So, what's the difference between ignorant homeschooling parents of "Christian" pop stars and education in the country that was most responsible for the 9/11 attacks?
Volume. And not much else.
From the latest issue of
Blender, in an article on Aly and AJ, a pair of homeschooled sisters who pose all cuddly-like in an attempt to combine the jailbait charm of early Britney and Xtina, the "two-girls who might just get hot and heavy" fake lesbianism of Tatu, and the "hot but innocent" vibe of early Jessica Simpson together:
Maxim: Do you believe in evolution?
No," AJ says, shaking her head and frowning.
"Wait," Aly says, bolting forward. "Are they teaching that in schools now?"
Maxim: They've been teaching it for the better part of a century.
"I think that's kind of disrespectful," Aly says. "Anything that has to do with anybody's beliefs on religion, that should stay out of the classroom. I mean, I think people should be able to pray in school, if people were into that. Everybody should just do their own thing."
"Evolution is silly," AJ adds. "Monkeys? Um, no."*
And, from a
Washington Post article on the hate-filled textbooks in Saudi Arabia, the country still most responsible (and least penalized) for what happened on 9/11:
A review of a sample of official Saudi textbooks for Islamic studies used during the current academic year reveals that, despite the Saudi government's statements to the contrary, an ideology of hatred toward Christians and Jews and Muslims who do not follow Wahhabi doctrine remains in this area of the public school system. The texts teach a dualistic vision, dividing the world into true believers of Islam (the "monotheists") and unbelievers (the "polytheists" and "infidels").
This indoctrination begins in a first-grade text and is reinforced and expanded each year, culminating in a 12th-grade text instructing students that their religious obligation includes waging jihad against the infidel to "spread the faith."The difference between the two? Degree.
Now, I'm not advocating bombing homeschoolers who teach crap like AJ and Aly's parents did back to the stone age (for one, since Christian homeschoolers, like terrorist cells, are spread out, there's too much chance of collateral damage; for another, they don't believe in the stone age, anyway). Hell, as a country, we still haven't done anything to Saudi Arabia other than suck their metaphorical dick and pat them on the back, and even my liberal, generally non-hawkish nature leans me towards wanting something done about SA first (and by "first," I mean before we even started to focus on Iraq, not "now.").
But in the end, both the parents of two little twits and the schools in Saudi Arabia are willfully spreading ignorance. I've got no problem with people who choose ignorance on their own, as long as they channel that ignorance properly and stick their heads in the sand (or up their own arses). But choosing to make other folks ignorant? That -- not sodomy, eating the wrong foods, or practicing the scientific method -- is a crime against nature.
*Article transcribed by yours truly -- there's no online version that I can find.
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