education

Curriculum

287 Comments

What do you do when BJU Press and A Beka Books are just too liberal for your kids? Thank goodness there’s Landmark Baptist Church and their Freedom Baptist Curriculum to stand in the gap between your child’s ears.

You can take a course in Inspiration of the Scriptures(PDF) wherein you’ll learn not only that Christopher Columbus actually sailed to America on a mission’s trip but also some really crazy numerology stuff. Seriously. It’s insane.

In American History you can learn all about how our Constitution implements the Christian Doctrine of Government(PDF). After all, slavery is in the Bible.

Feel free to dig through the remaining courses and let us know what you find.

287 thoughts on “Curriculum”

  3. Oh Lord…never mind the anachronism the term “mission trip” lends to the description of Columbus’ voyage, I thought Bob Jones was bad enough! :/

  4. Nice to know that their computer course has been “newly updated for 2008.”

    1. Nothing of any importance has happened since 1611 so really they don’t need to update at all.

    2. Oh, wow, it’s pretty great. Did you guys know you can buy a DIGITAL WATCH for only five dollars??? Sign me UP!

      I also like how all of the pictures in the course are of these massive CRT monitors.

    3. What do you hear about that iPhone Apple says it will come out with?
      S’posed to be a computer on yer phone or some such nonsense.

      1. That reminds me of a sweet old farm lady neighbour who told me once, back in the late seventies, that she had heard, mind you she didn’t entirely believe it, but she had heard there were cars now-a-days with radios in them! Poor dear lived a very isolated life.

        1. Except for dem iPads pastor wants and dat iPod the youth pastor wants to show kids what worldly music they should avoid.

  5. “The Christian Doctrine of government had been clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence.” So where in Scripture is the Declaration of Independence and the form of governing described therein actually found?

    “[The Founders] believed that the government could encourage Christianity without creating a religious establishment.” That is the worst understanding of the first amendment I have ever heard.

      2. I fear you are correct. It is odd that fundamentalists who are so staunch on the fundamentals get the fundamental 10 wrong so often. The bearing false witness for their own advancement and interests is disgusting.

    2. It’s basically a list of complaints about George III. If someone actually took the time to read it…I guess that might be asking too much.

      1. Wait, let me get this right. They love bi King Jimmy but have a list of complaints against staid old George 3?

        3. From a fundy point of view he was pretty boring compared to Jimmy, he liked the opposite sex, (a lot), and he had, what fifteen children? Something like that, he was practically a fundy.

        4. Don’t be silly, Miriam. The entire point of this post is that we can make up whatever history we want! King James was a red meat eating manly man who invented the Tommy Gun! He was also greatly used by God to invent the Bible.

        5. When will I ever learn. It’s ’cause I am a silly woman and all. I keep thinking truth and stuff like that matters.

    3. Civic Religion. It’s so much easier & fun to just cozy up to Babylon/Rome than it is to hold it accountable.

    4. Wait, there is a Christian Doctrine of Government found in the Bible? The Bible that only discussed the perils of monarchy and how to keep off the radar of the dictator?’
      Actually, I think this might fall under not feeding the trolls. (Prov 26:4)

      1. If you’re going to tell tall tales, make them big ones.
        Why waste your reputation with little white fibs?

    5. The Curriculum insists that the Declaration of Independence is part of the Legal Code.

      This is itself a lie, and has been dealt with in the courts. The Declaration of Independence had no force of law and created no government. The implementation of Independence was in the Articles of Confederation, not the Constitution.

      The Articles of Confederation seem to be what conservative politicians prefer to the Constitution, although they will not outright admit this. The Constitution created a strong Federal government to correct the persistent weakness of the Confederation’s collection of Sovereign States. In point of fact, while the Confederation uses the term “sovereign” to describe the states, the US Constitution never does!

      People like Justice Roy Moore of Alabama say it is legal and proper for states to defy the judicial mandate of the Supreme Court of the United States. He would also like to impose “Christian Law” on the United States, and make the Bible supercede any law in the US. Can you say, “Sharia”? I knew you could!

      David Barton is probably the chief rewriter of history, turning wishful thinking into “fact” for the True Believer who wishes to rob everyone else but themselves of religious and civil liberties. Bryan Fisher of the American Family Association said in 2011 that the religious liberty protections of the First Amendment do not apply to Muslims.

      Curriculums like this are pure poison. And “Christians” drink them in as if they were the water of life. God Himself doesn’t seem inclined to enlighten His errant children that they are believing a lie. But then, lying in God’s Name is a Practice of Fundamentalism since time immemorial.

  6. So… they counted up a bunch of arbitrary things in the Bible and picked the ones divisible by seven?

    Also, I’m sure those numbers are for the KJV, not the original Greek and Hebrew (despite the allusion to numerical values of letters in those alphabets). Mainly because good luck finding a Hebrew word beginning with a vowel.

    1. The wonders of the Internet! No matter how conclusively a theory is debunked, it will simply spring up in another web site, AS IF IT ACTUALLY HAD ANY MERIT. Here is the debunking site: http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/dilugim/panin.html

      I’m sorry to admit the debunking website is only twenty years old. Considering the 180 year-old writings of Darwin have not been accepted by this same crowd, I suppose Panin’s numerology will still be alive and well for another century or two.

      1. 180 years old?
        “On the Origin of Species” was first published in 1859 (less than 156 years ago).

  7. We used to do ACE at my Christian school but LFBC for the Bible Courses it was a very easy curriculum.

    1. I am about to cry, after looking at the middle school literature questions. Not a single higher-level question in the batch.

      I’m going to go do my lesson planning for my kindergartners, some of which will be thought-provoking, higher-order questions about our recent field trip, such as “Why did the pioneers throw out their clock and dishes, but not their churn and saws?” In case you wonder, yes, five year olds who haven’t had this LFBC pap fed to them can answer the question clearly.

  9. Congrats, Landmark: you just made ATI look like the most polished, reasonable material in the world. And I thought that was impossible.

    Now pardon me while I try to cleanse my mind from this nonsense.

    1. I respectfully disagree 🙂

      The “Wisdom” Booklets all led to the final end of implying all history until now has been making the path straight for Billy G. to rule the world……especially the world of ATI enslaved young women.

      1. Hey, ATI’s stuff is rubbish too … I’m just dumbfounded anything could make it look even slightly better by comparison 😛

  10. I took landmark in jr high and high school. Got in right as it launched. “Upgrade” from ACE. IT. IS. TERRIBLE. There were prizes given out to the schools whose students found the most grammatical and spelling mistakes! Also the answer keys didn’t match the work books. (Failed Algebra partially due to this and partially due to the terrible “self explanitory” system they try to use to attract home schoolers. Also the biology and music (both of which were found under science) were cringeworthy at best. I truly believe I got a subpar education.

  11. Just went through maths stuff. Who teaches algebra this way? Otherwise it’s standard.

  12. My favorite part is where the Inspiration of Scriptures documents says man could not write the bible. In all these fan dangled newer versions, man messed up the bible and created chaos, contradictions, etc. Man needs to keep the Bible as God intended: written in 1611 English onlyist!

  13. Should I consider it a blessing that I cannot get any of the course descriptions to open up?

      1. Yea verily.

        I keep trying and the pages just won’t open up for me. How am I to learn anything if I can’t peruse the wisdom contained within these documents?

        2. You could try updating your .pdf reader, but only if you want a laugh of frustration that folks pass this of as education.

  14. Home Ec for young ladies and Personal Development to turn girls into young ladies. I think the course involves drinking koolaid.

    But shop does not appear to be limited to young men.

      1. In my experience as the mom of two boys (now 22 and 20 and finally becoming civilized), the boys need Personal Development a lot more than the girls do. Not to mention: Grooming, Eating Like Non-Barbarian, and Not Smelling Bad.

        1. Absolutely. This used to be standard fare for many years (there is a damn good reason they invented the “gentleman”). It is funny to read older etiquette books because they use flowery language to tell men things like “don’t pick broccoli out of your teeth at the dinner table.”

      2. “Where is the Personal Development course for young men?”

        Down, Shannon, down!

      3. A properly trained young lady will teach her owner, pardon me, I meant husband how to be a gentleman by submitting to his every whim.

      4. That is under the Health section of the curriculum.

        “Avoiding Blindness”

        “He had the Midas touch/But he touched it too much/Goldmember”

  15. Tucked between Spanish and 10th grade history under the “New Products” tab is a gem of a book titled His Hand Is Real by “Dr.” Carter.
    Here is the explanation:

    Over the past forty-two years members of Landmark Baptist church have enjoyed the great stories Dr. Carter has told from the pulpit. These stories tell of insurmountable circumstances and how the Lord showed His hand and answered prayer. Sometimes these stories are humorous, but always thought provoking.

    I guess his great feats of derring-do must be told to awe the masses and glorify the mog.

  16. So why is 7 “God’s number” anyway? Someone please tell me it is based on something other than “And God rested on the seventh day.”

    1. … ‘lucky 7’ is the world’s favourite number. There are seven days of the week, seven colours of the rainbow, seven notes on a musical scale, seven seas and seven continents.
      Snow White ran off to live with seven dwarves, there were seven brides for seven brothers, Shakespeare described the seven ages of man, Sinbad the Sailor had seven voyages. And when Ian Fleming was looking for a code for James Bond, he didn’t go for 006 or 008. Only 007 had the right ring.

      Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2601281/Why-lucky-7-really-magic-number.html#ixzz3bFXvQSPH
      Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

      2. Technically, there are only six colors in the rainbow. Three primary colors and three secondary. If you throw in “indigo” you have to add all the other tertiary colors as well (which are visible to the naked eye, btw).

        1. There are any number of colors, depending on how you divide up the visible spectrum.

          But it is said that the reason “indigo” is there in many lists of rainbow colors is that someone wanted the number of colors to be seven.

          There doesn’t really seem to be any agreement on what color is “indigo,” although indigo dye generally yields blue.

    3. No, I’m afraid it’s based on little more than that. Plus, the insanity of KJV numerology only works with the number 7.

        3. Seven Sacraments, Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, First Seven Ecumenical Councils….

          Yeah, as Gary says, too Catholic. 😀

      2. Seven wonders of the ancient world…wouldn’t that connection make 7 inherently pagan?

  17. The “literature” is crap. Just saying. It will produce a vapid, saccharine, one dimensional mind. There are no depths or modern dilemmas in any of these pieces.

      2. My first exposure to Christian literature was some awful paperback novel called “Not My Will.” It was the story of some poor teenager who was hooked up with an unbelieving boyfriend. My youth group leader was concerned about my reading habits. I read widely (still do), both classic/contemporary literature and history. Thankfully, I discovered Bonhoeffer,Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Amy Carmichael, and others…otherwise I would have fled any other Christian books in the horror that they could do that to a faith that lent itself to so many literary possibilities. That other experience also taught me to keep my reading habits to myself!

        1. Haha, Francena H. Arnold. The Light in My Window, Straight Down A Crooked Lane, Then Am I Strong…… Puts me right back to Sunday afternoons when Christian books were the only allowed reading. It was pap but the only other thing I could get away with reading was the Bible itself so……..

        2. I am so thankful that no one ever told me that Arnold wrote anything else. I think it might have been the end of faith!

        3. You just reminded me – I’ve always been a history nerd and in high school got really interested in WWII, which led me to Dietrich Bonhoeffer. One summer I brought Letters and Papers from Prison with me on a family vacation and my Fundy pastor uncle pulled my dad aside and told him that he should really monitor my reading better because Bonhoeffer was a terribly liberal theologian and not appropriate for a young person, who would be unable to discern the errors in his doctrine.

        4. We had the same rule growing up at my house on Sundays – only Christian books (we had no television so books were my constant companions and escape).

          I did have “Not My Will”, but only read it once; I must not have been impressed. I think my version had a young woman with the kerchief and coat kneeling in front of a gravestone if I remember correctly.

        5. Didn’t the woman’s husband die, so she gave away her son? Then the couple who adopted him hired her as a nanny while that wife died. Is this the right book? Can you tell we didn’t have many books to choose from when I was young? Also GRACE LIVINGSTONE HILL!!!

        6. Yep. Oh the dainty womanhood of all the GLH heroines. Barf. There were very few books that were allowed, we didn’t have tv either. Thankfully I had a great imagination. Not so thankfully I occasionally got into trouble for frightening the wits out of my little sister with the stories I made up.

        7. Count me in the ranks of growing up with no TV. I read just about anything I could get my hands on – thankfully, my family wasn’t too restrictive there. We lived in small town and I checked out just about every book there was.

        8. I blame much of my strangeness on the fact that the bulk of the literature in my parents house was bought by my ancestors. Not really recent ones, either. I read books that my gr. gr. grandmother had brought with her to Canada in the first half of the 1800s. There was a ancient bookshelf with glass doors and the books were packed in there two deep. It was all I knew and I think it probably skewed my thinking a bit. lol. Mostly the newer stuff on my parents shelves were Peeb ministry. Pretty dry stuff. Victorian novels were exciting by comparison.

        10. I wouldn’t be surprised with books that old, if there are some that are worth real money.

        11. No doubt but they have been split up between myself and my many siblings now. I can’t bear to part with anything that has a name written in it. I have my 3x great grandfather’s bible, a real treasure.

  18. In the 11th grade health (seriously, how is this Grade 11), one of the essay prompts for skeleton/skin/hair is “Read 1 Corinthians 11. Do some additional outside research and write a report on the differences God established in the hairstyles of men and women.”
    What the heck does that have to do with anything scientific? And outside research where?!

    For another prompt on the difference between man and animals, the teacher evaluation section includes possible answers like “the ability to walk uprightly and grasp things, as well as numerous other motions unknown to animals.”
    So——monkeys are human, not animals?

    “Earache is sometimes caused by sleeping where the wind may blow upon the ears.”
    ——what?

    1. Well, see, God supposedly can count the number of hairs on our head. So that’s counting, which is math, which is used in science, so yeah, hairstyles are scientific.

    3. Don’t forget that part about how “things are too far away to measure the distance that we are able to see”.
      If it’s that far away, we aren’t seeing it.

      We actually used this curriculum for my younger siblings for a few years. My sister went to this church’s Basement Bible Kawlege. They’re crazy as an overheated rat, but they lack the utter malevolence of HAC, at least in my opinion.

      1. Perhaps they think you have to put a tape measure to something to figure out how far away it is.
        They should talk to an astronomer sometime.

  19. Their course lists seems to indicate they are using the Bible as the text book for their science classes.

  20. So I, the Spanish teacher, say that their course stinks. Stereotypical pictures of “Mexicans” alongside the flag of Spain, bad translations (until we see for “hasta luego), and audio cassettes. Even in 1999, those were a bit dated.

    I wonder how far we have regressed in international relations due to these folks?

    1. Until we see? “Au revoir” maybe, but “hasta luego”? Carambolas!

      So as an occasional Spanish speaker due to living on the Brazilian border with Peru & Colombia, I’m curious: is an equivalent for “until we see” used in Spanish? In Portuguese it’s “A gente se vê” which is more like “We/I’ll see ya”.

      Both, or all three, sides of the border(s) here speak what is locally referred to as Portunhol, a pidgin of obvious derivations. I prefer the nom de guerre “Castiguez” for Castiliano y Português. It’s just funnier that way. Pues es un castigo oir.

      1. “Until we see” is a kind-of-correct, but overly literal, translation for “Auf Wiedersehen” (actually “until we see again”), but not for “hasta luego,” which means “until later” or (more exactly) “until then.”

        In Spanish (and in old Schwarzenegger movies) it is possible to say “Hasta la vista” (“until the seeing”), which is roughly “see you later,” but “hasta luego” is more commonly said.

        This conversation reminds me of my Dad, who knows just enough Spanish to get in trouble. He learned somewhere that “hasta luego” means “see you later,” and decided that therefore “hasta” means “see you,” so now his parting salutation is “Hasta!” which he thiks means “See ya!”
        (It means “Until,” “Toward,” or “To the point of.”)

      2. I’ve always learned and understood that “hasta luego” means “until then” (literally). But, like many expressions, it’s the equivalent of “see you later.” Even “until then” would be better than what they have as the translation.

        “Until we see” would be “hasta que veamos”-using the verb “ver” (to see), but that would have nothing to do with saying good-bye. It would be about actually seeing something.
        Example: Hasta que veamos mejoramiento….until we see improvement…

        It just shows that they have no idea how to teach a second language. There doesn’t seem to be an instructor, it’s mostly reading/writing…even the best self-teaching programs, like Rosetta Stone, make liberal use of video and audio features.

        1. I took this, yes. No instructor, just repeated the words on the cassette tape, and lots of reading/writing. It was fine for homeschooled me, but now my speaking/listening skills are waaaaaaay behind.

        2. People have always asked me how I learned Spanish as well as I did. I always reply that there is no magic bullet, but, at some point, one needs to take the risk to get out and talk to real people in real social settings. And, that is what I did-ESL students, migrant farmworker kids and their parents. I purposefully put myself in situations where I could not rely on English. A good class and text/means of study are always important, but you also need to get our there and “habla español.”

        3. When people ask me (a translator and sometime language teacher) how to learn a language, I tend to say, “How did you learn your first language? By a lot of listening and then imitating, right?

          Also, of course, by using words to get what you want, so yes, it helps to be in a place where you have to use the new language.

          So listen and talk, listen and talk. And also read and write (an advantage you probably didn’t have in the early stages of learning your first language).

    2. And, don’t forget the deeply theological book (said with tongue firmly in cheek) “The Elephant In The Living Room” (Important coverage of the controversy surrounding the influence of the RSV on the Spanish Bible).

      Right, Then!

  21. Literature:
    Textbook:
    McGuffey’s Fourth Eclectic Reader

    Ah, yes. Good ol’ Mcguffey. Old, out of date, written in a way no one speaks any more, and no royalties to pay its use. Who cares if it’s any good, IT’S FREE! We can charge for its use, and pay ourselves!

    2. Ah, McGuffey! The three years we home schooled, my mom used Christian Liberty Academy’s curriculum, which included the McGuffey Readers. I remember them being horribly boring, but thirty years later I can still spell like a mofo and I credit it to the massive lists of arcane words I learned in those books.

      Kind of related, but despite all the problems I have with the ABeka curriculum, I’ve always had a better grasp on grammar and composition than most of my peers and I do think ABeka had something to do with that. I wouldn’t touch their science, history or literature materials with a ten foot pole and fortunately I never saw their math courses, but their basic English grammar and composition stuff has benefited me many, many times.

      1. I concur. I used A Beka for most of my time in home school, and 16 years after graduating high school, my grammar and composition skills are still impeccable. I can’t spell for crap, it must be because I missed the McGuffey readers!

      2. I did like their grammar books. Were very thorough if you did everything.

      3. I agree, their grammar curriculum is solid. I had Abeka all through school (homeschool and Christian) and tested right out of freshman English. I took Advanced Grammar for fun; I had learned it all in high school.

    3. Thank God for McGuffey’s, though. If they didn’t have that, they’d come up with something a whole lot worse.

      1. Very true – we could have been forced to read original Fundy literature.

    4. YEEEEEEEEEES we had all the McGuffy readers. I agree, rather stilted writing, and quite boring by today’s standards. I can’t imagine why we didn’t really like them.

  22. Darrell, were you kept up late reading this drivel, or is your bedtime late? If kept up, I apologize.

  23. I couldn’t even read through the whole Computer Literacy Sample. Why do these types of Curriculum seem to think that people still use type writers? I thought that was outdated when ACE wanted us to use type writers in 2005 lol.

      1. The parcity of these machines is a sign of these evil times – even though it takes a holy quantity of 7 bits to make a byte in electronic data processing, too many modern heathens do not follow the imperative not to fold, spindle or mutilate the Word of God.

        3. Forgive my error — I had been reading through several LFBC items and was starting to see 7s everywhere I looked!

  24. Who knew starting an educational institution could be so easy! According to their “Starting a School” page all it takes is a phone call or email and a $50 manual. You know, we could be a much better educated society if we would do away with all of the vetting, training, certifications, criminal record checks, and accreditation that keeps so many institutions from opening their doors to impressionable youths.

  25. So, is there a line to not cross with all this? A line that people cross and God shows up and says “Guys! Enough! That’s not what I said! That’s not what you should do! Stop it!” or do we just continue to make excuses for why he doesn’t show up and do something about the wide range of opposing views about himself? Opposing views, I might add that all claim to be revealed by the Holy Spirit in which they all use the same criteria to determine such revelations.

    I’m so tired of this insanity.

    1. I think I’ve come off as pretty negative in my last few posts here. Sorry. It’s just that time of year for me. It’s like remembering the abandonment of your father every now and then, and anything that has to do with him, you’re bitter about. Still trying to figure things out!

      1. IMO anyone who has been drowning in fundyism has got to have a lot of negativity in them. Some days are worse than others. Some months are worse than others.

    2. I told a friend a very similar thing the other day: God seems pretty content to let himself be radically misunderstood.

      1. Which puts the lie to the very real and very insistent fundy doctrine I was force fed my growing years that one’s standing with God is DIRECTLY RELATED to doctrinal purity. If it is, that would kind of make God a total asshole, seeing as he is so nonchalant on the whole issue.

        1. You’d think if the Supreme Being wanted us to be so exact on doctrine, She’d get around to explaining it to us sometime.

        2. Nice test! I’m guessing God didn’t come down and correct you on gender reference. That’s okay. He’ll probably do it by making something bad happen to you. Your car will break down right after to paid all your bills. Unless you’re a dedicated fundie. Then God’s just teaching you patience and it’s a blessing in disguise (witness to mechanic, have a relaxing day off from work, who knows!). But if I disagree with your theology, then it’s clearly God smacking you across the face.

        3. Dr. – I thought your car breaking down was for only those of us who did not tithe? God was going to get his money somehow. Amen?

        4. Yeah, but if you’re in the right place with God (meaning that you’re doing everything I believe you should) then the car wreck was only to show God’s loving protection. Specially if your Mont Blanc pen remains intact.

        5. Dr. K.O., if trying to get your car fixed is your idea of a relaxing day off, then you really, really need a vacation.

  27. I am never going to understand why it is legal to willfully mis educate kids .

    1. “Mis-educate”? I think the the correct terms are “Indoctrinate” and “Brain-Wash”

      1. My least favourite homeschooling term has got to be “unschooling” Drives me nuts!

        1. Well, there is “Deschooling Society,” the radical Leftist classic on education by Ivan Illich.

        3. I am with you 100% on that – the more I read about it the more I despaired for the children of the people who adhere to that ludicrous philosophy.

        4. Just imagine trying to take those children out in public, (somewhere that isn’t a farm or a museum.)

        5. The thing is, you’ve got well-educated parents with plenty of free time and disposable income who decide to provide their children with plenty of opportunities to discover new interests and then help them follow each one as far as it goes. That’s unschooling. Some people continue to educate while also letting their children choose everything from food groups to bedtimes, which is not good for children at all, but they are unschooling.

          Then you’ve got a whole whackton of people who would really like it if their kids just went somewhere else and did something else, like, I dunno, running feral in the woods like the Naugler kids, and call what they’re doing unschooling. Avoids all that unpleasant responsibility, donchaknow. (I ran completely out of sympathy for Mrs. Naugler when she called her children all being dog-sick from eating bad food a consequence of their carelessness, instead of their parents’ decision to make them live in conditions that would make a self-respecting pig take off for better pastures. Oh, and she doesn’t know how the younger ones have learned reading and math, they ~just did.~ Perhaps because the older kids who remember not living like feral dogs have been teaching them–?)

        7. IMO homeschooling of any type creates, (usually false) elitism and often socially awkward children. I am grateful that I was forced to learn subjects I hated. The thing is that not only the subjects themselves were useful but the learning how to learn, being forced to master something that bored me, all of that stuff is useful as an adult. Young adults can specialize where they have talent and passion. Children need to learn all the basics in order to know where their passion lies.

        8. I totally agree, after being a teacher since 1982 (not always received, by the way, in church circles as I have worked in “humanistic” schools). I have met some home school success stories, but the majority have been shipwrecks. What makes me want to cry is when I see a student who should be in college, but doesn’t have the background to do it.

        9. Home schooling is sort of like home surgery or home electrical engineering.

          If one or both parents happens to be well-educated and really good at teaching, then home schooling is wonderful.
          If the parents are average adults, on the other hand, there’s no schooling like home schooling– in other words, home schooling is like no schooling, or worse.

        10. Completely agree with BG. I don’t know of a way to solve the home schooling problem cause everyone that home schools thinks they are the exceptions that really know it well, and almost none of them are. IMO even the parents that do know the subjects and how to teach well shouldn’t home school just because it’s good for kids to socialize with a wide variety of people, not just the ones your parents hand pick, and also to learn from other sources in other means and compare to their own experiences & knowledge.

        11. Having spent a decent amount of time in grad school learning about different types of schooling, I’d like to address “unschooling”. Unschooling does not mean letting your kids do whatever they want. Nor does it mean ignoring their education. Nor does it mean letting them figure everything out on their own, and if they are not reading at age 11, just blaming it on their unreadiness.

          Unschooling is actually time-consuming and labor-intensive. (The kind that is not, is not unschooling.) Parents must carefully plan out what activities, books, games, and toys to introduce to their children so that they will be enticed to dig deeper. Parents must also be ready and able to help their children find answers to their burning questions. And successful unschooling parents will find a way to document their children’s learning.

          Letting your children bring themselves up is not unschooling; it’s neglect.

        12. I was “unschooled” before it was cool. Mom is a very libertarian hippy type, which probably has a lot to do with it. Bottom line? It fails to instill discipline, the most important single ingredient for success, and it fails to teach indispensable subjects that might not be of interest to the kid. I was lucky in that I was very interested in math and engineering, which happens to be in demand. I have siblings who were not so lucky.

      2. A brick to the back of the head would educate a person better than this curriculum would.

      3. I’ve always thought of brainwashing as attempt to indoctrinate with things you know to be wrong. I think fundies believe this stuff, but that doesn’t mean it should be ok to teach it as fact to their kids. Imo

  28. Oh, boy, here’s that old canard about how Congress had Bibles printed.

    True version:
    It turns out the Continental Congress once considered either importing Bibles or having some printed, but never did either.

  29. Dear SFL Reader:

    How will local independent Baptist church ownership assure us that curriculum is and will remain doctrinally sound when all independentent churches by definition reject Biblical church polity and most are riddled with Gnostic blasphemy and frequently declare for Constantine’s Great [idolatrous] Compromise?

    Christian Socialist

  30. As a scientist I am interested in their Science curriculum. They claim to give a “basic understanding of science from the Christian Biblical viewpoint as presented in the Word of God.” I know the KJB mentions Chromosomes, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. I can’t remember where.
    Actually all of this horrifies me so much I can’t even be sarcastic about it any more. This website looks like it was written by Boko Haram.

    1. There are some striking parallels, aren’t there? They aren’t called the American Taliban for nothing!

    2. I’m not sure why it is so difficult for many fundies I know to realize that it is fundamentally impossible to teach science “from a Christian Biblical viewpoint”. I know Dar-El has covered this before, but the level of unselfconscious post-modernism in fundy doctrine is appalling.

      1. If you treat the Bible as a science textbook, or a medical treatise, or a tractor-repair manual, it’s going to come back to bite you.

  31. I also love the emblem of the patriot standing in front of the American and Christian flags.

  32. I went straight to the Spanish “textbook” to see if the Bible verses were taken from the King James or from a heathen Spanish translation. It looks like they translated the King James directly into Spanish. I suppose that’s the Godly thing to do, haymen?

    Also, the Home Ec “textbook” reads exactly like the one I used in school in the 90s, which itself was probably printed in the 70s. “Buy crushed pineapple instead of chunks – it’s more economical if you’re going to put it in gelatin.” Hork.

    1. I thought they had directly translated the verses, too, but I didn’t have time to look them up. 15 years as a missionary to Spanish-speaking people, and still doing Spanish ministry-I learned some verses.

      But, I will confess, I now prefer “La Nueva Versión Internacional.”

    2. Pineapple causes a chemical reaction with gelatin, so it won’t gel, or something like that.

      1. Raw pineapple does. Cooked (e.g., canned) pineapple works fine in gelatin.

        1. Well, whatever works. But, most importantly, whatever’s cheapest. Because I like my Jell-O good, but I like my Jell-O cheap.

      2. If you don’t want to put pineapple in your gelatin, you’ll be like an IFB church without a white piano.

  33. “We offer no more “social studies” but old-fashioned history and geography. (Social studies was a product of the secular humanists in the late 1930’s.)”

    Really? If so, social studies must be bad, right?

      1. What did she mean by that? How strange! Was she saying there is no collective entity that is separate from the individuals that comprise it? That is true, but what a strange way to say it.

        1. Maybe but clever and true. Often “society” is an excuse to not be accountable for our own opinions or actions.

        2. Of course society is made up of individuals, but that is not a profound insight. Everything is made up of its parts.

          Molecules don’t exist apart from the atoms that make them up, but it does not follow from that that there are no molecules or that molecules are of no importance.

          A sentence is made of discreet words, but it does not follow that the sentence itself is unnecessary or has no meaning of its own.

        3. Thatcher believed in Social Darwinism. She expected everybody else to believe it too

      2. No, she was spouting a bunch of pseudo-Randian crap about rugged individuals and how the government shouldn’t help anybody.

        1. Pseudo should have been her nickname before Iron Lady. Just like Reagan, she wasn’t anything she presented herself to be.
          The point of the truth of that is that there is no action that can be taken by society. It is a gross oversimplification to say “society” did thus and so when clearly, it is specific members of society who act. Even the fundys are not monolithic. I define a society as the interpersonal bonds created by the division of labor.

    1. I have no idea what an Ohm is but “My God shall supply all your needs….”

      2. I’m pretty sure that “ohm” is a word used by adherents to Eastern religions as they meditate on Yogi Berra’s wisdom.

        /sarcasm off

        1. I didn’t know Yogi Bear was a guru! Have I become demon possessed by watching him?

  35. I literally shuddered at how poorly written the History materials were. Not only are these poor children being given a painfully facile view of American History, it is being presented to them with all the literary skill of a 10th grade term paper.

    1. A lot of these courses aren’t even authored by people who specialize in them, which is pretty damn tragic.

  36. Do they teach any history that’s not American? Or does the rest of the world not exist?

        1. Last night while walking up the stairs
          I met a man who wasn’t there
          He wasn’t there again today
          Gee, I wish he’d go away!

    2. If God wanted us to know about the rest of the world, God would have made us foreigners.

  37. This exercise from the HS Home Economics text.

    Write the definitions from the glossary for the following vocabulary terms:

    * Shop

    * Meal

    The mind boggles.

  38. If this is how you’re going to educate your kids…why bother? Why not just un-school?

  39. the “science” curriculum health and dynamic biblical living was published in 1996! That was almost 20 years ago! “Read I Corinthians 11. Do some addt’l outside research and write a report on the differences God has established in the hairstyles of men and women.”

  40. What’s the deal with fundamentalist Christianity and numerology? It always kind of seemed very close to the occult world.

  41. One of the matching items for 4th grade had two items and two definitions, one of which obviously went with a person’s name. What are they testing? The ability to tell the difference between a human being and a tomb?

  42. Okay, you grammar nerds, what is wrong with this sentence:
    “We can see the outer ear outside the skull, which is composed of cartilage and formed to catch sound.”

    1. I don’t know about your skull, but mine is neither composed of cartilage, nor is it formed to catch sound.

    2. And at least the ear sentence was from science curriculum. This is from a grammar lesson: Corrected sentence is “My parent’s anniversary is October 18, 1986.” I am very curious how you have only one parent having an anniversary. Perhaps they married at midnight, with one parent saying “I do” at 11:59 pm, while the other said “I do” at 12:01 am. But unless they are a same-sex couple, wouldn’t you differentiate by gender: “My mom’s” or “My dad’s”?

      1. Maybe the parents are divorced, or one parent has died, and the “anniversary” is not necessarily a wedding anniversary. It might be the anniversary of beginning a job, or of hitting a home run., or bowling a perfect 300 game.

      2. The anniversary is not October 18, 1986. The anniversary is October 18 of the current year, or whatever year one is referencing.

        For example: My 50th wedding anniversary will be September 7, 2018.

  43. Six years after Columbus’ discovery of the New World we can see that the spiritual welfare of the native people was still of primary importance to him. In his famous mayorazgo (testament of founding Hereditary Family Estate) dated Thursday, 22 February, 1498, he states:

    Also I order to said Don Diego, my son, or to him who will inherit said mayorazgo, that he shall help to maintain and sustain on the Island Espanola four good teachers of the holy theology with the intention to convert to our holy religion all those people in the Indias, and when it pleases God that the income of the mayorazgo will increase, that then also be increased the number of such devoted persons who will help all these people to become Christians. And may he not worry about the money that it will be necessary to spend for the purpose….

    1. Perhaps concern for their spiritual welfare was also why Columbus and his brother and son cut off arms and legs of Hispanola natives who failed to bring Columbus enough gold.
      You know, to teach them spiritual lessons and all.

      1. I liked the part where Columbus made the natives who had their hands cut off (because they did not bring him enough gold) wear the cut-off hand around their necks. Had to teach them slackers.
        I don’t suppose we can make a connection between Columbus’ concern over their spiritual welfare and his penchant for 12 year old native girls could we?

        1. You’d have to ask Brother Schaap to help you with understanding that concept.

  44. From Columbus’….Book of Prophecies

    At a very early age I began to sail upon the ocean. For more than forty years, I have sailed everywhere that people go. I prayed to the most merciful Lord about my heart’s great desire, and He gave me the spirit and the intelligence for eh task: seafaring, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, skill in drafting spherical maps and placing correctly the cities, rivers, mountains and ports. I also studied cosmology, history, chronology and philosophy.

    It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel his hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me. There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because he comforted me with rays of marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures, a strong and clear testimony from the 44 books of the Old Testament, from the four Gospels, and from the 23 Epistles of the blessed Apostles, encouraging me continually to press forward, and without ceasing for a moment they now encourage me to make haste.

      1. Dr. – Your fancy uppity facts won’t work with greg.

        Although I wonder how he justifies his love of Columbus with his hatred of Catholicism.

    2. I’ve always wondered my whole life who it is that would be fooled by people who say “Lord Lord”, and yet have not fed the poor, or clothed the naked, or cared for the prisoners. Turns out the answer is greg. I should’ve known.

    3. cont from Columbus’….Book of Prophecies…

      Our Lord Jesus desired to perform a very obvious miracle in the voyage to the Indies, to comfort me and the whole people of God. I spent seven years in the royal court, discussing the matter with many persons of great reputation and wisdom in all the arts; and in the end they concluded that it was all foolishness, so they gave it up. But since things generally came to pass that were predicted by our Savior Jesus Christ, we should also believe that this particular prophecy will come to pass. In support of this, I offer the gospel text, Matt 24:25, in which Jesus said that all things would pass away, but not his marvelous Word. He also affirmed that it was necessary that all things be fulfilled that were prophesied by himself and by the prophets.

      I said that I would state my reason: I hold alone to the sacred and Holy Scriptures, and to the interpretations of prophecy given by certain devout persons.

      It is possible that those who see this book will accuse me of being unlearned in literature, of being a layman and a sailor. I reply with the words of Matt 11:25: “Lord, because thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hath revealed them unto babes.”

      The Holy Scriptures testifies in the Old Testament by our Redeemer Jesus Christ, that the world must come to and end. the signs of when this must happen are given by Matthew, Mark and Luke. The prophets also predicted many things about it.

      1. cont from Columbus’…… Book of Prophecies

        Our Redeemer Jesus Christ said that before the end of the world, all things must come to pass that had been written by the prophets. The Prophets wrote in various ways. Isaiah is the one most praised by Jerome, Augustine and by the other theologians. They all say that Isaiah was not only a prophet, but an evangelist as well. Isaiah goes into great detail in describing future events and in calling all people to our holy catholic faith.

        Most of the prophecies of Holy Scripture have been fulfilled already….I am a most unworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolations since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvelous presence.

        For the execution of the journey to the Indies I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied. All this is what I desire to write down for you in this book.

        1. cont from Columbus’ …..Book of Prophecies

          No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Savior, if it is just and if the intention is purely for His holy service. The working out of all things has been assigned to each person by our Lord, but it all happens according to His sovereign will even though He gives advice. He lacks nothing that is in the power of men to give him. Oh what a gracious Lord, who desires that people should perform for Him those things for which He holds Himself responsible! Day and night moment by moment, everyone should express t o Him their most devoted gratitude.

          I said that some of the prophecies remained yet to be fulfilled. These are great and wonderful things for the earth, and the signs are that the Lord is hastening the end. The fact that the gospel must still be preached to so many lands in such a short time – this is what convinces me.

        2. Columbus’ entire voyage was funded and made possible through Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand of Spain – uniquely in light of its missionary outreach. Isabel herself having a strong Christian world view, the populace accepted and embraced Columbus’ tenuous expedition primarily for evangelistic reasons.

        3. Thank you for just rewriting 500 years of history in one paragraph. First, the Spanish “reyes católicos” were much more into conquering new worlds (trying to catch up with the Portuguese) for gold, other precious metals, spices and land than they were into Christianizing the world. It just so happened that Catholicism went along with their dreams of empire.

          The indigenous populations of the Caribbean, Central America, and South America were given no say in what they chose to believe. They were often “baptized” en masse by a priest, and then killed if they did not conform to the Catholic faith. They were also made to work in gold and silver mines, killing off entire indigenous populations. Others were enslaved on plantations, but they died out so quickly that “replacement” workers (slaves) were brought over from Africa.

          There is a reason why October 12 is called El Día de la Raza in Latin America and not Columbus Day. It is a day to celebrate the good thing that occurred from all the carnage in the resilience of those who survived to form the Mestizo heritage of Latin America. It is definitely not a day to celebrate the human and cultural carnage brought by Columbus and the other conquistadores.

        4. “Isabel herself having a strong Christian world view …”

          — cough //Spanish Inquisition// cough–
          …

          The Spanish populace, of course, had no idea that Coumbus’ expeditions were going on.

        6. This really feels like trolling. There can’t be someone this ignorant of Columbus in 2015. Can’t.

        7. I checked on line to see if the book actually existed. It does-translated and published in ’91.

          My question is as to authenticity of the book. Even if Columbus did write it, it does not at reflect his actual historical actions.

          That period of history isn’t called “la leyenda negra” (the black legend” for nothing.

        8. It isn’t worth it, Linn. There are people whose opinions are based on facts, and people whose opinions are based on emotion. The former are persuaded by facts; the latter by emotion. greg has demonstrated time and again on this sight that he has no interest in facts whatsoever; he only cares to reinforce his safe, insulated worldview.

        9. The Black Legend is pure Protestant bigotry — as my Jewish professor of Early Modern European History assured us. (This was in an evening graduate course at Boston University, scarcely a bastion of either IFB or papist fundamentalism.)

          There is ignorance on all sides in this sub-thread, if you ask me. I beg everyone’s pardon, but it’s getting just a tad overheated in here.

        10. So, CGC, in all respect, my first exposure to the term “leyenda negra” was from a course I took with Catholic seminarians on Liberation Theology in Colombia–in Spanish, by the way. I’m also familiar with Protestant missionary excesses as well and the Catholic Church in Latin America has changed much in 500 years. History can be interpreted many different ways, but the fact that both North, Central, and South American indigenous societies were often wiped out in the name of both economics and religion cannot be denied when the historic evidence is weighed. I’m a very committed Christian, and it pains me when I find that those who claim to love Jesus, whether Catholic, Protestant or Evangelical, continue to believe that historical atrocities are either false or not such a big deal.

        11. I think we are back to Maya Angelou. I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.
          No nation, race, gender or religion can claim to have clean hands. We have all done horrible things, some worse than others but the big things is, what are we going to do now?

        12. ” I’m a very committed Christian, and it pains me when I find that those who claim to love Jesus, whether Catholic, Protestant or Evangelical, continue to believe that historical atrocities are either false or not such a big deal.”

          I’m inclined to cut them some slack over the deaths from sicknesses brought over from Europe, which the Americans were susceptible to. The Europeans would have had no reason to expect that to happen, and no inkling of why it happened.

          That covers a lot of deaths. But that still leaves a lot of heinous behavior and violence that has to be reckoned with.

        13. greg has reduced his trolling to copy and paste. Outstanding. Maybe he is just a spam bot. Maybe not though as the bots are given some level of intelligence.

        14. I have merely posted a portion of Columbus’….Book of Prophecies…..I tend to like “facts” and I tend to want to hear from “primary” sources…..I have posted one small opinion/comment……other than that, I have remained silent…..the intolerance displayed here is just incredible…Most of you are actually more “fundy” now than you were when you left the IFB, just about different things….btw, still don’t know how to copy and paste scorpio, but it seems that is your favorite lie to tell about mel.

        15. Well, Greg, good historians understand that not all sources are created equal. Columbus’ writings are no better than propaganda. He does indicate how little he thought of the natives. The writing shows how egotistical he was. His admission of a lack of skill is interesting. But as a primary source he is not very reliable.

          It would be comparable, say, to Goebbels’ reflections on the character of the Jews. Columbus wasn’t interested in how the Indians lived or what they believed or why they did things. He was a thief, interested in gold and slave labor. Like most, he characterized himself favorably. He cast himself as being a servant of God (which he most assuredly was not).

          Primary sources are good if they are accurate, not inclined to be biased, and reasonably observant. The Journals of Lewis and Clarke are good primary sources. Columbus’ prophesies? Not so much.

        16. “.the intolerance displayed here is just incredible…Most of you are actually more “fundy” now than you were when you left the IFB, just about different things”

          No, no, greg. Intolerance toward objective, researched facts is “fundy.” Fundamentalism insists the “Truth” has to be “Revealed,” remember? So only the Bible is considered “Truth,” along with the MoG rantings on a Sunday or Wednesday. But research and science is just “opinion” and everyone wants their “opinion” to be considered equal to that of a scholar’s study.

          Intolerance toward half-assed opinions created mostly out of lies, thin air and prejudice is actually a good thing. A Good Thing! Many of us, coming out from fundamentalism, have developed a spiritual allergy to religioustic nonsense and scienceybabble. We have developed a full-blown case of skepticism which tends to make us safer and less vulnerable to the winds of doctrine which blow every which way.

          Funny that fundamentalists do not know their Bible any more. Back in the day, many did. Today? Not so much, only proof texts and what people tell them the Bible says. Very few actually know it. In my opinion, the more you know, the less hold fundamentalism will actually have on you.

          So no, dear boy. We are not more fundy than we were. We are considerably less. Or are the “primary sources” you find here on SFL not to your liking?

        17. No one has ever accused Columbus of being an objective fact reporter. Well I guess greg has, but his credibility is so shot, that it might as well be nobody serious.

        18. I read this book written by Joseph Goebbels once. It was a primary historical source. Therefore, every word was fact. I think I am beginning to understand this “critical thinking” thing.

        19. I’m going to write a book called The Miriam Book of History. It will be the truth because – book. I will also give SLF peoples a discount, if they buy 100 books to teach their church basement kawledge kids from. Greg will be the chapter on amoeba. They are history if I say so because it is my book.

        20. In fairness, greg only considers the “primary sources”racists that agree with his chosen belief system. His value system for “primary sources” is “agrees with me or disagrees with me”, not “true or false”.

        21. “Primary source” does not mean “fact.”
          “Primary source” means “text written by someone who was there, or at least more or less contemporary to the events.”
          I believe that Cristopher Columbus wrote several things about his activities. I don’t believe that he (or anyone, for that matter) told the unembellished truth without omitting anything important or trying to spin the story to his advantage.

      2. greg might not know how to copy and paste…..but he has “certainly” learned how to use ellipses…….and “quotation” marks.

        2. It would be unimaginable that he is manually transcribing this dung. No one has that much free time on their hands do they?

        3. My theory is greg doesn’t know what copy & paste are, and is doing it and not aware he’s doing it.

        4. He doesn’t know how to copy and paste. He just knows how to do Control + C and Control + V.

  45. Wow – Reading the part about the origination of the Pledge of Allegance was, shall we say, “interesting”… Obviously, the folks didn’t do a lot of research… (Oh, and while Bellamy *was* a Baptist Minister, he was also a Christian Socialist!)

    1. Research is messy and time-consuming. Making things up is much more easy-breezy.

    2. Dear Ran-Away:

      He was also on the socialist party national executive, which made him a prominent, US socialist. Aeons ago, I was the secretary for my state party, but nothing beyond that.

      Christian Socialist

  46. On page 107, right column of the Constitution Document

    “In the Scriptures, God never grants unlimited authority to any human being. There are limits, checks and balances to all human positions of authority- parent, husband, pastor, and civil ruler.”

    Study Question:

    Does the man of God at your church have any limits, checks, or balances to his position? Why or why not? Discuss.

    1. No, of course he does not. He is the man of GOD. God alone supplies the checks and balances within the pastor’s own spirit. The pastor is set above others and is not to be judged by others because the Bible says “touch not the Lord’s anointed”. Nowhere in the Bible do you see mention of a church board or a denomination. These are created by man to stand in the way of the God-ordained minister of the gospel.

      1. No mention of a church building either…… unless you think the Temple in Jerusalem counts…

      2. The MOG at my old fundy church always reiterated every year, prior to the new deacons being approved for a 3 year term, that the deacons were never to be referred to as a “board” or “deacon board”. He said that that term was not scriptural. They were servants only and were to directly assist and meet the needs of the pastor in “his” ministry. Funny thing though, he always referred to the the head deacon (who has never rotated off for the past 10 years and who the pastor keeps nicely tucked in his back pocket) as the “Chairman of deacons”. Now how can you have a “chairman” when you don’t recognize a “board”. Seems a convenient way to maintain sole/unlimited authority and have no goverance accountability with other elders/deacon board other that the “chairman” who is under his thumb. So by demeaning their leadership role and responsibility, he is limiting their power to vote/express their opinion thus setting up his little dictatorship/MOG kingdom. I always thought this whole concept was off and couldn’t believe that no one ever questioned him on this. Now, he would put together “committees” that would explore large projects (i.e. bus purchase committee, building committee, etc) but they were always made up of him, the “chairman”, and assistant pastor. They also operated a school, but strongly opposed any sort of PTA type committee to address school concerns. Again it was a 1 MAN shop. This is ONE of many reasons why I knew it was time for my family and I to get out…

        2. Now how can you have a “chairman” when you don’t recognize a “board”.
          Clearly, he’s a man who can be counted on never to get out of his chair– i.e., to sit down and shut up.

    2. *sigh* Notice how the assertion in the lead sentence can easily be defended by re-defining “unlimited”. Adam didn’t have unlimited authority – he just had the authority to damn billions to hell through his actions (according to fundies). David didn’t have unlimited authority, but after he raped Uriah’s wife and murdered Uriah, God punished him by killing some of his subjects. Elijah didn’t have unlimited authority, but when some kids started making fun of his dome, he had a bear come eat them. So yeah, stupid is as stupid says.

      1. OHHH! So the checks and balances on the powers of the ManoGod are things like the laws of physics and stuff like that.

  47. Greg said:
    “…. the level of intolerance displayed here is unbelievable….”

    This is a a recognised medical condition known as “Bullshit Intolerance” which is frequently acquired by people who have once had the Fundamentalist Mindset but have undergone a profound mental, emotional and spiritual change known as “Escaping From Fundystan”. It can manifest itself in high levels of sarcasm towards Fundy Trolls.

  48. It looks like there is not a lot of difference between Landmark Freedom Baptist Church and Landover Baptist Church!

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