(this section addresses the promotion of atheism in public school, see also Promotion of Islam in the 7th grade textbooks, or Bias against Christianity and Judaism in the 6th grade textbooks)

Houghton Mifflin boasts of its newest textbook, "Modern World History, Patterns of Interaction." On page 627, Karen Armstrong is applauded for her explanation as to why religion is such a powerful force in people's lives. She is quoted, "Human beings are spiritual animals...Men and women started to worship gods as soon as they became recognizably human; they created religions at the same time they created works of art." (see full text ) "Like art, religion has been an attempt to find meaning and value in life..."

I am outraged. Who is the state to tell my sons that man created religion? That God is manmade? Man does not just make up his relationship with God. We have the right to our faith. We have the right to believe in our God. By what right does the state decide to teach our children atheist beliefs? Houghton Mifflin cleverly applauds, then quotes an atheist, thus they can hide behind "We did not teach it as fact." But in their introduction of her, they validate what she states, with "In her book, A history of God, Karen Armstrong explains why religion is such a powerful force in people's lives."

How would a self-professed atheist know what religion is? She left the Catholic church and therefore claims to be an authority on the subject, but how can anyone who never had a relationship with God claim to know anything about religion? Karen Armstrong, an atheist, clearly has no relationship with any god. She may study the rituals of others but without the relationship, there is no "religion." It is emptiness which is all an atheist knows. This does NOT qualify her to teach "religion" to my sons, nor to be validated by Houghton Mifflin to explain my faith or anyone else's! An atheist can only give their empty views from the outside looking in. (and we INVITE them in at all times in public school!)

School officials jump back in protest if one even suggests limiting the teaching of "religious beliefs" to school children. They vehemently insist that one could not possibly teach Islam without teaching the religious beliefs in depth. Yet, our founding fathers were Christian and everything possible is done to restrict, limit and eradicate those beliefs from our textbooks about America. "SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE!" Why do teachers INSIST on teaching Islamic beliefs to the point of indoctrination but strip all faith away from our own culture? In the textbooks, our history is rewritten as

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see also quotes in context... full pages ISLAM WORD FOR WORD
see also Houghton Mifflin: "God is gone"
and Atheist Education in State Standards