International Curriculum
A growing number of conservative leaders and organizations are expressing concern over the United Nations-funded and -run International Baccalaureate Curriculum, which is already engrained into more than 1,000 schools in the U.S. They say the program is training American students to embrace an anti-Christian worldview.
"This U.N. curriculum is extremely hostile to Christians," says Brannon Howse, founder and president of Worldview Weekend. "It's hostile to American values and ideas and very big on humanism, redistribution of wealth, and very big on pluralism and that all religions are equal."
According to a 2007 report at EdNews.org, the program should overrule any "parochial" values or beliefs with a heavy focus on a social agenda throughout classes. For example, math studies incorporate the exploration of problems concerning weather, environmental protection, conservation and energy. Statistics units examine the disparity of wealth distribution globally. Latin students discuss comparisons between the Roman world and today regarding topics like women's rights, slavery and national imperialism. French classes integrate global concerns, such as pollution, endangered species, health issues (obesity, aging, AIDS, cloning), space research, human rights and the death penalty.
The report is critical of the International Baccalaureate, saying the organization "not only teaches its own worldview, it simultaneously undermines the beliefs and values of the United States (also called the 'American creed'). ... Both Democrats and the Republicans supported a more or less unrestrained capitalist system. They believed that it offered unique incentives to hard work and opportunities for all, even though there was plenty of evidence that it left many people very poor and a few grotesquely rich." It concludes that "it becomes abundantly clear that IB is more about indoctrination than about education. Indeed, at numerous points, IB says that its purpose is teaching the beliefs and values that create students who are 'world citizens.' IB leaves no room for doubt about the nature of its curriculum."
The list of those aggressively promoting the international curriculum includes President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, the National Education Association, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and the Chicago Public Schools system he once supervised, Bill and Melinda Gates, as well as many less famous organizations and foundations.
Howse is concerned that many conservative parents, educators and school board members are pushing the globally oriented curriculum without understanding its agenda of reconstructing America into alignment with international secularism. [WorldNetDaily.com]
Gay Activists Protest Target
When the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)— the country's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered activist group — learned three weeks ago that Target Corp. had donated $150,000 to MN Forward in Minnesota which runs ads for a gubernatorial candidate who supports marriage between one man and one woman, the activist group went on a social-media rampage, spawning multiple protests online and outside retail stores.
Target's chief executive officer, Gregg Steinhafel, immediately apologized to employees and reiterated the discount retail store's long-standing commitment to homosexual rights. The chain, which has a 100 percent rating on HRC's Corporate Equality Index (a measure of corporate hiring diversity policies on a scale of 0% to 100%), even offered to give money to various gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender causes in the state. After talks between HRC and Target broke down, HRC and other gay activist groups said they planned to give $150,000 to organizations that support candidates in favor of gay rights. MoveOn.org launched a $35,000 television ad campaign attacking Target, and San Francisco officials went as far as to threaten to block construction of two stores in the Bay Area. [LATimes.com, CitizenLink.com]
• Same-Sex Marriages On Hold in California
This week, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Proposition 8, a voter approved law which banned same-sex marriage in California, would stay in effect until the appeals process has run its course. The 3-0 decision by a judicial panel reversed the ruling by District Judge Vaughn Walker, which would have allowed same-sex marriages to begin again on August 18. The appeals court will hear oral arguments during the week of December 6, with a decision on the appeal not expected before early next year. [OneNewsNow.com, CitizenLink.com]
• Washington D.C. Says Sidewalk is Public Property
Last week, the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General concluded that the sidewalk outside a Planned Parenthood abortion business in the nation's capital is public property. Patrick Mahoney, a pastor who heads the Christian Defense Coalition, challenged signs that PP had posted saying the sidewalk in front of their business was private property. For the past several months, Washington D.C. police officers have been threatening peaceful pro-lifers with arrest for simply praying and counseling on the public sidewalk in front of PP. This decision may allow pro-life advocates to pray there without interference. [LifeNews.com]
• State Ban on Protests Are Unconstitutional
Federal Judge Fernando Gaitain of Kansas City, Mo., tossed out a state law that criminalized picketing "in front or about" military funerals. The state had passed a law to keep members of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church — led by Pastor Fred Phelps — from demonstrating within 300 feet of such private services. Phelps' group believes that God is punishing the U.S. for the sin of homosexuality through events like soldiers' deaths. Members travel around the country to military funerals, shouting at grieving family members and displaying such signs as "Thank God for Dead Soldiers," "God Blew Up the Troops" and "AIDS cures Fags." The Westboro church had brought suit claiming a right to protest. [CNN.com]
• Names on Petitions Will Remain Private
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle on Wednesday ordered that the names and addresses of supporters of a 2009 Washington state marriage-related referendum could remain private for now. After surviving a challenge on the district level, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled against the marriage supporters, and the group appealed to the Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 on June 24 that a general prohibition against releasing names of signers of all types of ballot petitions was too broad. In the ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts said that, if there was enough evidence of actual threats of violence and harassment against referendum supporters, there might be grounds for a narrower opinion. The High Court then sent the case back to the district level for reconsideration. Settle's order will allow the sponsors of the referendum — Protect Marriage Washington — time to argue a narrower case to the District Court. [CitizenLink.com]
• Cross-Country Walk For Pro-Life
Last Saturday, nearly four dozen pro-life young adults and students from colleges around the country met in Washington, D.C., to culminate three different cross-country walks. The walks started on May 24 on the west coast and concluded in the nation's capital with a noon rally on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol building. Passing through 36 states and thousands of towns and cities, the walkers witnessed the reality that the overwhelming majority of Americans identify themselves as pro-life. During the 12-week journey, each young person averaged over 1,000 miles, walked night and day, through rain or shine and witnessed to hundreds of thousands of Americans. They wore shirts with the words "PRO-LIFE" on the front. Crossroads Ministry has sponsored pro-life walks across America every summer since 1995. [LifeNews.com]
• Fraudulent Billing by Planned Parenthood
On Friday, the New Jersey Right to Life released three separate audits conducted by the U.S. Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, which show that state Planned Parenthood providers have been over-billing the federal government. The audits, conducted between 2001 and 2005, found that nearly $3 million should have been refunded to the government. Clinics improperly billed everything from prescription medications to outpatient services. [CitizenLink.com]
• Crystal Cathedral Pay Cuts
Rev. Robert H. Schuller — founder of the Crystal Cathedral — his wife, their five children and respective spouses are taking a voluntary 50 percent pay cut to meet the demands of businesses that sued the megachurch for more than $2 million in unpaid bills. The Crystal Cathedral's employees will also face pay cuts of between 5 and 10 percent. [OneNewsNow.com]
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