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Published On: Fri, May 24th, 2013

Florida Common Core history class teaching Bible could ‘justify the slaughter’ and terrorists may have ‘low self-esteem’

A high school FLVS, Florida Virtual Online Class, World History class describes Christianity in the lesson titled “Invisible Warfare” stating that passages in the Bible “could be used to justify the slaughter of men…” and make very strong links between Islam and Christianity as fundamentalist groups.

These are part of the Common Core standards and not something the teacher can alter or change, per a conversation with the FLVS rep and The Global Dispatch.

The online class is available to high school students with the topic 08.07 Invisible Warfare: Objectives being the first page students view. The lesson begins by defining a fundamentalist and then linking the distorted beliefs to terrorism.

The words in BOLD below are direct quotes from the lesson.

“Religious fundamentalists can be particularly dangerous because many ideas that were fundamental to a religion at its founding are often incompatible with the modern world. For example, some passages in the Bible could be used to justify the slaughter of men, women, and children in ways we have difficulty understanding today. Would anyone condone this now? How would you react to someone who insisted that holding these beliefs was fundamental to Christianity?”

The next paragraph transitions into Islam, which softly could imply Christianity may be affecting (therefore causing) Muslim extremism.

“Now consider how this type of fundamentalism has affected Islam. The word jihad means “struggle” in Arabic. To modern Muslims, jihad has been interpreted to mean a few different types of struggle: the struggle to live the Muslim faith, the struggle to build a strong Muslim community of believers, and the struggle to defend their faith. In the late 20th century, some Islamic fundamentalist groups reinterpreted the last of those struggles to mean a “holy war” against non-Muslims. In some cases this concept has been used to encourage Muslims to fight against imperialism. But more recently, it has been used for far more insidious purposes, such as the murder of civilians in the United States and around the world.”

Further into the actual lesson, on page 1, the “psychology” of terrorism is somewhat attributed to a “low self-esteem.”

“Common traits that psychologists have found in terrorists are that they are often risk-takers and many suffer from low self-esteem. Sometimes joining a terrorist group provides these individuals with a sense of belonging.”

See more screenshots below

There are other accusations and insinuations, implying “Not all religious fundamentalists are Christian or Muslim” as a lead-in to the Aum Shinrikyo group in Japan.

Elsewhere, the lesson offers confusing statements about the violence of kidnapping.

“Terrorism can include the use of traditional weapons such as guns and explosives like dynamite or homemade devices, weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear missiles or enriched uranium, or biological weapons like the spread of anthrax or smallpox on civilians. But not all terrorism is violent. Some terrorism involves hostage taking or kidnapping. And these days, cyberterrorism has become a real problem.”

For more on Common Core in Florida: http://www.fldoe.org/schools/ccc.asp

history christianity terrorism

terrorism self esteem1

terrorism self esteem2

Screenshots are from actual FLVS lesson online – BBJ

The photo of the “Spiritual Menu” has been removed because it’s presence may have been implied to be part of the lesson which is was not – Brandon Jones, The Global Dispatch

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- Writer and Co-Founder of The Global Dispatch, Brandon has been covering news, offering commentary for years, beginning professionally in 2003 on Crazed Fanboy before expanding into other blogs and sites. Appearing on several radio shows, Brandon has hosted Dispatch Radio, written his first novel (The Rise of the Templar) and completed the three years Global University program in Ministerial Studies to be a pastor. To Contact Brandon email [email protected] ATTN: BRANDON

Displaying 9 Comments
Have Your Say
  1. Randy McDaniels says:

    The fundamental difference Ideology. The prophet Muhammad and Allah final verse on Holy War is verse 9:5 the verse of the sword and calls on Muslims to fight and Kill disbelievers wherever they find them, lie in wait for them, beleaguer them and take them captive using every stratagem of war. The final verse on religion in the Quran is verse 8:39 Fight and oppose disbeliever until all submit and religion is only for Allah. These are the final authoritative verses in the Quran and abrogate or have authority over the 1st meccan period verses and earlier medina verses in accordance with Sharia or Islamic Law.

    However in the new testament or Christianity there is no forced conversion nor a call to kill those outside the religion or kill those who leave the religion.

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  7. Florida Virtual School says:

    This article was incorrect in numerous ways. The most blatant inaccuracies are:
    1. The lesson is in no way related to Common Core State Standards. There are no social-studies-specific Common Core State Standards.

    o The State of Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards provides the framework for any World History course taught in the state of Florida. The following two Next Generation Sunshine State Standards are specifically addressed in this lesson. They are:

    – SS.912.W.8.10: Explain the impact of religious fundamentalism in the last half of the 20th century, and identify related events and forces in the Middle East over the last several decades.
     – SS.912.W.9.7: Describe the impact of and global response to international terrorism.

    2. The lesson does not suggest that there is a link between Islam and Christianity as fundamentalist groups.

    3. The lesson in no way implies that Christianity is causing Muslim extremism.

    4. The image of the “Spiritual Menu” is not in the course.

    5. Florida Virtual School does allow its state-certified teachers to engage in conversation with students and parents around topics that may be open to multiple interpretations.

    • Ray says:

      “which softly could imply” doesn’t mean the lesson “links” or “implies” a connection between Islam and Christianity. However, they are linked in origins as the Bible states, but the lesson is unjustly comparing them as equally “fundamental” today.

      Where is this Christian violence? Where are the car bombings daily from Christian activists?

      From the lesson: “Not all religious fundamentalists are Christian or Muslim” – this is an incredibly insulting comparison

      Thanks for the post Mr. Jones

    • Brandon Jones says:

      I spoke to the folks at FLVS who claimed this was influenced by Common Core.

      I’ve contacted this poster for an interview and possibly be able to get more information.

      RE: Standards quoted: Explain the impact of religious fundamentalism in the last half of the 20th century, and identify related events and forces in the Middle East over the last several decades. — The lesson leads with Christianity and mentions it time and time again, so what are the related events? What are the Christian terrorist acts that warrant this inclusion?

      BTW, I don’t know about other parents but “Florida Virtual School does allow its state-certified teachers to engage in conversation with students and parents around topics that may be open to multiple interpretations.” is very concerning.

      No offense to the teachers, but they work for us.

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