Victorian Texts on Crusaders and Terrorists
There has been a bit of a stink about what an 8th grade history text book is being used to teach children at around 100 schools in Victoria. The text book, with it's section on 9-11, says that the Crusaders, like Muslim terrorists,

believed they were giving their lives for a religious cause...
Like the Crusaders ... they were told they would go straight to heaven when they died, Those who destroyed the World Trade Center (sic) are regarded as terrorists. Might it be fair to say that Crusaders who attacked the Muslim inhabitants of Jerusalem were also terrorists?

The official line for this section is to "provoke debate". *cough*.

Kevin Donnelley, author of 'Why our schools are failing' has a different theory. The text is simply mirroring the trend of post-modernists in their attempt to define all such violent actions as morally equivalant and promote a secular humanist view of history. Kevin also notes the text's section on monks and priests portrays them as

"corrupt church men" who lie in order "to attract pilgrims to get money for their monastery" and who are more interested in "drinking and gambling".

Yeah sure. This text is just designed to 'provioke debate'.

A post on Crikey has another poor attempt to defend this text claiming that

Leaving aside the fact that the book does this only in a question (just the sort of thought-provocation that students need)

How about we leave aside that in the framing of that question, the text stated certain incorrect generalisations as 'fact', Crikey goes on to say that

If we've learned anything at all from the last few years, it should be the destructive power of fundamentalism, and the need to combat religious dogmatism of every sort. Just the same message, in fact, that a proper study of the Crusades would teach.

Yep. Pushing the secular humanist line. No wonder they rushed to the defense of the book. Perhaps the lesson for crikey should be that secular humanist drivel continues to do nothing but bring our children's educational standards lower and lower.
- posted by Alan Grey @ Thursday, March 09, 2006