Have you read your children's textbooks?

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Love_is_Patient

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Just wanted to give you guys a heads-up in case you weren’t aware: school history/social studies textbooks are often written from a very atheistic humanist perspective. As someone not very long removed from public high school, I remember reading/hearing the following in classes:
  • Infant baptism can be traced back to the Reformation; Catholics and Protestants baptized babies as a way to increase their numbers and thus “win” the religious wars.
  • The sacraments are “magical” rites; no one understood what was going on in the Latin Mass back in the Middle Ages.
  • Crusades, inquisition as examples of atrocities done by religious people. I wish I could remember the exact way these were written up, but let me assure you that their was little attempt made to explain in proper context what went on.
The overall image one gets of the Catholic Church is VERY unflattering. I would encourage you all to see if any negative portrayals show up in your kids’ books.

❤️ Love is Patient
 
Love_is_Patient said:
  • The sacraments are “magical” rites; no one understood what was going on in the Latin Mass back in the Middle Ages.
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:eek: :eek: :eek:

May God have mercy on those who spread such vicious lies. And may He also have mercy on the poor, innocent children who are being lied TO. May He open their minds with the TRUTH.
 
My kids are in a Catholic grade school right now, and their textbooks are fine, but I was always afraid of how I’d catch lies in textbooks in high school. As I am educated but more of the math type than social studies and the like, I was afraid I wouldn’t recognize something wrong. Well what you’ve written above is rather obvious, so I’m happy about that.
 
Parents are the primary educators of their children. When parents choose schools, public or private, to help in this task, they need to be aware of what is being taught.
 
Yes, these things have come up in my children’s classes (they are in public school); however, they refute them with facts. My daughter in particular has brought up several issues that either the books or the teachers are presenting incorrectly. She is able to state the truth of the matter and back it up with facts. We never assume the books or the teachers are being malicious, just that they are uninformed. Because of your reading and teaching at home, she is able to do this. It is a grace for her to present correct history to her classmates and several of her teachers have complimented her on her knowledge.

As another posted said, we are our children’s first teachers and we need to be sure they know the truth. When you read those textbooks and find mis-information, make sure you present your child with the truth and the support he will need to share that with the class.
 
Love_is_Patient said:
Just wanted to give you guys a heads-up in case you weren’t aware: school history/social studies textbooks are often written from a very atheistic humanist perspective. As someone not very long removed from public high school, I remember reading/hearing the following in classes:
  • Infant baptism can be traced back to the Reformation; Catholics and Protestants baptized babies as a way to increase their numbers and thus “win” the religious wars.
  • The sacraments are “magical” rites; no one understood what was going on in the Latin Mass back in the Middle Ages.
  • Crusades, inquisition as examples of atrocities done by religious people. I wish I could remember the exact way these were written up, but let me assure you that their was little attempt made to explain in proper context what went on.
The overall image one gets of the Catholic Church is VERY unflattering. I would encourage you all to see if any negative portrayals show up in your kids’ books.

❤️ Love is Patient
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good grief.

what is the name and publisher of this textbook may I ask?
 
I read my child’s reading book from fourth grade Catholic school. A girl skipped out on class to go and shop, and, instead of feeling bad for doing wrong, she prayed to her false god (she supposedly was Hindu, or something), not to get in trouble, and she got away with the situation. All very sweet and cheery and in the same moral tones as the stories of old.

I knew then it would have to end.
 
Yes, I read the history textbooks in particular because I think that segregating history by race and gender is wrong. But I did notice that most history textbooks that discuss religion say that “Christians believe that Jesus was the Son of God,” and “believe that he was crucified” and “believe that he rose from the dead.” On the other hand when they go on to discuss Islam they state it factually, such as, “The Koran was revealed by the Angel Gabriel when he appeared to Mohammed.”

And that is in the Core Knowledge Series by E.D. Hirsch. It’s in the book for First Graders, as well as many other world history textbooks.
 
i just got out of a public high school a few years back and have not persued college.

Since my high school graduation i dare to say i’ve sought God a lot more fervently. i was surprised to hear of conservatives and liberals debate on the Fox News Channel and such. We weren’t taught conservative and liberal in school. Thinking back to some of it and also reading about it i have come to realize the textbooks do have a silently liberal tilt to them. Some more silently than others. i do not remember any so blatant as the OP mentions.

It’s a small wonder anyone gets out of the public school system with any shred of faith left (and i hear some sad stories about even the Catholic schools). i try to thank God every day for preserving my soul at least to a certain degree and i also pray for others, especially the little ones that they may not get corrupted. If my prayers are heard and answered by God and even one child is slightly fortified from it as a result than that is more than i could ask for.
 
why of course I have.😉
reed987 said:
just wait til these kids get to college! 😃
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hmm. I think college is entirely different.
In college there is an expectation in such subjects (or should be and used to be but sadly isn’t much anymore) of dialog and debate.
So for someone to read say an essay on such a topic is not to say that the teacher or the school agrees with it, it is to offer analysis of the material, social, written skill, politics and so forth. See?
whereas in elementary school (and many highschools too for that matter) the primary goal is not dialog and debate because the child is not at a developmental point either mental or experienced to do so. so to ME, when such things are brought into a lesson it is to be taught “as is” so to speak and THAT I have a problem with.
So if materials are being presented to spur with the student discussion, debate, opinion and so forth - fine.
If such materials are presented as factual information to be absorbed and retained “as is” with little development or question - I have issues with that.
ELKnight said:
Yes, I read the history textbooks in particular because I think that segregating history by race and gender is wrong. But I did notice that most history textbooks that discuss religion say that “Christians believe that Jesus was the Son of God,” and “believe that he was crucified” and “believe that he rose from the dead.” On the other hand when they go on to discuss Islam they state it factually, such as, “The Koran was revealed by the Angel Gabriel when he appeared to Mohammed.”

And that is in the Core Knowledge Series by E.D. Hirsch. It’s in the book for First Graders, as well as many other world history textbooks.
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Yes, I’ve noticed this sutble difference as well adn I don’t think for a minute it’s not done on purpose or without effect. In fact, I think it is WORSE that blatent error because it is rather underhanded in the manipulation.
 
I don’t have kids, but I went to a Christian (Lutheran) high school when I was younger (9 years ago now!) I was Lutheran at the time, now am Catholic.
But I think that is one advantage of going to a Christian high school or grade school, you generally don’t have to worry about them teaching about the earth being millions of years old or other things.
I did go to college, and I went to a public college. I’ll have to say, that I think college is a lot different. I think professors are good at realizing that their students come from all walks of life and have different beliefs. At least my teachers did. I had some Christian teachers, and some non-Christian teachers. I think that generally college is more specialized that you don’t take classes where they try to impart that type of knowledge on you.
I hope my post made sense… I was just responding to the poster who said wait til they get to college. I’m just saying that college wasn’t all that bad in my opinion in regards to my faith.
 
As soon as I saw the title of this post I knew I wasn’t alone. I’m in college, so I can’t speak for any knowledge of primary/secondary school texts, but I am registered for an intro to social work course this fall and I bought the book already. I started skimming through it to get an idea of what we would be doing, and there’s an entire chapter that’s devoted to LGBT people and services to them. Which is really no big deal, I mean, you would have to learn how to work with them. That didn’t bother me. But what did bother me was two things:

First, there’s a section entitled “Myths and Facts about Gays and Lesbians”. It goes on to state a “myth” and then say why it’s false. For example, the first “myth” is that “People are either homosexual or heterosexual”. And the reason given for that not being true? A single **survey **in 1948 of some 5000-ish American white males showed that “most” (number given) have “had sexual thoughts, feelings, and fantasies about members of the same sex.” And that is the entire basis for making that statement a “myth”! Last time I checked, in order for something to be scientifically true it must be studied multiple times and be more than just a survey, let alone one that only studied a single gender, race and nationality!

And secondly, (this is the one that really bothered me), here is the exact quote as it appears: “Early Christianity endorsed the position that sex is evil and degrading and should be indulged in only by married couples and only for the purpose of procreation. This remains the official position of the Roman Catholic Church.”

Since when does the the Church teach any of that?! And there are, of course, no footnotes to should where this “factual” information came from.

I’m paying a lot of hard-earned money for my “education”, and I really don’t appreciate having this stuff stated as Gospel when it’s a bold-faced lie. Having a debate about subjects that are not entirely settled is one thing. But having a textbook state these things are facts which are not is repulsive, both to my Christian sensibilities and my academic ones.
 
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