{"id":264,"date":"2010-03-13T20:15:28","date_gmt":"2010-03-13T20:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/jay-at-least-we-can.html"},"modified":"2010-03-13T20:15:28","modified_gmt":"2010-03-13T20:15:28","slug":"jay-at-least-we-can","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/jay-at-least-we-can.html","title":{"rendered":"Looks Like Bad History Is Winning in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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Jay, <\/p>\n

At least we can agree on one thing: let’s not rewrite history. <\/p>\n

But that appears to be all that the right-wing members on the Texas
\nState Board of Education want to do. We’ve already been through this
\nonce with the Texas science standards last year, and now they want to
\nuse our social studies classes as the newest platform to push their
\nagenda. <\/p>\n

It all began when the board selected well-known Religious Right
\nactivists to sit on the six-member social studies curriculum review
\npanel: David Barton of Wallbuilders and Peter Marshall of Peter
\nMarshall Ministries. Barton, who has no credentials as a historian,
\nruns a propaganda organization that issues a steady stream of books,
\nvideos, DVDs, pamphlets and other materials designed to “prove” the
\nUnited States was founded to be Christian country.
\nhttp:\/\/www.au.org\/media\/church-and-state\/archives\/2009\/07\/texas-tall-tale.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Marshall is a traveling evangelist who authored The Light and the
\nGlory<\/u>, a book used to teach history to home-schoolers in which he
\nclaims America has been a Christian nation since colonial days.
\nhttp:\/\/www.au.org\/media\/church-and-state\/archives\/2009\/07\/texas-tall-tale.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Both claim church-state separation does not exist in America and now
\nthey have recommended that their version of American history – which
\nteaches that America is a Christian nation — be taught to Texas
\nstudents.
\n 
\nI don’t think that’s a good idea, and neither do most historians.
\nhttp:\/\/blog.au.org\/2010\/01\/11\/lone-star-scrape-texas-hearings-on-social-studies-curriculum-may-get-heated\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet this week, several members of the board continue to push this
\nagenda. Yesterday, the board voted not to teach our Founding Fathers’
\ntrue thoughts on religious liberty. <\/p>\n

The Texas Freedom Network, which has been live blogging from the board meetings in Texas, reported this: <\/p>\n

“Today, the Texas State Board of Education voted to reject an amendment
\nto social studies curriculum standards that would require students to
\nlearn that the nation’s Founders “protected religious freedom by
\nbarring government from promoting or disfavoring any particular
\nreligion over all others.” The party-line vote — 10 Republicans against
\nand 5 Democrats in favor of the amendment — strips away any pretense
\nthat this board respects one of the most important freedoms enshrined
\nin the U.S. Constitution.”
\nhttp:\/\/www.tfn.org\/site\/PageServer?pagename=Social_Studies_Standards<\/a><\/p>\n

Talk about revisionist history! Now our students won’t even know where
\nthe First Amendment came from and why it is so important to protect the
\nbeliefs – and nonbeliefs – of ALL Americans. <\/p>\n

And let’s not forget that the same board members also want to rewrite
\nthe civil rights movement and minimize its importance in American
\nhistory. There have been proposed changes that would minimize efforts
\nby ethnic minorities and women to win economic opportunities and
\npolitical rights.<\/p>\n

In fact, one board member, Don McLeroy, gave instruction to curriculum
\nwriting teams to make it clear that “it wasn’t minorities that got the
\nCivil Rights Act; it was the majority that did it.” <\/p>\n

If it were up to this board, they would leave out the part where
\nminority groups put pressure on Congress and the President to pass this
\nact – including the March on Washington. Several civil rights groups in
\nTexas have written to the Texas State Board of Education to not ignore
\nthe role minorities played in securing civil rights for all.
\nhttp:\/\/www.aclutx.org\/files\/SBOE%20letter%20from%20Civil%20%20Rights%20orgs.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s really a shame that all this is even being considered. I just hope
\nwhen all is said and done, the Board members do the right thing. They
\nare scheduled to adopt the final standards by May 21, so there is still
\ntime. By the end of this week, though, the side of real history is obviously going to have an uphill battle.\n<\/div>\n

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Jay, At least we can agree on one thing: let’s not rewrite history. But that appears to be all that the right-wing members on the Texas State Board of Education want to do. We’ve already been through this once with the Texas science standards last year, and now they want to use our social studies…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[51,67,319],"class_list":["post-264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-politicking","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-texas-board-of-education-david-barton-peter-marshall-religious-liberty"],"yoast_head":"\nLooks Like Bad History Is Winning in Texas - Lynn v. Sekulow<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/jay-at-least-we-can.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Looks Like Bad History Is Winning in Texas - Lynn v. Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jay, At least we can agree on one thing: let’s not rewrite history. But that appears to be all that the right-wing members on the Texas State Board of Education want to do. We’ve already been through this once with the Texas science standards last year, and now they want to use our social studies…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/jay-at-least-we-can.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lynn v. Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-03-13T20:15:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mail.au.org\/owa\/8.1.393.1\/themes\/base\/clear.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rev. Barry W. Lynn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Looks Like Bad History Is Winning in Texas - Lynn v. 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Lynn is a regular guest on nationally broadcast radio programs, including National Public Radio's \"All Things Considered,\" \"Morning Edition\" and \"Talk of the Nation,\" as well as having appeared on national networks such as CBS Radio, CNN Radio, ABC Radio and AP Radio. Lynn began his professional career working at the national office of the United Church of Christ, including a two-year stint as legislative counsel for the Church's Office of Church in Society in Washington, D.C. From 1984 to 1991 he was legislative counsel for the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2006, Lynn authored Piety & Politics: The Right-Wing Assault On Religious Freedom (Harmony Books). In 2008 he coauthored (with C. Welton Gaddy) First Freedom First: A Citizen's Guide to Protecting Religious Liberty and the Separation of Church and State (Beacon Press). Lynn writes frequently on religious liberty issues, and has had essays published in outlets such as USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Nation. Lynn also has op-eds published frequently by the McClatchy and Scripps-Howard newspaper chains. A member of the Washington, D.C. and U.S. Supreme Court bar, Lynn earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1978. In addition, he received his theology degree from Boston University School of Theology in 1973. Lynn, who was born in Harrisburg, Pa., and raised in Bethlehem, Pa., lives in Chevy Chase, Md., with his family.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/author\/blynn"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}