Insanely fervent, extreme right-wing, ultra-conservative, Christian fundamentalists have grabbed control of the textbook selection process in Texas and demand that textbooks highlight the Judeo-Christian values of the founders...well, not all of them actually.
Here is part of what the lunatic faction has wrought:
Teachers will be required to highlight the supposed "Judeo-Christian values of the founders but downplay the philosophical rationale for the separation of church and state.
Curriculum will describe the United States as a "constitutional republic" rather than "democratic". This plays to the right-wingers' mantra of states-rights versus the federal government.
Students studying the Bill of Rights must have included the references to the Second Amendment right-to-bear arms in their government classes.
American exceptional-ism and the free-enterprise system will be heralded as thriving best in a climate free of "excessive government intervention". Such studies will be linked to the decline of the value of the American dollar since the abandonment of the gold standard.
Now, back to the founders; Thomas Jefferson, who was, at best, a Deist and more likely an Agnostic, will be replaced by John Calvin in studies of the "enlightenment".
And, students studying the Alamo will not learn that Hispanic "Tejanos" died defending it along with Bowie and Crockett.
The study of institutional racism will be banned from sociology classes.
Students who have already been "dumbed down" to the extent that they cannot make change without color coded keys, do not know the difference between their and they're, and you're and your, will soon become an army of brainwashed right-wing Christian fundamentalists eager to fight for the "American Republic" on behalf of the interests of stateless corporations under the flag of GAAAAWWWD and JEEEESUS!
But, don't just have pity for Texas youngsters. Because Texas is one of textbook company's largest clients, these changes will morph into the textbooks of other States--it's cheaper to print one textbook for all than fifty different variations.
These drastic and far-reaching changes to Texas curriculum and textbooks will become final in May after a brief period of public comment. I will bet you a dollar against a doughnut that every right-wing, Christian fundamentalist in the state will turn out and progressives will continue to pule and keen without waging any sort of demonstrative response.
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