Textbooks

I know, by now this should be old hat. What is it with textbooks now? I thought the "culture wars" over the Texas textbooks had subsided, until I noticed an article in The Baylor Lariat this last Thursday bringing the textbooks up once again. This time, the article explained, the State Board of Education (SBOE) is planning to vote next week about refusing to buy textbooks they view as expressing pro-Islamic, anti-Christian viewpoints.

There were two major points that struck me about this article. Primarily, didn't they already talk about this? My memory was pretty hazy about the turbulence created last March and April by the SBOE, so I looked up a few articles which I think detail last spring's issues pretty well:

Texas Board Adopts Conservative Curriculum

Why the Textbook Debate Matters

Historians Speak Out Against Proposed Textbook Changes

Just a note, I tried to get as wide a range of viewpoints as I could, but most the the articles I found seemed at least a little biased. If you can find better articles, please let me know :) . Anyway, the current issues are that the SBOE is, as the Lariat article states, planning to vote on what to do about textbooks they see as more pro-Islam than pro-Christian, but they have additionally recently voted to slash the funding for English and Science textbooks.

The second point that struck me is that this reminds me of a Times article I read recently in another class, World Cultures V: Is America Islamophobic? The recent actions of the SBOE seem like they're expressing the belief that Christianity is a better religion for Islam, not that children should learn about all religions equally in schools. 

I happen to ascribe to Christianity, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to learn about Islam. The recent SBOE proposals seem to favor a textbook curriculum that tries to demonize Islam even as it praises Christianity. Shouldn't children be given the opportunity to learn about all the major religions without being taught a bias? Solely teaching Christianity in public schools not only fosters ignorance, but it robs children of the ability and freedom to make an educated decision about whether they wish to follow Christianity or not. Is the freedom to choose one's path not one of the basic tenets of Christianity itself? When I was confirmed in the Church, it was because I had looked at the world's religions and, knowing their basic precepts, decided that Christianity was best for me. I'm afraid that with the recent changes in curriculum, my elementary-aged brothers will not be able to make the same informed decision, but have Christianity thrust on them.