Posted on 12/01/2005 11:27:55 AM PST by Spiff
Notice the way this point tries to bolster credibility by using historical (and conservative) figures such as Churchill to make a point. I just don't think the environment (as defined by The Sierra Club) is what Churchill had in mind by this quote.
It appears clear that this book--should the students buy into these principles--lays the groundwork for everything anti-American, anti-capitalist, and anti-conservative (as a polical ideology, not as an environmental one.)
I don't blame you one bit for your concerns. Question is, what are you going to do about them?
Guess I'm just cynical. Did you read it cover to cover?
This is brainwashing plain and simple.
Keep in mind your kid has to memorize this and will be tested on it, getting the wrong "opinion" will result in being penalized.
I.E. Follow the teachers beliefs and make them your own, and pass, think differently, and fail.
The long term damage will harm the kids critical thinking skills along with harming the childs ability to engage in systematic reasoning.
At least with a "normal" public school, the books and teaching agenda are approved by a school board.
And my teenagers keep argueing with me because they want to go to public school!
Even the scant amount of real science presented here is wrong or modified, and I would think 8th graders could learn the lavws of thermodynamics in equation form, but I digress.
Good luck with your fight, I hope you get this text retracted (or better yet the teacher fired).
Not yet. This is just what I found by doing some skimming of the book. This stuff pops right out at you.
You have presented an excellent description of a textbook that is being used to indoctrinate our children. My own son is a senior in a public high school, and is required to spend time reading Newsweak and Time in one of his classes. This is the only real news most of his classmates receive. He has gotten into some heated debates with some of the other kids regarding the "facts" and has used Free Republic to back up his arguments.
So, my advice to any and all parents is start re-educating them young, which I am sure you (and most other Freepers) have already done. I just wish some of my relatives would get wise to the public (and some private) schools. The forces of leftist mis-education are strong, and must be confronted directly, before they destroy this great country.
I'm not a physics' major, but I'm pretty sure that Einstein's equation doesn't prove that matter can be created, but merely that a lot of energy exists in a small amount of matter (mass).
Out of date. Should read "Apatosaurus Principle."
"I wouldn't let my children by taught by an atheist. This is what you get."
The problem with the book isn't that it advocates an atheistic view. The problem with the book is that it is non-scientific and nutty. There are plenty of nuts in the world and not all of them are atheists.
Explain to the principal that this statement cannot be either proved or disproved by application of the scientific method. If he/she disagrees, ask where you may find ANY peer-reviewed scientific paper that demonstrates this conclusion as a reproducable empiracle fact.
If he/she does agree, ask whether it is scientific to present non-scientific statements as scientific principles in a science text book.
Even better, have your daughter write an essay on why this "principle" is not scientific and why it renders the whole list of "fundamental laws of human ecology" a work of political philosophy with not one iota of scientific value.
Brilliant. 'Nuff said.
Ping for a later read and response.
Not right though. It's not simply an equivalency equation.
Matter can actually be turned into energy via particle decay. And once it is turned into energy, it's no longer matter.
Actually, it might be a little misleading to say that it can be "turned into" energy, because matter is considered to be a form of energy. But not all forms of energy are matter, so if a particle turns for example into a photon (light), then it's no longer matter.
And the reverse can also happen. You can turn two photons into a positron and an electron, i.e. matter.
I wonder if the principal had looked at this book. I would be very interested in the outcome of your meeting.
I'd also be interested in whether the principal can justify why the kids should have any idea what the teacher's religous beliefs, or lack thereof, are. The teacher should not be talking about religion at all in his class.
"Now, in what science class do you write why you agree or disagree with the First Law of Thermodynamics? In the 8th grade?!"
It's my recollection that this particular 'law' is old and time tested ammunition for the anti-faith crowd. It's been a long time since I read it but I remember it was especially pat and tidy broadside against religion. (Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, I hope)
However, if your child has been exposed to the 'pat and tidy' BS, she is expected to regurgitate the proper answer to this question, without even thinking about it.
You didn't read the whole article, did you? Admit it, we're all FRiends here. If you had read it all, you would have seen that our author found numerous consistencies with pagan and atheist agendas and documented them.
later read/pingout.
Many kids' text books (acutally most that I have seen, but I haven't seen many lately) are rife with leftist crap.
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