Political correctness strikes again.
Quote:A textbook publisher known for painting a sunny, non-violent picture of Islamic jihad in its history books has rewritten part of the Declaration of Independence.
The Lone Star Report revealed that a fifth grader in Ector County Independent School District in Odessa, Texas, was told to memorize the Declaration of Independence as printed in "History Alive! America's Past," published by the Teachers' Curriculum Institute, or TCI.
But there was one hitch – an essential word had been altered.
The true text of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, as written by principal author Thomas Jefferson, states:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.[Emphasis added]
However, a fifth-grade student reading one of the cover pages of "History Alive! America's Past," will see the following:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. [Emphasis added]
The text contained no visible disclaimer or brackets indicating that the wording had been changed.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=110635
What a load of crap. Utter crap.
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I don't see why we don't just rewrite the Entire Constitution while we're at it.
I mean Father Barack feels it an antiquated document not fit for Civil Rights uses and Lawfully Distributing the Wealth by being able to Form Activist Organizations and such garbage.
And take that pesky little saying about "Being Endowed by a Creator" out of there ..... everyone knows we all came from Sea Slim Slugs and Charles Darwin found us.
I so ever lovin' despise these Rapers and Maimers.
Can't THEY leave anything alone ????
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Some bean-counter at some weak-kneed publisher took it upon him/herself to edit Jefferson.
Lovely.
(09-24-2009 10:47 AM)Smaug Wrote: [ -> ]Some bean-counter at some weak-kneed publisher took it upon him/herself to edit Jefferson.
Lovely.
Who gets to make editing decisions on the US Constitution? As far as I know, only the American people, not single cube gophers.
I understand editing those vampire books for tweens for grammar, tense and PC bullshite, but editing one of mankinds most important documents?
Clearly Jefferson was a sexist!
Its worse that they don't teach the influences that lead to the Declaration. Sir William Blackstone's "Commentaries" were widely read and used much of the same language that is in the Declaration. This was the same "Revolution" that occured in Britain during the Glorious Revolution and its "Declaration of Rights" nearly 100yrs earlier. The Founders were just re-declaring those Rights.
and of course the Glorious Revolution was borrowing from other periods of Liberty.
anyway, Mark Levins title for his book is a good summary of Western History: Liberty(Puritians, Magna Carta, Founders) vs. Tyranny(Royalist, i.e. Statist)
In the grand scheme of things this isn't that bad. I expected to see it renamed "The Declaration of Dependence" with all the necessary textual changes to fit the new title.
(09-24-2009 12:16 PM)TheDancinMonarch Wrote: [ -> ]In the grand scheme of things this isn't that bad.
Agreed. It's pretty mild.
However it does remove some of the areas for discussion, specifically the roles of women, slaves, etc, in our country.
(09-24-2009 12:16 PM)TheDancinMonarch Wrote: [ -> ]In the grand scheme of things this isn't that bad.
Sometimes history is important enough to demand it remain static.
It's like painting handlebar mustache on the Mona Lisa. It's like covering the naked statues at the Capitol when the AG spoke. It's like renaming the EMU Hurons and the MU Redskins.
History should not pander to current sensibilities.
(09-24-2009 01:53 PM)DrTorch Wrote: [ -> ] (09-24-2009 12:16 PM)TheDancinMonarch Wrote: [ -> ]In the grand scheme of things this isn't that bad.
Agreed. It's pretty mild.
However it does remove some of the areas for discussion, specifically the roles of women, slaves, etc, in our country.
I would also agree that it's pretty mild, but somebody somewhere thought it was serious enough to make the change. You have to ask yourself what's next and when will it stop?
As I understand it, the DoI is heavily plagiarized from Locke. The basic meaning of the document is not substantially changed - it may even be more enhanced at this age group given the context of how our language has changed in referring to everyone's rights and given the expansion of rights in this country to include non-landowners, women, etc. But, DrT's point about circumventing various discussion points is good.
George Mason Drafts the Virginia Declaration of Rights before the writing od the Delcaration of Independence
You Decide
Virginia Declaration of Rights
Just some anecdotal information, I think is interesting.
(09-24-2009 01:53 PM)DrTorch Wrote: [ -> ] (09-24-2009 12:16 PM)TheDancinMonarch Wrote: [ -> ]In the grand scheme of things this isn't that bad.
Agreed. It's pretty mild.
However it does remove some of the areas for discussion, specifically the roles of women, slaves, etc, in our country.
I agree...It is like people praise the Constitution as if it was the most perfect document ever written.....When you ask them was it OK for the Constitution to approve of slavery...they look at you like you just slapped them in the face. These things should be discussed and not changed so we never forget the road we have traveled.