Magón
11th May 2011, 03:19
If you haven't heard of William J. Bennetta, it's okay because not many have anyway, but here's a reason why you should. He's fucking awesome.
One Man's Crusade Against Fundamentalist Claptrap
Meet religious conservatives' favorite pro-evolution, Bible-bashing textbook watchdog.
— By Adam Weinstein
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May/June 2011 Issue
In a dusty living room in Petaluma, California, on a sawhorse table next to a Franklin stove, is the aging computer whose dial-up connection serves as William J. Bennetta's link to the outside world. From here the 72-year-old former journalist and biologist has been running the Textbook League, a one-man nonprofit that has dissected schoolbooks for factual errors, from typos in the periodic table of elements to flawed explanations of how airplanes fly. "I go after bullshit no matter whence it comes," he tells me.
In recent years, though, Bennetta's work has been used primarily to go after a very specific kind of "bullshit"—references to Islam in school textbooks that conservatives find especially offensive. His research has been cited approvingly by Phyllis Schlafly and white supremacist groups. Last fall, religious conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education voted to cleanse the state's social-studies books of "pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias," citing Bennetta's research (PDF). (He'd criticized a seventh-grade history book that presented the life of Muhammad and other "Muslim religious tales and religious beliefs as matters of historical fact.")
The irony is that Bennetta's primary crusade—the one that spurred him to start the League back in 1989—has been against junk science and "creationist claptrap." His battles with intelligent-design advocates earned him a fellowship at San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences. So how'd the religious right come to embrace this barrel-chested, pipe-smoking heretic? For one, Bennetta rankles at the idea that the beliefs of any religion might be presented to schoolkids as facts; he's also criticized the "fake 'history' of Jesus and Christianity" in schoolbooks as "fundamentalist propaganda."
Continued: http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/04/william-j-bennetta-textbook-league
One Man's Crusade Against Fundamentalist Claptrap
Meet religious conservatives' favorite pro-evolution, Bible-bashing textbook watchdog.
— By Adam Weinstein
DONATENEWSLETTER
23 Comments | Post Comment
May/June 2011 Issue
In a dusty living room in Petaluma, California, on a sawhorse table next to a Franklin stove, is the aging computer whose dial-up connection serves as William J. Bennetta's link to the outside world. From here the 72-year-old former journalist and biologist has been running the Textbook League, a one-man nonprofit that has dissected schoolbooks for factual errors, from typos in the periodic table of elements to flawed explanations of how airplanes fly. "I go after bullshit no matter whence it comes," he tells me.
In recent years, though, Bennetta's work has been used primarily to go after a very specific kind of "bullshit"—references to Islam in school textbooks that conservatives find especially offensive. His research has been cited approvingly by Phyllis Schlafly and white supremacist groups. Last fall, religious conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education voted to cleanse the state's social-studies books of "pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias," citing Bennetta's research (PDF). (He'd criticized a seventh-grade history book that presented the life of Muhammad and other "Muslim religious tales and religious beliefs as matters of historical fact.")
The irony is that Bennetta's primary crusade—the one that spurred him to start the League back in 1989—has been against junk science and "creationist claptrap." His battles with intelligent-design advocates earned him a fellowship at San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences. So how'd the religious right come to embrace this barrel-chested, pipe-smoking heretic? For one, Bennetta rankles at the idea that the beliefs of any religion might be presented to schoolkids as facts; he's also criticized the "fake 'history' of Jesus and Christianity" in schoolbooks as "fundamentalist propaganda."
Continued: http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/04/william-j-bennetta-textbook-league