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A victory for truth and common sense in Arizona, from Arizona's East Valley Tribune, with thanks to all who sent this in:
A world history textbook used by seventh-graders at Scottsdale's Mohave Middle School was pulled from classrooms mid-semester amid growing criticism of the book's portrayal of Islam.The removal came on the heels of a slew of angry emails to
Scottsdale Unified School District officials and entries on conservative Internet Web logs.
I am sorry to say this one was not one of them, but that was not by design: with the high level of work in the Jihad Watch offices every day, I just overlooked the case. Anyway this shows the power of such actions.
Janie White is a Scottsdale parent who complained about the "History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond" textbook, which was being used on a trial basis at her daughter's school. In a Jan. 25 email to Superintendent John Baracy, she objected to what she believed was "religious bias, dogma, myth and proselytizing.""I received a significant number of e-mails saying (the book) was Islamic propaganda and we shouldn't use it," said district governing board member Christine Schild.
Before the board could take action, the book's publisher requested an end to its trial license with the district in March, and the district quit using the materials.
Nancy Bredin, national sales manager at TCI, insists the publishing company did not pull the license due to the controversy. Instead, she said, the newly-released state standards do not match the textbook's focus.
"We pulled out because it became very clear we did not match the standards," Bredin said. The book is still being tried in schools in other states, she added.
The textbook covers history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century to the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century. It devotes 33 pages to Christianity and 42 pages to Islam. Bredin explained the book is meant to serve as the second in a twopart series....
The lessons about Islam are what concern parents such as White. In her complaint to Baracy, she referred to the American Textbook Council, a group that objects to TCI's explanation of concepts such as jihad.
The book defines jihad as "a struggle within each individual to please God, but that may also be a physical struggle for protection against enemies."
David Damrel, a professor at the Arizona State University's Department of Religious Studies, reviewed several chapters of the book at the Tribune's request. He said the passages generally did a good job of describing Muslim attitudes toward jihad in an accurate way.
Complaints about the book started early this year, when White sent a series of e-mails to Baracy demanding the textbook be removed from her daughter's classroom.
"I do not want my children trying out Islam, or thinking about becoming a Muslim now, or in the future," she wrote to Baracy on Jan. 25. She did say, however, that she approves of including some information about world religions in history lessons, so long as it is presented factually and briefly.
She also objected to a classroom activity that led students to rank the most influential people in history, which she said pit Jesus against Muhammad. ...
The issue drew national attention when a man claiming to be a
Scottsdale father posted an entry on conservative writer Daniel Pipes' Web site on Feb. 27.The man lambasted what he stated was "fake history along with Islamic religious proselytizing and indoctrination techniques" at his child's
school.The posting found its way to at least five other Internet log sites, most of which claim to be politically conservative. One Jewish Web site also encouraged readers to contact the Scottsdale district, saying the textbook denigrates Judaism.
At least one Web site, which doesn't claim any religious affiliation, criticizes Schild and Baracy, saying Arizona public schools are being turned into madrassas, or Islamic religious schools. The site claims it is run by former Cave Creek public school teacher Catherine King and her husband, Jerome du Bois.
Schild said she received between 50 and 100 e-mails concerning the text...
In a certain sense it's true: public schools are being turned into madrassas, because Islamic organizations are brought in to vet material about Islam. More than once they have turned textbooks into instruments for proselytizing.
Posted by Robert at April 7, 2005 8:42 AM
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The NEA and Islam:
http://www.blessedcause.org/Righteous%20Out/NEA%20betrayal.htm
http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/article_main_page/0,1703,A%253D150172%2526M%253D50011,00.html
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=%5CPolitics%5Carchive%5C200208%5CPOL20020813a.html
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/926/CWA/education/
http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/neSa.htm
http://www.tbaptist.com/aab/nv209.htm
Of course I expect certain people to demean this listing- but I can't seem to find One single liberal outlet criticizing the indoctrination of public school and college-level students, in 'the religion of peace.'
And of course I shall Never stop providing extra info for those who need to see what their children are being subjected to.
Posted by: Gary![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 7, 2005 9:15 AM
Check out the Council on Islamic Education. They focus on Constitutional issues and policy on how to insert religion into the curricula. One step forward and five steps back!
Also Sound Vision has a plethora of interesting articles. In the past they had several on how to "persuade" public schools to include Islam in education.
at April 7, 2005 9:33 AM
"Eternal vigilance is the price etc." wrote Wendell Phillips. Boy, was he right.
Keep it up. Don't stop. Everywhere there is a school, there is potential for textbooks exaggerating claims. Miching malecho from CAIR. Let textbook publishers be forced to take back their tainted books, and left with a loss. It will teach them. And teach them. Those indignant parents deserve thanks, and should be emulated, and should be feeling good about what they have achieved.
One of the most important parts of softening up the Infidels has been the cultural aspect, which Bat Ye'or goes into at length in "Eurabia." The thrust is to exaggerate the claims made for Islamic "culture" (really, no serious science for the past thousand years, no music, no sculpture, no paintings save for some un-Islamic Indo-Persian miniatures, no philosophy outside the limits of an 8th-century text composed in part of pagan Arab lore, and stories from both the Hebrew and Christain texts, imperfectly recalled and indited).
It is important not to accept these dreamy claims either about the "greatness" of Islamic civilization -- which any number of people, including Bernard Lewis, like to formulaically allude to as if they feel they must always and everywhere make some gesture toward the wounded feelings, and self-esteem problems, of Muslims. How delicate we all allow ourselves to be.
Even intelligent people allow these claims for the past greatness of Islamic civilzation to be made. Let's leave aside the silliness of "I'm greater" and "no I'm greater" when it comes to civilizations. And let us also leave aside the , and Lewis-like, will refer blandly to "in the year 1000 A. D. Islamic civilization was the richest most advanced, etc." Now that statement can only be made by someone familiar not only with "Islamic" civilization (and how many of those who were responsible for important parts of that civilization were Christians and Jews, especially in translation and hence, the transmission of ideas?), but also with rival civilizations on which judgment is implicitly being passed -- such as China and Europe. Leave aside the gigantic and ancient civilization of China.
In the study of Europe, the past fifty years of historical research have overturned, ended, put paid to, the idea of "Dark Ages." Intellectual and artistic activity that was either not sufficiently recognized, or demeaned by historians in the past (some Protestant historians in Germany, England, and the United States found suspect the dominant role of Catholicism during those non-existent "Dark Ages") has been discoveed, unearthed, appreciated. But Lewis, and those who like his phrase about "in the year 1000 A.D. Islamic civilization was the most advanced, most assured, most...etc." appear to have ignored the revolution in the history of those "Dark Ages." See, for a short summary, Regine Pernoud's "Those Terrible Middle Ages!"
In any case, whatever was "great" about Islamic civilization, despite the exaggeration, came to a close about a thousand years ago, about when Christians and Jews ceased to be an important factor, and when, within Islam, whatever freedoms an ar-Rhazi or ibn Rushd was permitted came to an end, because those mental "gates of ijtihad" were closed.
Another Muslim claim that has infiltrated into Western educational systems, and into the general (uninformed) consciousness, is that Europe itself owes "so much" to Islam. This is nonsense on stilts. Islam was at war with Christendom from Islam's inception. Its only legitimate relation to Christendom was that of enemy, and subduer. Christians could be left alive, but only in an inferior position, with all of their "rights" granted by Muslim overlords, and only so long as the Christians obeyed certain onerous financial, social, and other burdens. That was it.
How did "Islamic civlization" contribute? It did not contribute to the development of Western art and music. Its scientific contributions were, outside of optics and some parts of medicine, nearly invisible. And almost all of the famous figures in high Islamic civilization were either non-Muslims, or Persians whom, dare one say it, in thought as in poetry (Firdowsi, Hafez, Khayyam, Sa'adi), were just "less" Muslim than the always more primitive and more fervent Arab Muslims. In art, the Indo-Persian (or Mughal) miniatures are not the products of Islam; they are the products of people ignoring the strictures of Islam. Should we give credit to Soviet Communism for Mandelshtam, formed by pre-Soviet Russia, or for Sakharov, a dissenter from everything that the Soviet system stood for? Of course not. Why then give "Islam" credit for those who, in spite of Islam, or because they were never Muslims to begin with, did so much?
The sort of thing those Arizona textbooks mentioned above can, if gotten into the mental bloodstream early enough, can become Received Wisdom. present can, if repeated often enough, and challenged not at all, can become Received Wisdom. Children need to be protected from brainwashing by the cunning army of apologists for Islam who, it should by now be obvious, are furiously working at every level, not only in the main arteries of the Western world, but sending their propaganda into every capillary as well -- and can only be stopped by that "eternal vigilance" alluded to above.
It is not only at the level of elementary-school textbooks that the dangerous fictions are to be found. Consider this:
"Faithful to the 1991 colloquy of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, British Foreign Secreatary Robin Cook speaking at the Ismaili Center in London on October 8, 1998, stated, "It is the most wonderful reminder in the very heart o f London that the roots of our culture are not just Greek or Roman in origin, but Islamic as well. Islamic art, science and philosoophy have helped to shape who we are and how we think." After stressing "the debt our culture owes to Islam," he added, "Islam laid the intellectual foundations for large porons of Western civilization." (quoted in "Eurabia," p. 171)
Note what Robin Cook leaves out: "the roots of our culture oare not just Greek or Roman" forgets the little matter of Israel, the Hebraic along with the Hellenic -- Matthew Arnold would not have permitted such nonsense, nor would anyone in the past. And he forgets, along with ancient Israel, the role of Christianity. We are left with classical antiquity -- anbd with Islam, that "laid the intellectual foudnations for large portions of Western civilization."
Now Robin Cook was not a schoolboy when he uttered this rubbish. He was Foreign Secretary.He had taken his A-levels. He had gone to university. He is even said to be a "formidbale debater" which would imply some level of intelligence. And here he is spouting nonsense which, in the current context, is also dangerous nonsense. He does not know, or does not care about knowing, the history of the West. Too bad for him. But also for us. And there are all sorts of people in high places who, what with all the running around and the meetings and the press conferences and the glad-handing and the back-slapping and the position papers and the Daily Briefing, have no time to sit, and study, what Islam is all about, or to study the history of Islamic conquest, or to begin to comprehend the effect of this pervasive ideology on all those who call themselves Muslim, whether they are fanatic, or fervent, or even largely unobservant and nonchalant (and it is this third group that can be, in its effects, the most dangerous because it contributes the most to Infidel misperception of the immutability, and resilience, and menace of Islam).
As for that quote -- "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" -- from Wendell Phillips, it is curious that a direct descendant of the abolitionist, another Wendell Phillips, wrote a book about Moon-goddesses in early Arabia (chiefly the Yemen), "Qataban and Sheba." Early Islam naturally is involved. There are those who are convinced that the moon-goddess aspect of Islam will settle the hash of Islam, just as some think that the studies of Christoph Luxenberg will revolutionize not just Islamic studies for Western scholars, but will have an affect on Islam.
One wonders. But since this posting began with one Wendell Phillips, it is symmetrically pleasing to come full circle and end with another.
Posted by: Hugh at April 7, 2005 10:52 AM
"Schild said she received between 50 and 100 e-mails concerning the text..."
This, ladies and gentlemen, is what email is for.
Geoff
Posted by: Geoff at April 7, 2005 12:43 PM
Of course I expect certain people to demean this listing- but I can't seem to find One single liberal outlet criticizing the indoctrination of public school and college-level students, in 'the religion of peace.'Posted by Gary,/blockquote>Posted by: GiaourDon't you ever get tired of whining and playing self pitying righteous martyr. Truly Gary you are an ape of the Muslims.
I'm one of "those people" I assume, and I don't object to the list, but I do object to religious self righteousness, the theocratic and exclusivist mindset which is indistinguishable from that of the Muslims.
Why expend effort and resources on behalf of religious wars and warriors in the battle for god, when at the end of the day,there really is no difference between motives and outcomes.. from a secularist point of view.
My concern is the preservation of civil liberties and freedom, which can only be had in a secular western society.
You provide me no substantial alternative (as regards outcome and consequences) from the Muslims.
at April 7, 2005 1:19 PM
Thank you giaour, exactly as I expected of you. And wrong as always.
Posted by: Gary at April 7, 2005 1:43 PM
Robert:
Thanks for quoting all the way to the end of the article. It's nice to get our names in the paper, even better to appear here, but as I note in my latest piece, this thing isn't over. "Across The Centuries" is almost as egregious as "History Alive!" This is a partial victory.
Sincerely,
Jerome du Bois
The Tears of Things
see
http://www.thetearsofthings.net/archives/000333.html
for the latest details
at April 7, 2005 4:09 PM
Gary and Giaour, CUT IT OUT, OR YOU'LL GO TO BED WITHOUT DINNER AGAIN!
There are PLENTY of people on this side of the fight against Islam who hold no religious beliefs, and there are plenty who would install their own religious beliefs (other than Islam) in place of the Constitution.
BUT BOYS, we STILL HAVE the Constitution, so both sides are protected. Save the rock-throwing at each other for AFTER we win! There is no way in hell either one of you is going to make any brownie points with the other, so all this quibbling is just a waste of time!
CUT IT OUT! Believe it or not, we're ON THE SAME SIDE!
Now, to get on with my reason for posting here:
There are a lot of parents who swear/affirm by all that's holy/important to them that they will never, over their dead bodies, let their children know anything about Islam.
Unfortunately, that's a huge part of the problem. Instead of keeping kids from knowing about Islam, just teach them the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. In fact, teaching our children the truth about Islam is the only effective weapon we have; if we don't let them know the truth, then the enemy will have a huge space to fill with their own lies, the way they are doing now!
On another thread, I have recommended a really good overview book for parents to have for their own information, and for teaching their kids what the schools refuse to teach (the truth). The book is available on line at http://216.198.64.171. It used to be linked from TheReligionofPeace.com, but the host and author are having some server problems right now. If you want to print it off, be sure to have a full cartridge.
There are no lies of commission or omission, and there is no "talking down." It gives an excellent "big picture" of Islam from start to finish, and doesn't pull any punches. The savagery of Islam, from then to now, is one of many subjects well addressed.
It would make a terrific textbook for older middle and high school students, although younger kids will need their parents' help.
If you know of any teachers who are suspicious that they aren't getting the whole picture re: Islam, tell them about this book. It makes a great springboard to Robert's books and many other fine books "out there."
"Keep it up. Don't stop. Everywhere there is a school, there is potential for textbooks exaggerating claims. Miching malecho from CAIR. Let textbook publishers be forced to take back their tainted books, and left with a loss. It will teach them. And teach them. Those indignant parents deserve thanks, and should be emulated, and should be feeling good about what they have achieved..."
Posted by: Hugh at April 7, 2005 10:52 AM
Hugh is right. Remember the adage, "If at first you don't succeed, nag, nag again!" And remember, embarrassment can be a powerful weapon too; our schools and the publishers have earned a full ration of shame and embarrassment!
Posted by: cubed
at April 7, 2005 4:29 PM
I keep trying, Cubed. It is difficult to refrain from responding to (or baiting) defeatist pessimists, but I shall keep at it. The funny part is, I really consider myself the Weakest link here, not any kind of debater... so naturally I am targeted, where other people saying the exact same things are ignored.
I shall continue posting these links, as I said above:
Know what the teachers are teaching.
That is, and always will be, the reason I continue to post links to inform the public of what their publics schools and colleges are indoctrinating their children in: Anti-Western, Anti-US, Anti-Christian thought
at April 7, 2005 5:08 PM
Excuse me, but this past year was really tough during the school year. I'm one of those PTA mom's who puts together various functions and celebrations for elementary school children. I've been a PTA mom for many years. This past year was filled with apprehension as we watched in amazement, the elimination of any and all themes regarding Christmas and Hanukkaa. People didn't put up Christmas decorations out of fear and apprehension. There were no Menorah's in windows in my neighborhood. What the hell is this country coming to?
The complete and total elimination of any reference whatsoever to Judeo-Christian faith based religious celebrations, the complete elimination of Easter celebrations, the complete elimination of Valentine's day celebrations was absolutely disheartening. muslims Think they are winning, and they think that we are letting them. Our forefathers must be absolutely rolling over in their graves.
I'm quitting PTA at the end of this school year, and I'm enrolling my child into a private school next year. I will not run the risk of my child being exposed to islam through taquyya/kitman via the public school system. How dare the muslims and leftists insist that we have NO reference to any religion under any circumstance, yet the introduction and indoctrination of islam is allowed in a public school's curriculum? Perhaps they are proving that islam isn't a religion... it's a cult!
Where in the hell is the ACLU on this issue? In bed with CAIR, I suppose.
Religion of peace? My ass!
at April 7, 2005 9:03 PM
I remember that user comment on Daniel Pipes' site. It was in reply to 'Spreading Islam in American Public Schools', Nov 24/04. Good to hear it got a lot of attention and started this ball rolling. Blog Power!
The man said that the textbook in question was not allowed to go home. Gee, wonder why? Shows how sneaky they are. Slip this proselytizing crap in and try to keep the parents in the dark. This might work with some parents, but other parents are pretty nosey when it comes to their kids' education. It was shocking to read what was going on in that man's school. He posted as "Fish", I recommend everyone read it.
As others have said, it is critically important that parents keep an eye on what their children are taught in school these days. Mine are older now but even when they were in primary school I could sense the shift to a more PeeCee type of history teaching. My children did not learn about early explorers of their country because the teacher told me this was too Eurocentric and insensitive to native cultures (this was in Canada). So it's easy to see how some teachers will then happily bring in other anti-Western dogma and teach it as history. And there really isn't anything more anti-Western than Islam.
Posted by: feralee at April 7, 2005 9:39 PM
cubed-
Exactly right.
The point is NOT to prevent Islam from being taught ABOUT in middle school at all, but to teach it accurately and in the context of history. And in comparison with all major and current religions, if that is the thrust of the lesson.
The Egyptian and Roman and Greek and Phoenician and Zoroastrian and Hindu and Aztec and Incan and Polynesian and Chinese and Shinotist gods need to be in the mix, as well, since they form a root for our knowledge of the divine impulse. And would show how the quest for the Ineffable can be incredibly complex, mixing the dark and the bizarre and bloodthirsty with the inspiring and loving and peaceful.
If you are going to teach the subject, you have to teach it thoroughly, or it becomes a cartoon.
And it would temper the naive 'righteous' enthusaists trying to get 'religion' into the public schools. If the fundamentalists of every shape and sect understood that not only would their favorite faith be given a spot on the curriculum, but that ALL of the rest of the gods in history would get into the classroom by this same sacrosanct pressure, they might at least think twice... about the law of unintended consequences, if nothing higher.
Comparative religion is essential to a free mind.
And history needs to have the unpleasant parts of every faith mentioned, also.
Each was promoting lunacies, killing heretics and squashing the human mind, in their own way and for their own dogmas, for centuries -and none should be santized for p.c. purposes now.
"LET THE TRUTH BE TOLD, THOUGH THE HEAVENS FALL."
(Although they should wait until at least Junior Year in high school for that hard of a lesson.)
Meanwhile, unless it is in an Islamic school, -where they can indoctrinate the Koran as a religion, since the Constitution does not prohibit "the free execise thereof"- Muslims will have to face this fact:
-if you want your creed to be part of the American lessons, then be prepared for some unsuspecting kid, innocently doing a book-report on Mohammad, to mention that this prophet considered women only worth half of a man, that he owned slaves, married a 6 year old girl, cheered on the slaughter of people who wouldn't believe he heard an angel talking to him, and that he once thought he was once, -among many other curious, and not-very-uplifting facts.
You want to sit at the table, your ox will be gored.
(And sacred cow will be on the lunchroom menu later.)
Posted by: BigSleep at April 8, 2005 2:26 AM
"he once thought he was BEWITCHED..." [Bukhari]
-is what it should read near the end above.
(Transposing the word "once" from the end of the sentence to the beginning somehow erased the object word "bewitched" and gave me two "once"'s instead...? I guess the Type Key program must be a little bewitched, itself.)
at April 8, 2005 2:48 AM
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