It turns out that the state of Texas decided to remove Thomas Jefferson from their history text books, and curriculum. These lessons were dedicated to great political thinkers. The author of the Declaration of Independence, it turns out, does not fit into their idea of a great political thinker. However Calvin does. Maybe someone should tell them that Calvin, one of the founders of modern Protestantism, was a religious man, and not a politician?
So why did they make this decision? Jefferson, among others such as James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams, espoused the separation of Church and State. Gee…we can’t have that now can we? So since Jefferson didn’t fit their narrow ideals of how they feel the country was founded, they decided to re-write history, and tell their children how they “think” it should have been founded.
I have a big problem with revisionist historians. They’re always politicians, or pundits trying to sell you something. Look at Glen Beck. His diatribes on Progressives are rather frightening. He talks about how Progressives are killing the country. How they are evil, and taking over the thoughts of our children. He does this while holding a swastika to illustrate how Progressives are Fascists. The problem is however, that he’s acting just like the man who came up with the swastika as a symbol for political change in the first place. Provide the people with an enemy, and demonize that enemy. Talk about how evil they are. Go ahead…listen to Beck. Just when you hear the term Progressive, replace it with Jew. If a few more people start to believe him it will only be a matter of time before we fire up the furnaces.
What is most troubling about these situations is that it’s the uneducated who believe the nuts. When people are in pain, they want someone to blame. They want the simple solution. And when they can blame someone else for their troubles, well, that removes them from all manner of sins. When you can demonize someone, when you can reduce them to less than human, it becomes no trouble at all to march them into pits and put bullets in their heads.
So if you want to see this country go the way of the fascist, continue re-writing the history books. After all, it’s what Hitler did…just before he started burning them.
In the end, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised at what Texas has done. Facts are troublesome when they conflict with idealism. After all, this is a state that produced such great political minds as Lyndon B. Johnson, George W. Bush, and Ross, Perot. These three men cover the entire spectrum of Democrat, Republican, and Independent. One created a nightmare in Asia, one created a nightmare in Iraq, and the other was just a nightmare. So I don’t care what political party you’re attached to, or if you’re not attached to any. I don’t even care what party the next president is from. I just hope, and pray, that for the benefit of our country, and for the benefit of education, and for the benefit of our children, and for the benefit of the world, that he doesn’t come from Texas.
Rex