The press buildup about the East Tennessee textbook case was widely mislabelled “Scopes II” even though it had nothing whatever to do with evolution and bore no relation to the famous monkey trial of 1925.
“People for Norman Lear’s Way” and other liberals were salivating at the prospect of denigrating the parents as censors and making their case so costly in money and humiliation that no parents henceforth would ever dare to bring a lawsuit against textbooks chosen by the public school authorities.
Unfortunately, press coverage mischievously led many people to believe that the parents’ objections were trivial, disruptive, and an effort to deprive children of the classics. On the contrary, the plaintiffs simply claimed that “they should not be forced to choose between reading books that offend their religious beliefs and forgoing a free public education.”
The issue was simply, do parents have the constitutional right to protect the religion of their children against attack in the public school classroom? Or, do public schools have the right to teach children that what they have learned at home is mythical, out-of-date, inappropriate, or irrelevant?
What, really, does Johnny read in public school textbooks? Let’s follow a child around a typical day in school and see what he is being taught.
In history class, he reads: “No nation on earth is guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than is the U.S. at this very hour. … For revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America has no rival.” (“Many Peoples, One Nation,” Random House)
He reads further, “The religion of Jesus deserves all our hatred.” (“World History Through Inquiry,” Rand McNally) “Marxism turns the people toward a future of unlimited promise, an escalator to the stars.” (“A Global History of Man,” Allyn and Bacon)
In psychology, he reads, “American society is ugly, trashy, cheap and commercial; it is dehumanizing; its middle-class values are seen as arbitrary, materialistic, narrow and hypocritical.” (“Introduction to the Behavioral Sciences,” Holt, Rinehart & Winston) He can also learn that “Teenagers are merely trying to sift through the garbage adults have been handing out for years.” (“Behind the Mask: Our Psychological World,” Prentice-Hall) Johnny reads further in psychology: “An excellent example [of the sociological functions of myths] is the Ten Commandments,” and “The evil of the world, according to these traditions, resulted from man’s failure to obey the will of God, and it is only by following the will of God that the world can be restored to its proper state. This is essentially the mythological standpoint of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and many other religions.” (“Psychology for You,” Oxford)
In English, the child can learn that “Most people think that cheating is wrong, even if it is only to get a penny… Do you think there is ever a time when it might be right? Tell when it is.” (“Communicating: The Heath English Series,” Heath)
Moving into sociology class, Johnny can learn that “The [Lutheran] minister was an austere and formidable man, the spokesman for a stern God who was ready to condemn forever anyone who deviated in the slightest from absolute good.” (“Inquiries in Sociology,” Allyn and Bacon)
Even mathematics has a hidden agenda. Johnny is assigned this math problem: “What fraction of your time is spent doing things you really and truly enjoy? How can you make this fraction bigger? Is your goal in life to enjoy yourself? If not, what is it?” (“The Search for Values with a Focus on Math” by Harmin, Kirschenbaum, and Sidney Simon.)
In health class, the child learns that “Adolescent petting is an important opportunity to learn about sexual responses and to gratify sexual and emotional desires without a more serious commitment.” (“Life and Health,” Random House) He gets misinformation about venereal disease such as, “Venereal diseases are easily treated.” (“Person to Person,” Bennett)
The child will be taught a special point of view about sex, as in this typical textbook. “The times are certainly a changin’ and with these changes there is a new sexual freedom. Today’s society has a much healthier outlook in relation to all types of sexual behavior than in any time in the recent past.” (“You and Your Health,” John Wiley & Sons) It will be claimed these quotations are taken “out of context.” The tragic part is that the context is even worse than the quotations. The real damage of such textbooks is the cumulative and corroborative effect on the children of such lies and distortions, while censoring out the truth about the greatness of America and her heroes, the value of religion, the importance of moral principles, and the unhappy and unhealthy consequences of promiscuous and premarital sex.
Parents should exercise constant vigilance and surveillance to see that their children are educated, not indoctrinated. Schools have the obligation to make sure that their materials do not assault the children’s religion, values, or opportunity to grow up in a morally and physically healthy environment.
