Kevin Donnelly writes a penetrating op-ed piece for the Australian about "educational practices" that are all-too-common throughout the West. Here are a few excerpts from his article:...One of the scenes shows a medieval village where a heretic is about to be burned. Close by is a religious figure holding a cross incorporating the figure of Jesus; after clicking on the cross it changes into what appears to be a witch's broom. Whether intended or not, the implication is that Catholicism equates with witchcraft and superstition. In the same scene, several religious figures are shown looking at the figure tied to the stake. On clicking on the head-piece of what appears to be a senior member of the church, it changes into a dunce's cap.
That students are expected to see the church as the villain is confirmed when they click on the word "heretic" inscribed above the victim's head. It changes to "heroine" and there is no doubt where the allegiance lies of those responsible for the material.
The most unsettling thing about the Jacaranda book's treatment of Christianity is that it illustrates, once again, how left-wing thought police have succeeded in their long march through the education system. Forget Woodstock, Vietnam moratoriums and flower power; the cultural revolution of the '70s and '80s was also about the way education was identified as a critical instrument to overturn the status quo...
...Even science teaching has fallen victim to cultural relativism. Instead of recognising the primacy of western science, the South Australian curriculum argues that different versions of science are simply socio-cultural constructs.
The consequences of the long march are clear to see. Students leave school culturally illiterate, with a fragmented view of the world. Worse still, given the politics of envy and the spiritual emptiness of postmodernism, many students also leave school ethically challenged and morally adrift.
(Note -- Surfing around a little netted the discovery of another excellent op-ed piece by Kevin Donnelly in which he deals again with the SOSE Alive 2 school curriculum but several other examples of the West's new zest for religious bigotry as well. It too was first published in the Australian but the easiest spot to find it is right here. By the way, Donnelly is a former English and History teacher who then took a position in the Australian government. He now is an author and the Executive Director of Education Strategies, a Melbourne-based consulting group.)
