World News Korner

In anticipation of her upcoming Christmas book sales Sarah Palin attaches herself to months old Florida textbook "controversy" concerning teaching about the Islamic influence on history.

Palin at last year's Faith and Freedom Coalition

Courtesy of the Tundra Textbook critic's Facebook page:

The politically correct now consider it "Un-American" to protest relegating Christian faith & diversity to the back-burner! Are you ready to stand for faith and freedom, America?! More on this topic to come as I'm looking forward to speaking to the Faith & Freedom Coalition in Iowa this Saturday and launching the tour for my new book coming out next week! It's time to STAND UP, America, and declare good tidings & great joy! It's to our nation's detriment if we shy away from this battle & let the PC police win!

Pimping an upcoming appearance with the Religious Right, flavor it with a little Islamophobia, and post it a week before her new book comes out.

Political pole dancing, pandering, and pimping all in one simple ghostwritten post. So perfectly Palin.

And as can be expected she is completely in the wrong.

Palin links up to an article over at the Daily Caller, reporting on some outrage expressed by Florida parents over a World History book that teaches students about Islamic influences on the world.

Here is how the Daily Caller describes the chapter:

The textbook, called simply “World History,” contains a 32-page chapter fondly devoted to “Muslim Civilizations.” Sections include descriptions of the Koran, the growth of the Muslim empire and the Five Pillars of Islam.

"Fondly devoted." Really evenhanded reporting don't you think?

But here's the thing, even though there is a protest planned for Tuesday, this is an issue that is months old and which the textbook creators have already addressed.

Here was their response from back in August:

We’ve recently heard concerns about a Pearson high school textbook used in Brevard County, Florida, entitled Florida World History. Some have claimed that this text, used in a 10th grade course, is biased towards Islam at the expense of Judaism and Christianity. We’d like to set the record straight.

In Florida, as in other states, Pearson creates custom course materials that align to the state’s specific curriculum standards. Florida’s standards split the world history curriculum into two years of study, in grades 6 and 10. The state’s standards require the sixth grade curriculum start with early civilizations and continue through to the fall of Rome (476 A.D.). In the 10th grade, the state’s high school curriculum begins with the Byzantines (330 A.D.), proceeds to the Early Middle Ages in Europe (500 A.D.) and continues to the present day.

The Florida edition of the Pearson high school World History text aligns to the state’s standards, which require that the high school course includes content on the origins of Islam, while the middle school text details the earlier origins of Judaism and Christianity. The Florida Department of Education approved the Pearson World History programs for adoption and validated that the content in our programs meets the requirements and educational goals of the state.

Hmm, well so much for "fondly devoted." Gee it sounds so much less like somebody is marginalizing Christianity in favor of Islam when it is not written by an Islamophobic douchbag don't you think?

You know it really IS possible for religions to live in harmony with one another. It has been happening in many places, including America, for many, many years.

And it would be nice if people would work to help keep it that way, you know until they finally fade away into the mists of history and join with other barely remembered mythologies.

But hey I guess it doesn't help to sell a book on the war against Christmas and Christianity if you cannot identify the troops gathered on the other side of the battlefield. And really, does it matter if innocent people are caught in the crossfire?

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