understand why they did what they did. Nor would you understand opposition to their actions without understanding the beliefs of those who opposed them.

Differences in belief systems are the cause of most major conflicts throughout history. If you don't understand these beliefs, then how in the hell would you be able to understand why the conflict even started, much less how it came to it's conclusion.