Does history matter?

Websters defines history as “a chronological record of significant events (as affecting a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes.” So why learn it? George Santayana in the early 1900’s said “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Plato said “History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life and brings us tidings of antiquity.”

Currently Texas is in the middle of a controversy concerning the information contained in its schools history books. A group of conservative Christians have pushed their agenda on the school board to adopt their recommendations for the new books. The rhetoric between the conservative and liberal factions has been lively and is now getting national attention. So the question begs to be asked, “Are our school books biased and why is Texas taking this step?”

One answer might be because academia has for too long followed a liberal agenda. Religion has been looked upon as fables and fairy tales and should only be taught in Sunday school. Creation is theory but evolution is fact. The funny thing about that is in Darwins book, Origin of Species, he calls his thesis the Theory of Evolution. Somehow without being able to prove anything his theory has become fact. Sounds eerily like global warming. With selective facts this warming has gone from theory to fact. Maybe I’m exaggerating and schools really have no ideological leanings. Well, we just happen to have a debate in Tennessee about creation vs evolution. A current biology book calls creationism “the biblical myth” but states evolution as the Origin of Man. To think bias is non-existent is to bury our heads in the sand.

In any class in school there is only so much time to go over the material you want covered. In literature it’s deciding which books to read. In science it’s evolution vs creation (which Texas hashed out last year). In history it’s what and who is important to learn about in the limited time. While there are around 100 main changes being proposed the ones that have caused the most uproar are the ones with a religious teaching. This is what I will address here.

I think the root of all the issues is, should U.S. history contain Christian elements? I think it would be very hard to learn about the Pilgrims coming to America and not discuss religious persecution. As much as secularists want to ignore it I find it difficult to not look at the Constitution or our founding fathers and not see a belief in a Creator. It’s hard to talk about our past Presidents and their Ivy League educations and not mention that the Ivy League schools, for the most part, were originally Christian schools. Add to that the swearing in of the President on the Bible, In God We Trust on our money, our Pledge of Allegiance with the line “One Nation under God” and our sense of morals based on Old Testament Law not to mention The 10 Commandments posted in court houses. Like it or not U.S. history and religion are tightly woven together.

The majority of U.S. citizens call themselves Christian. To ignore that label would be no different than a black ignoring his color or a Jew his religion. Since everyone is not a Christian should everyone have to learn history through a Christian lens? I’m not black but we learn about the struggles they went through. I’m not Jewish but we learn about the Holocaust. To think that religion didn’t play a part in our country and doesn’t make us who we are would be like telling a black person slavery didn’t affect his ancestors which in turn affected him.

A Christian should no more ignore his roots than a black or Jew. Our past as well as our ancestors have made us who we are today. To not study why we think or do what we do would be the height of self centeredness.

Should we include Ronald Reagan but not Cesar Chavez? How about Nazi’s but not the KKK? Should all American Indians be looked upon as peace loving people before the white man came or should we talk about tribe on tribe massacres? These are debates that will continue but If we are talking about U.S. history then at some point someone has to make a decision to tell the truth and not bow to the PC crowd.

Will Texas go too far? Probably. But can you really blame them? When our grade school children are being read books about two princes being in love with each other. When our high school kids can’t take an aspirin but can have an appointment at the abortion clinic set up or instead of being taught abstinence they are given condoms there is something out of whack. At some point in time we lost our way and to many getting back to our roots and core beliefs is a great starting point.

So is teaching about a Creator and His moral laws more destructive to society then the gay agenda or radical feminism? I don’t see how but this brings us back to the original question should religion especially Christianity be looked at from a historical perspective when discussing how the U.S. got to be where it is today? Whether you’re Christian or not I see no way you can say religion has not played a major role in developing the attitudes of the people of this great country (for better or worse) and therefore should be included in any history lesson.