Textbooks Presenting Altered State Of History?

[Arco]

THE JERKLOTRON DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY.

[img]http://musicritics.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/20061129morbo.gif[/img]

[Socrates]

[quote name='Arco' date='30 June 2010 - 10:47 PM' timestamp='1277952433' post='2136459']
Dude, what is your [i]problem[/i]?

Did I say that I expected the USSR to be brought down by sunshine and bunnies? Did I say express *one word* of sympathy or "big, wet, sloppy tears" for that Marxist horror show?

No. I didn't.

But at the same time, I'm not going to pretend that every single thing we did in the Cold War was right and just simply because we did it or because it was done in the Glorious Cause. Ends cannot justify means, and we should never do evil that good might come of it. We don't sin that grace should abound. That's bad theology *and* bad ethics. It's a deeply evil sentiment which has been the cause of much suffering in the world. And I daresay it's the same bloody problem that Marxism and fascism have, too -- to recognize a problem, and declare that Nothing Will Stand In Our Way.

I try to be an honest assessor of history, which I try to view through the lens of Christ. What that ends up doing is making me unpopular on every angle. I'm not a patriot. But I'm not a pinko pacifist, either.
[/quote]
Maybe it wasn't your intention in that post, but I'm just sick of the way so-called liberals like to make America out to be the "bad guy" in the Cold War, and indulge in constant brow-beating about the alleged horrors of American anti-Communism, while largely ignoring the immense evils and serious threat at the time of world's most evil and murderous system of tyranny, one responsible for the murder of at least 100 million world-wide over the past century, and the oppression and torture of countless more.
You really can't compare it to the US, fashionable as it may be to do so in certain circles.

I don't claim the U.S. was infallible or everything it did was right (that's true of [i]every[/i] regime this side of heaven), but we were definitely on the right side of the Cold War. In fact, in the early part of the Cold War, I believe we didn't do [i]enough[/i] to fight Communism, a system that was truly bent on world domination. And, compared with most struggles against violently oppressive regimes, the Cold War was won with a minimum of bloodshed.

I brought up the Nazis and WWII because most lefties who like to whine about American anti-Communist "aggression" have little problem with the much bloodier means the Allies used to defeat the Nazis.

It's all about ideology and the moronic head-in-the-sand "no enemies to the Left" approach many on the American Left have taken, which was the whole point the OP article was addressing.

Peace, brother.

[Socrates]

[quote name='MIkolbe' date='30 June 2010 - 10:03 PM' timestamp='1277949783' post='2136444']
yeah.. that whole 'love your enemy' thing is SO passe'
[/quote]
Yes, the loving Christian thing to do is to stand by idly and let evil regimes murder, torture and oppress millions, and not so much as speak out against such evil regimes, lest we offend someone's sensitive ears.

The only people Christians should speak ill of are American right-wing meanies like Reagan, who oppressed those poor Commies.

[Socrates]

[quote name='Lil Red' date='25 June 2010 - 04:08 PM' timestamp='1277496496' post='2134155']
[url="http://bigjournalism.com/jdunetz/2010/06/25/my-sons-textbook-denies-ronald-reagan-and-pope-john-paul-ii-their-rightful-place-in-history/"]Link here[/url]

The text-book in question is called World History Patterns of Interaction, and is published by McDougal Littell. Particularly upsetting was the section of the book covering the period from the end of WWII through the 1980s. It sets up the Cold War period with the mistaken politically correct explanation that both sides were aggressors. On page 983 it says:
[indent]Both sides believed that they needed to stop the other side from extending its power.” What it should have said was that the Cold War was a battle between the Soviet side wanting to expand its communist philosophy across the world, and the west trying to prevent the takeover.[/indent]
The book also whitewashes the tyranny of Castro’s communist Cuba. Page 985 says “Soviet aid to Cuba ended abruptly with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. This dealt a crippling blow to the Cuban economy.” There was no mention of the brutality of the Cuban regime; the fact that all opposition newspapers had been closed down, all radio and television stations were in state control, or that moderates, teachers and professors were purged. Nor was there any mention of the torture and inhumane treatment in Cuban prisons that is still happening today.

Perhaps the biggest rewriting of history was the discussion regarding the end of the Cold War. It talks about Nixon and detente, then boom on page 991:
[indent]… fiercely anti-Communist U.S. president, Ronald Reagan took office in 1991. He continued to move away from detente. He increased defense spending, putting both economic and military pressure on the Soviets.[/indent]
And how does the book explain the result of Reagan’s policies? “Tensions increased.” That’s it!

According to the text book, an increase in tensions was the only result of that “evil” Reagan’s policies. But never fear because, there arose a leader in the USSR who knew not the cold war. Later on page 991, the book explains “a change in soviet leadership in 1985 brought a new policy toward the United States and the beginnings of a final thaw in the cold war.” Wow, look at that… out of the blue the USSR woke up one day and decided to play nice.
========
go read it all....
[/quote]
Wow, Lil' Red gets "-2" just for posting this article.

Evidently, the Phatmass PC Police are on the prowl . . .

[MIKolbe]

[quote name='Socrates' date='01 July 2010 - 12:04 PM' timestamp='1278000298' post='2136588']
Yes, the loving Christian thing to do is to stand by idly and let evil regimes murder, torture and oppress millions, and not so much as speak out against such evil regimes, lest we offend someone's sensitive ears.

The only people Christians should speak ill of are American right-wing meanies like Reagan, who oppressed those poor Commies.
[/quote]

well you showed me!

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='Socrates' date='01 July 2010 - 01:06 PM' timestamp='1278000395' post='2136591']
Wow, Lil' Red gets "-2" just for posting this article.

Evidently, the Phatmass PC Police are on the prowl . . .
[/quote]
I got it to a minus 1, can somebody correct this ridiculous situation.

Textbooks are altered yearly by professors to pass on their personal ideologies and make money.

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' date='01 July 2010 - 05:26 PM' timestamp='1278001577' post='2136598']
I got it to a minus 1, can somebody correct this ridiculous situation.
[/quote]
Done

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='Archaeology cat' date='01 July 2010 - 01:28 PM' timestamp='1278001725' post='2136600']
Done
[/quote]

[Jesus_lol]

i thought this thread was gonna be about the recent texas rewrites of amnerican history in the school curriculum, which are imo a good bit more blatant.
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/21/texas-cooks-the-textbooks.html

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' date='01 July 2010 - 12:26 PM' timestamp='1278001577' post='2136598']
I got it to a minus 1, can somebody correct this ridiculous situation.

Textbooks are altered yearly by professors to pass on their personal ideologies and make money.
[/quote]
and... textbook companies change the content to comply with California education standards... so what passes in California will effect schools nationwide... just saying.

[Winchester]

Textbooks are rarely impressive, anyway.

I hate articles that lead me by the hand to the author's preconceived notions. That one reads like a politician's appeal for money.

[Socrates]

[quote name='Jesus_lol' date='01 July 2010 - 12:34 PM' timestamp='1278002046' post='2136605']
i thought this thread was gonna be about the recent texas rewrites of amnerican history in the school curriculum, which are imo a good bit more blatant.
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/21/texas-cooks-the-textbooks.html
[/quote]
I actually agree with most of the changes in the Texas textbooks, which I certainly believe are an improvement over the pc drivel which has been passed as "history" by public school textbooks over the past several decades.
The Left is panicking over a threat to their long-standing monopoly on educational indoctrination.

That Newsweek op-ed piece is itself hardly an example of unbiased writing. It's long on vitriol and mockery, and short on substance.


As my (Catholic) college history professor said, it's impossible to write history without some kind of bias. For it to be meaningful, history must have some point-of-view, otherwise its just a random list of events. The issue is whether the history is honest and accurate.

I'd recommend Thomas Woods' [url="http://www.amazon.com/Questions-About-American-History-Supposed/dp/0307346692/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278003507&sr=1-1"][i]33 Questions about American History You're Not Supposed to Ask[/i][/url] and [url="http://www.amazon.com/Politically-Incorrect-Guide-American-History/dp/0895260476/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278003340&sr=1-3"][i]The Politically-Incorrect Guide to American History[/i][/url] to counter some common myths.

[Hassan]

[quote name='Socrates' date='01 July 2010 - 12:06 PM' timestamp='1278000395' post='2136591']
Wow, Lil' Red gets "-2" just for posting this article.

Evidently, the Phatmass PC Police are on the prowl . . .
[/quote]


Who says it's about Political Correctness? I'd have given it a negative one also, were I allowed to vote.


I would do so because the article is a shallow partisan shot and not a serious discription of actual bias in a textbook. You are not alone in claiming that people contesting this article are doing so for the sake of political correctness or some latent love of Marxism, yet neither you nor any of those who join you in these accusiations has been willing to defend the articles actual historical claims.

I am perfectly willing to engage in a discussion of pure history regarding what brought about the fall of the USSR or the end of the Cold War, again, two distinct events, yet nobody championing the article's cause seems similarly willing. I wonder why that is.

[Winchester]

Voting is entertainment.

[Hassan]

[quote name='Winchester' date='01 July 2010 - 01:17 PM' timestamp='1278004633' post='2136627']
Voting is entertainment.
[/quote]


Liar.