History

Today I read this article about the upcoming change to Texas' social studies curriculum. It was interesting to me, especially because it looks like the changes in Texas can affect curriculum in other states. Whether you read the article or not, I would like to draw your attention to a few things.

A) I think that it is good to address the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers when teaching about them. What they believed affected the founding of our country. There's nothing wrong with bringing that up.

B) I really have a beef with revisionist historians, who I feel are too quick to apply (unconsciously, I would hope) presentism to their revision. Christopher Columbus was not the devil. I really get upset with today's views that he was a horrible man. He wasn't. I'm sure he wasn't perfect, but he wasn't trying to destroy the world when he left Spain, nor was he trying to destroy the world when he discovered America. And I feel fine in saying "discovered." Sure, other people also found it, but his arrival influenced a heck of a lot of European history to come. Some may argue that I'm just a pompous W.A.S.P., but I don't think there's anything wrong with being a W.A.S.P. They've accomplished quite a lot in the past 250 years. Not only that, but given my religious background, I can claim mistreatment, misunderstanding, displacement, etc., etc. And although those things are a part of my religious history, they don't keep me from celebrating this country or its people.