What’s wrong with this picture?
Posted on Examiner.com-By Tom White, Richmond Political Buzz Examiner-On July 8, 2011:
“In June 1995, the Virginia Board of Education approved Standards of Learning (SOL) in four core content areas - mathematics, science, English, and history and the social sciences - and in computer technology.
In September 1997, the Board of Education established new Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia (SOA) that link statewide accountability tests to the SOL and hold students, schools, and school divisions accountable for results.
The SOL’s set the minimum standards to ensure schools adequately prepare students for the future, a worthy endeavor indeed and deemed necessary due to the inconsistency of High School Graduates across the state. While many children received first class educations that left them well prepared for college or work, other schools turned out students who were functionally illiterate and unable to compete in either academia or the job market. Virginia’s SOL’s were designed to alleviate this problem.
Unfortunately, Standards of Learning can also be used as a tool by those with a political agenda to push their particular viewpoint, and the state mandates conformity with this way of thinking. The subject area with the greatest danger of falling prey to an ideological agenda is World History. And that is exactly where the Virginia Board of Education has begun a left wing indoctrination of Virginia’s children.
This is Part One of a three part series. We will first examine how the Board of Education has twisted the Virginia SOL’s to push Islam and the virtues of the religion while all other religions, including Christianity, America’s most popular religion, are moved far to the background. This report is not a reflection or indictment of Islam, nor is it a call for greater instruction in Christianity or any other religion. It is a call for objectivity in what we teach Virginia’s young minds. Perhaps some on the left feel that Islam has unfairly been given a bad name by horrific terrorist actions around the world, and there is truth to that thought, but it is neither the mission nor the responsibility of the Virginia Board of Education to correct this perception in the schools. Their job is only to accurately teach history, nothing more.
The second part of this report examines the vilification of America through the SOL’s as aggressors and imperialists causing problems around the world.
The third and final section will examine possible remedies to restore factual teaching without a political agenda in Virginia’s schools.
It seems that Virginia Board of Education has hijacked the Virginia Standards of Learning as a tool to indoctrinate our children in Islam to the near exclusion of Christianity and all other religions. One need look no further than the first page of the 2008 Strikethrough Version History & Social Science Curriculum Framework to see the Virginia brand of Selective Secularism exhibited.
“Selective Secularism” is the belief that all religion except Islam must be purged from any public document. Islam is exempted from this purge for fear of offending Muslims. And Islam deserves a bit of “Affirmative Action” because of terrorist acts around the world executed in the name of Islam. There is no doubt that Muslims that are good people, and good Americans. Generalized hatred of any religion for the actions of a few is simply wrong. To be clear, the villain here is not Islam or Muslims. The villain is the Virginia Department of Education and the misguided thinking that has gone into the creation of the Virginia Standards of Learning.
The Virginia Department of Education has clearly made an effort to revise history to suit a far left agenda and promote Islam through the Virginia Standards of Learning. This type of agenda driven education is not new, but it has accelerated to the point we must put a stop to this in favor of an honest and true view of history, and not one tainted through the prism of the left wing spin we have uncovered.
The very first page of the 2008 Strikethrough Version History & Social Science Curriculum Framework sets the tone for the rest of the document. The wonderful thing about a strikethrough version is that you can easily see what the document writers were thinking when they made the changes. The first victim was Christ as A.D. was changed to C.E. (Anno Domini > Common Era). “In the Year of our Lord” is now the Common Era. And B.C. – Before Christ is now B.C.E. or Before Common Era. This is nothing more than politically correct nonsense.
And it gets worse. The SOL’s have been used to create the text books Virginia students must study in order to pass.
Pro-Islamic Discrimination in Virginia's High School History Texts:
The pro-Islamic discrimination in our public school texts favors Islam in secular schools, revises history and obscures Sharia law including treatment of non-Muslims. Students are not exposed to fundamental Islam’s goal of imposing Sharia law on all peoples and suppressing all other religions.
These examples are from Ancient World History, Holt McDougal, VA Edition, 2011,
Chapter 3 section, “Origins of Judaism”, Chapter 6 section “Early Christianity” and Chapter 10 in entirety “The Muslim World.
Favor Islam:
- Text length: Origins of Judaism, 8 pages, Early Christianity 6 pages, The Muslim World, 22 pages.
- Text content: Life and Teachings of Jesus, 2 pages, Life of Mohammad and Qu’ran, 5 pages
- Online Student Research Link, Early Christianity, 3 items total on Christian catacombs, Arch of Titus, and timeline of sacred texts. [i]
Muslim World, 6 items total including Sayings of the Prophet, Complete Islamic history sources and 2 Qu’rans[ii]
Revise History:
- Fiction in text: “Because the Qu’ran forbade forced conversion, Muslims allowed conquered peoples to follow their own religion.” p.270
- Fact:When Pope Benedict said in Regensburg in 2006 that certain caliphs spread Islam by the sword, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia protested that the sword was only a last resort if non-Muslims refused to convert to Islam or surrender and pay the poll tax.[iii]
- Fiction in text:“Sharia law requires Muslim leaders to extend religious tolerance to Christians and Jews.” p.268
- Fact:In addition to paying the poll tax Jews and Christians must keep to the side of the street, must not build as high as Muslim buildings or repair their churches, ring the bells or have public funerals. If they violate these conditions the caliph choses between death, slavery, release or ransom.[iv]
- Half-Truth in text: regarding Sharia, “this system of law regulates the family life, moral conduct, and business and community life of Muslims.” p.268
- Fact: The Sharia is a complete code of life regulating relations with non-Muslims as well as Muslims, in which the earlier peaceful verses of the Qu’ran were abrogated by later verses.[v] Sharia includes the aHadeeth (words and deeds of the Prophet), such as “I have been ordered by God to fight with people till they bear testimony to the fact that there is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger….)[vi]
Obscures Sharia Law:
These are but a few examples indicative of pro-Islamic discrimination throughout this text, its sequel on Modern World History, and comparable high school history texts of mainstream publishers adopted across America. The supplemental study guides of the Virginia Department of Education re-enforce the texts instead of correcting them.
Is this the kind of disinformation our schools should be teaching?
There are serious consequences for our Constitution when Islamic fundamentalists in this country are calling for a parallel legal system or special dispensations for Muslims in public schools, workplaces, and taxpayer funded facilities.
The textbooks don’t begin to teach the whole truth about Islam.
Conflicting Meanings of Jihad:
The Earlier Peaceful Meaning Is Abrogated by the Later Aggressive Meaning
Holt McDougal Student Resources Link for Jihad:
Text Used in Mosques Across America to Train Leaders for the Next Generation
Those who believe and emigrate and strive with might and main with their wealth and their lives have the highest rank in the sight of Allah. p.170
Footnote: Strive The word Allah used in Arabic is: wa Jaahada Fee Sabeelillah – meaning: made Jihad in the path of Allah. It is incorrect to translate the word Jihad to mean strive/striving because Jihad is a legal terminology with a specific meaning, and that is, fighting in the path of Allah and the struggle therein. Translating the word Jihad to mean ‘Striving’ is misleading as it gives a meaning different to the intending meaning in the verse. Unfortunately, this error has become a common practice amongst the translators, so let them be careful from falling into such errors.
So, how does the quantity of information taught on Christianity and Islam differ?
See for yourself. Click here to view the required elements of Christianity. (Opens in a new window.)
And what does the Virginia Department of Education want our children to know about Islam? A couple of points, like with Christianity?
Not hardly. Click here to see what is required to pass the SOL sections on Islam. (Opens in a new window.)
Apparently, Christian Culture is not important. This is an in depth look at the history and teachings of Islam, Mohammad, the “Noble” Quran complete with a play by play of everything you ever wanted to know about Islam but were prohibited from learning in school by the United States Constitution.
And if I recall that long forgotten religion called Christianity, there was some fellow called Jesus and a book called theBible.
This gives nothing but a passing mention of Christianity and reads like a Theological study in Islam. This is absolutely shameful and unconstitutional!
Most Christians as well as Muslims would probably be far happier of the State Controlled School System simply deleted both of these sections and let the parents decide which Mosque or Church (or Temple or Synagog) their children should receive religious training.
Below are the documents where a lot of this information came from. This first one is a copy of the teacher’s workbook. Feel free to browse through and see for yourself what Virginia’s children are being asked to accept as history.
Teacher’s Workbook - World History
And this is a copy of the 2008 Strikethrough Version History & Social Science Curriculum Framework
SOL Strilethrough Edition
[i]http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/wh_ancient_va/page_build.htm?id=resour...
[ii]http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/wh_ancient_va/page_build.htm?id=resour...
[iii] The National Observer Australia. “Islam and the dhimma pact”. Mark Durie. http://www.nationalobserver.net/2010/82_3_islam_durie.htm
[iv] Reliance of the Traveler, the Classic Manual of Sacred Islamic Law. Amana Pbl, MD, USA. o11.4 – .11, o9.14
[v] Islamic Jurisprudence. Imran Nyazee. Islamic Research Institute, 2000. p.319
[vi] Sahih Bukhari, Vol.I, p. 13. http://answering-islam.org/BehindVeil/btv2.html”
Source:
Note: These are other articles and/or blog posts, videos and a report that reveal what our children are being taught in our classrooms regarding Islam, to include history textbooks that present an incomplete and confected view of Islam (e.g., misrepresenting its foundations and challenges to international security, etc.)-You Decide:
I. Islamic education on the rise in US!-Posted on MSNBC-By Kari Huus, Reporter-On June 15, 2011:
II. Mandatory Arabic Classes Coming To Mansfield-Posted on CBSDFW.com-On February 7, 2011:
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/02/07/mandatory-arabic-classes-coming-to-mansfield/
III. School system to get Muslim holiday-Posted on Boston Globe-By Brock Parker, Globe Correspondent-On October 10, 2010:
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2010/10/10/school_system_to_get_muslim_holiday/
IV. Texas Fights For Us All Against Pro-Islamic Textbooks-Posted on Right Side News-By PAUL COOPER - NEWSREALBLOG.COM-On September 25, 2010:
V. Texas warns book publishers: 'No more white-washing Islam'-Posted on WND.com-By Bob Unruh-On September 24, 2010:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=207577
VI. 'ACLU-crafted court order criminalizes Christianity'-Posted on WND.com-By Bob Unruh-On September 24, 2010:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=206561
VII. School Trip to “Moderate” Mosque: Inside Video Captures Kids Bowing to Allah-Posted on Americans for Peace & Tolerance-On September 15, 2010:
VIII. New Muslim college opens in California amid furor over proposed mosque near ground zero-Posted on FoxNews.com-By The Associated Press-On September 9, 2010:
IX. HS test ‘slams’ Christianity, lauds Islam-Posted on The New York Post-By YOAV GONEN, Education Reporter-On August 24, 2010:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bad_faith_in_regents_exam_IHsTi7lMbqhfdMDrnF3xYL
X. Kagan Promoted Shariah Law at Harvard-Posted on Townhall.com-By Dick Morris and Eileen McGann-On July 21, 2010:
XI. Islamic Indoctrination vs. Education-Posted on FrontPageMag.Com-By Nonie Darwish-On February 18, 2010:
http://frontpagemag.com/2010/02/18/islamic-indoctrination-vs-education/
XII. US Textbooks: Muslims Discovered America-Posted on YouTube.com-By 1001Phoenix-On July 25, 2009:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6bARRmEpH8
XIII. Islam in The Classroom: What The Textbooks Tell Us-Posted on HistoryTextbooks.org-By GILBERT T. SEWALL-2008:
http://www.historytextbooks.org/islamreport.pdf
XIV. Muslim religion taught under guise of history: 'Students perform skits about the tenets of Islam belief'-Posted on WND.com-By Bob Unruh-On September 20, 2007:
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=43621
Note: My following blog posts contain numerous articles and/or blog posts and videos that relate to this disturbing issue-You Decide:
Is Shariah Law A Danger To Our U.S. National Security?
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/is-shariah-law-a-danger-to-u-s-national-security/
What do American Citizens Know About “Sharia Law” and is It Something That We Should Know More About?
Should Americans Fear Islam?
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/should-americans-fear-islam/
Is it important to understand the Marxist assault on the foundations of our system?
Note: If you have a problem viewing any of the listed blog posts please copy web site and paste it on your browser. Be aware that some of the articles and/or blog posts or videos listed within the contents of the above blog post(s) may have been removed by this administration because they may have considered them to be too controversial. Sure seems like any subject matter that may shed some negative light on this administration is being censored-What happened to free speech?-You Decide.
“Food For Thought”
God Bless the U.S.A.!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E&feature=related
Semper Fi!
Jake
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