Report: Maryland Textbooks on Islamic Teachings Dumbed Down
Report: Maryland Textbooks on Islamic Teachings Dumbed Down
Sunday, June 08, 2008
FOXNEWS
A textbook monitoring group said that Maryland middle and high school students will be required to read about Islamic teachings that have been dumbed down and are products of political correctness.
According to the New York Examiner, a new report issued by the American Textbook Council said that administrators who approved books for use in the Montgomery County school district caved into pressure by pro-Islamic groups seeking to present a less violent interpretation of Islam.
Gilbert Sewall, director of the council, stated that, for example, the definition of jihad has gone through "amazing cultural reorchestration" in textbooks, losing any connotation of violence, the Examiner wrote.
Other terms, such as sharia law, have been adjusted or removed from lessons to avoid what he called "inconvenient truths."
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364362,00.html
Council: Mongtomery schools cave to pressue with Islam book
Jun 7, 2008 8:21 AM (1 day ago) by Leah Fabel, The Examiner
Washington, D.C. (Map, News) -
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"Textbook editors try to avoid any subject that could turn into a political grenade," wrote Gilbert Sewall, director of the council, who railed against five popular history texts for "adjust[ing] the definition of jihad or sharia or remov[ing] these words from lessons to avoid inconvenient truths."
Sewall complains the word jihad has gone through an "amazing cultural reorchestration" in textbooks, losing any connotation of violence. He cites Houghton Mifflin's popular middle school text, "Across the Centuries," which has been approved for use in Montgomery County Schools. It defines "jihad" as a struggle "to do one's best to resist temptation and overcome evil."
"But that is, literally, the translation of jihad," said Reza Aslan, a religion scholar and acclaimed author of "No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam." Aslan explained that the definition does not preclude a militant interpretation.
"How you interpret [jihad] is based on whatever your particular ideology, or world viewpoint, or even prejudice is," Aslan said. "But how you define jihad is set in stone."
(Ah, the redefining game)
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Sewall's report blames publishing companies for allowing the influence of groups like the California-based Council on Islamic Education to serve throughout the editorial process as "screeners" for textbooks, softening or deleting potentially unflattering topics within the faith.
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http://www.examiner.com/a-1429570~Co...d=temp-popular
Yes, yes, don't scare the kiddies, offend evil and keep them dumbed down. It makes is so much easier for evil to flourish and take over?
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