http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/20/opinion/sutter-oklahoma-ap-history/
Making headlines this week was a move by the Oklahoma legislature to perhaps ban AP US History in Oklahoma public schools. The College Board recently changed its AP curriculum to be more in line with Common Core, a national curriculum standard that has been developed over the past few years. Those opposed to Common Core curriculum highlight how it focuses too much on minority grievances without much emphasis on the positive parts of US History. I only know a little but about this debate, but think the Bible offers a clear way to teach a nation’s history: Honestly. The sins of Israel are not expunged from the pages of the Old Testament, even the sins of its greatest king, David. Certainly history should not just emphasize the grievances that the various minority groups could have (there is a teacher I work with who has been educated in that vein, and the main problem with her is not that she received a grievance based education, it’s that she thinks she knows a lot more than she actually does), but a nation’s history should be dealt with honestly and critically in order to develop people that can think for themselves, not just echo jingoistic or victimhood narratives.
First and Second 