EHT has a lovely post Did Lincoln Make a Deal With God? at American Presidents Blog.
I am not surprised that the majority of people today think that slavery was the cause of the Civil War (War Between the States or whatever other name you want to call it). It shows a lack of knowledge going all the way back to the Revolutionary War, as many of the issues that led to the Civil War were problems even then. To often we are satisfied with simple answers to complex questions.
EHT also points out the perils of ignoring religion when teaching history. Religion shaped our country to pretend otherwise does everyone a disservice. Our constitution guarantees freedom of religion, Why? Because our founders knew first hand the problems caused when one group tried to force their religious beliefs on another group. They were well versed in the history of the Reformation. It seems that in the modern rush to ban the promotion of religion in public schools we are also throwing the religious history of our nation out.
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2 comments:
I saw this article, and loved it as well. Of course, I didn't learn anything about the Conferderate stand in the war from my Yankee schooling. The entire focus was slavery. It was not until college that I wanted to study the other side of the story. It was the first time I began to question everything in a history textbook, realizing I had only learned what the publishers wanted!
I feel there is a fine line on between teaching religion in historical perspective and allowing religion in the school They are two very different animals, but there are so many zealots now that it would become very challenging. If only there were textbooks that discussed issues! Yet another reason to love homeschooling!
Textbooks that discussed issues, what a lovely idea.
I have always loved history and I was blessed with family members that could recount many historical events first hand.
My maternal grandfather was in WWI, his eldest son was in WWII and his youngest was a medic in Vietnam.
My paternal uncle was in Korea.
I would trust EHT to teach religion in a historical perspective without allowing her own beliefs to color the issue, but you are right that there are many who would use it as an excuse to promote their own beliefs so it would be a challenging endeavour. But I do think it is a necessary one.
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