Texas Adopts New Social Studies Curriculum

I love being from Texas. The state has no income tax and it seems Texas politicians are always doing something to keep me entertained. Take their latest handy work, for instance. The Texas Education Board approved a new social studies curriculum that makes the following changes:

  • No longer requires students to learn about Thomas Jefferson. Instead, they now need to learn about John Calvin and Thomas Aquinas.
  • No longer requires students to learn that the US Government prohibits favoring one religion over another. Instead, the students are to learn the religious inspiration behind many of the American founders (except, I suppose, Jefferson).
  • Learn about Israeli leader Golda Meir.
  • And how the erosion of the US Dollar has occurred ever since we abandoned the gold standard.

Fortunately, Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is not part of Social Studies. I can only thank my lucky stars for that one. Texas politics is driven by religion, at least, it always was in my lifetime. Republicans (who dominate the state’s politics) always seems to try to prove how close to Godliness they are by using the power of the state to attempt to create God’s Kingdom on Earth. Strangely, of the religious friends I have, none of them really seem to favor these politician moves. Texas may be religious, but it also has a strong tradition of saying, “To each, his own.” Continue reading Texas Adopts New Social Studies Curriculum