Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has come under focus recently for the kind of textbooks he is willing to fund with State money, even they are for private Christian schools. And this is a guy who some want for Vice President.
Some samples:
“Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists are becoming more convinced of their existence. Have you heard of the ‘Loch Ness Monster’ in Scotland? ‘Nessie’ for short has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie appears to be a plesiosaur.”
- from Louisiana Christian schoolbook by Accelerated Christian Education, or ACE.
“…is it possible that a fire-breathing animal really existed? Today some scientists are saying yes. They have found large chambers in certain dinosaur skulls… The large skull chambers could have contained special chemical-producing glands. When the animal forced the chemicals out of its mouth or nose, these substances may have combined and produced fire and smoke… Dinosaurs and humans were definitely on earth at the same time and may have even lived side by side within the past few thousand years”
— from Bob Jones University Press biology textbook Life Science 3rd. Edition (2007).
“The Great Depression was exaggerated by propagandists, including John Steinbeck, to advance a socialist agenda.”
- also from Bob Jones University Press.
These books are used widely in Christian schools that would receive dramatically increased funding under Mitt Romney‘s education plan. But look at this: BJU‘s biology, history, English, and religion textbooks have been rejected by the University of California for course credit. Why? Because they don’t even have the kernel of truth in them.
My recommendation: don’t go to school in Louisiana.
