Posted on 04/25/2007 5:55:13 PM PDT by Harrius Magnus
By now, we're used to people like Iranian President Ahmadinejad denying that the holocaust ever happened, even while he and his regime promise not only the destruction of Israel but the elimination of Jews internationally.
It's bad enough hearing from a distance about the bizarre anti-Semitic theories taught by heads of state as well as schools and religious leaders. Now, according to a study funded by the British government, we find out that some schools in Great Britain have stopped teaching history that is offensive to Muslim students. The topics that have been erased from the curriculum, the study found, include both the Nazi genocide and the Crusades.
This rewriting of history through omission wasn't some government policy. It was the result of individual decisions in local schools by teachers with large populations of Muslim students. Unfortunately, many of these students have been taught by parents and mosques that the holocaust never happened and that the Crusades were an unprovoked attack on Islam by European Christians. History books that present these events in any other light, they believe, are part some giant conspiracy designed to attack their very religion.
If anybody needs to hear these facts, it is the children who are being abused by those who are teaching the same hateful lies that have helped turn the Middle East into the self-destructive and often suicidal mess it is today.
The British are, in the main, a particularly polite people, but there is a point when the desire not to offend the easily offended becomes an even bigger problem. We've already seen an English organization ban images of Piglet, the harmless character from the classic Winnie the Pooh books, because of protests by those who imagine that simply seeing a cartoon pig is a violation of their civil rights. We've even seen the banning of pins bearing St. Andrew's cross, because it reminds some of the Crusades -- accompanied by demands that Great Britain get rid of the venerable Union Jack for the same reason.
These views, common in the Middle East, are not just an academic or intellectual challenge. We have seen homegrown British terrorists act on the same lies and conspiracy theories that are now being used to silence teachers. Ideas do have consequences and we all need to understand that the war on terror is taking place as much in the realm of ideas as it is on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.
America is a free country and we do not tell people what they can believe or say. We should realize, however, that there are people in America who are also telling their children that the holocaust is a lie and that those who say otherwise are their enemies. We cannot prevent them from doing so, but we also cannot let them promote their agenda by claiming they are victimized by historical facts.
This would be a good place to quote an important British writer, George Orwell, who wrote, "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." Even in America, our children are often taught a watered down, inoffensive and culturally sensitive version of events ranging from the Crusades to the battle at the Alamo.
It's time for people who believe that they have a stake in Western civilization and its traditions to get a little backbone -- even if it offends somebody.
Ping!
For your lists.
Thanx
Moderater:
Please pull this thread or SE Mom’s - almost identical posting time (Great minds...) Thank you
Fred for President!
No problem:) We must be on a wave!
It’s time for people who believe that they have a stake in Western civilization and its traditions to get a little backbone — even if it offends somebody.
Past time.
It's time for people who believe that they have a stake in Western civilization and its traditions to get a little backbone -- even if it offends somebody.
Wow -- I like this. Maybe this writer should think about getting into politics.
It’s time for people who believe that they have a stake in Western civilization and its traditions to get a little backbone — even if it offends somebody.
- Fred Thompson -
“Wow — I like this. Maybe this writer should think about getting into politics.”
Better yet, run for President.
Here’s something I didn’t know- scary too...
“...The British are, in the main, a particularly polite people, but there is a point when the desire not to offend the easily offended becomes an even bigger problem. We’ve already seen an English organization ban images of Piglet, the harmless character from the classic Winnie the Pooh books, because of protests by those who imagine that simply seeing a cartoon pig is a violation of their civil rights. We’ve even seen the banning of pins bearing St. Andrew’s cross, because it reminds some of the Crusades — accompanied by demands that Great Britain get rid of the venerable Union Jack for the same reason. ...”
It's not a bad idea.
Good line, Fred. Now, raise your hand and step forward !
Sorry to correct you, RFR!!!!!
BTTT
Found this at Townhall in one of the replies to the piece (sent by the draft Fred website) - Fred wrote this back in 2005:
~snip~
“Sadly, too many of our young people today are not only unaware of the great story of America —they are lacking an understanding of why this country is so special and why we must fight hard to protect it...the state of civics and history education in this nation is not good.”
“Without that base of civics and history knowledge, young people miss out on their heritage and are prone to cynicism and apathy.”
“...more high school students can identify the Three Stooges than can identify the three branches of our government. A lack of understanding becomes a lack of involvement that leads to a withdrawal from the public life of our republic.”
“This civic disengagement is very troubling because our system of government and the protection of those freedoms that we too often take for granted are at stake.”
~snip~
Fred is Running! I just got an email today that Fred is going to be the keynote speaker at the National Restaurant Convention in Chicago in May .
The NRA usually has heavy hitters like Colin Powell, President Bush. Genl Schwarkzkoff (sp) I think May is going to be Fred’s month.
Fred will probably announce in May or June. IMHO.
Mr. Thompson—put down the pen and take up the cause.
“Fred is Running!”
Don’t blow smoke up my skirt. Keynotin’ t’ain’t enough.
At least that's the way the Constitution was written.
I don't think it's true anymore. "Day of Silence" freedom versus repression of "Day of Truth" is but one of many examples.
Good column. He saved the best line for last, Conservatives need more public backbone.
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