Texas Rejects Islamic Bias in Textbooks
The Texas State Board of Education again attracted national attention last month when it adopted a resolution that warns publishers against printing textbooks infused with anti-Christian, pro-Islamic bias — or risk being snubbed by the largest textbook buyer in the nation. The resolution was approved 7-6 by the social conservatives on the board, who cautioned against a creeping Middle Eastern influence on American textbook publishers.
See Related Report on Islam in our Schools
The resolution declares that “pro-Islamic/anti-Christian half-truths, selective disinformation, and false editorial stereotypes still roil some social studies textbooks nationwide.” Pages of footnotes document specific offenses including “patterns of pejoratives toward Christians and superlatives toward Muslims, calling Crusaders aggressors, ‘violent attackers,’ or ‘invaders’ while euphemizing Muslim conquest of Christian lands as ‘migrations’ by ‘empire builders.’
Other complaints cited in the resolution include disproportionate coverage of Islamic beliefs, practices and holy writings, with generally twice as many text lines devoted to Islam than to Christianity and other world religions. Additionally, one book claimes Islam “brought untold wealth to thousands and a better life to millions,” while “because of [European Christian] religious zeal . . . many people died and many civilizations were destroyed.” The same book contrasted “the Muslim concern for cleanliness” with Swedes in Russia who were “the filthiest of God’s creatures.” The resolution also expressed concern about “sanitized definitions of ‘jihad’” that omit the religious intolerance and violence toward non-Muslims espoused by Muslim terrorists worldwide.
And now… the rest of the story. …..
Harold
It is historically important student textbooks not inappropriately disparage Christian Crusades, by incorrectly stating the basis for a Christian Crusade’s establishment; or falsely state the reasons for a Christian Crusade’s involvement in a historical event; or misconstrue the outcome of a Christian Campaign. History shows Christian Crusades can reconstitute, to protect Christians and other populations when threatened by a sect—that condones murder of people—because they are non-believers or not followers of a religion. History is taught in school because history can and does repeat itself. If student text books are biased in their presentation of historical events, students can’t properly evaluate current events to make an informed decision.