Declaration of Independence Banned at Calif School

[J-Mann]

This whole thing is quite sick, if you ask me.  Politics aside for a moment, I have a BA in History, so this sort of revisionist nonsense infuriates me.  So someone might be offended that "God" is mentioned in schools.  This dumbsh*t principal doesn't seem to take into account that this has very little to do with religion, per se.  It's more about teaching our children the true background of our country (and no, not all of the founding fathers were the religious zealots that everyone makes them out to be - still, religion played a prominant role in this nation's founding).

This is exactly the same kind of politically correct bull that leads an athiest to seek out a fight (ie: trying to get "under God" out of the pledge) where no one else thinks there is one.  How long, I wonder, will it be before this type of liberal idiocy attempts to block any Christian history from being taught in public schools?  How long before the 2000+ year history of this religion is written out of textbooks by overly sensitive pseudo-intellectuals who, in an attempt to be objective and neutral, are crapping all over real history.

And back to politics: Shira, get out.  There are plenty of other countries that will accomodate your views better than this one.  This whole issue of keeping our historical documents under wraps because God is mentioned in them is insane.  And I'm no right-wing evangelical: the 10 Commandments should not be displayed in public schools, nor should creationism of any kind be taught.  But rewriting history to eliminate religious references...not in my country.

Then again, maybe the principal just wants to keep the kids away from the treasure map that's on the back of the Declaration. 

[J-Mann]

It's not so much that Democrats would support this type of nonsense.  I have a feeling few would.  It's more that Republicans will seize on this and use it to define the apex of liberalism and political correctness.  The electorate would see that as a path that we don't want to go down and subsequently identify with the Republicans, whether or not a specific Democratic candidate had anything to do with this at all.  To provide a hedge against this, Democrats should condemn the actions of this school and its principal.  My guess is that they won't, though...in the interest of everyone's sensitivities.

Trust me, there are wackos on both sides of this issue.  There are certainly folks who want history written so the dastardly "God" won't make any appearances that could make a handicapped athiest Nigerian transvestite "uncomfortable" in the classroom.  Then there are your religious nuts who want Christianity forced on everyone.  They're both wrong, but the point is, the Declaration of Independence SHOULD NOT BE CENSORED whatsoever.  It is a historical document, not a religious expression.

I don't know why I give them good advice, but the Democrats (if they were smart) would come out against this before Republicans seize on it.  My guess is, rather, that this principal will be sitting next to Jimmy Carter at the next Dem Convention.

[J-Mann]

Er, The Vorlon posted Reuters...you posted "Blue Lemur"...

Do you have a credible source?

Well, some parents have complained...makes sense the guy was probably preaching Christianity to his students and the principal just wanted to put a stop to it after some parents complained. Do you really think the teacher is totally innocent and there is not something else to the story?

I used to complain to the gym teacher that we played basketball all the time, and yet, the sport lives on...

The people complaining are probably just like the guy who took the Pledge to the Supreme Court: just looking for a battle.  So the Declaration mentions God?  But we want God out of our schools!  In California, I wouldn't put it past some people from interpreting a balanced teaching of history as "preaching".