Here are some of the week’s most notable quotes culled from news reports from across Texas, and beyond.
Emile Lester, a professor at the University of Mary Washington, on proposed social studies textbooks up for consideration by the Texas State Board of Education.
The board of education and these texts had the opportunity to empower high school students with knowledge — instead they chose to treat students as pawns in our cultural war. Too often, these texts exaggerate or even invent history.
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A legal brief filed by same-sex couples challenging the Texas ban on same-sex marriage.
The state’s argument that preventing same-sex couples from marrying serves responsible procreation is illogical. It is the type of unsupported conjecture that cannot be a basis for upholding discriminatory legislation.
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An unnamed Dallas megachurch pastor in an August 24 sermon posted online.
One of the biggest lies in the world today, that’s being told over and over again, to where you are almost uninvited to social events if you don’t parrot this lie, and the lie is that Islam is a peaceful religion.
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Randy Thomas, a former executive vice president of the “ex-gay” group Exodus International, apologizing to the LGBT community.
Today, I can honestly say that I am glad that the courts are striking down all the marriage bans across the country. It is my hope that we (Christians) can learn from the past, make the appropriate amends, and rebuild dialog and relationships with the LGBT community.
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An unnamed woman from the Rio Grande Valley, on state lawmakers who pushed for abortion restriction in HB2.
The truth is, I have no words for them. They did an injustice to me.
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Jay Bookman, on the results of the TFN-commissioned review of social studies textbooks for Texas public schools.
A few years ago, I might have dismissed such efforts to hijack the education system as the nonsense that they are, but I’ve learned better. There’s something in the air these days that puts the bizarre on the same footing as the rational, that treats truth and accuracy as victims to be sacrificed in service to some larger if amorphous cause. You don’t dare brush aside such assaults on reason as too crazy to go anywhere, because before you know it …
