Various newspapers, including the Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle, have now published Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller’s op-ed about the State Board of Education — and the hate mail is pouring in! We decided to share. (We haven’t corrected typos and such.)
Some is concise, if caustic, as in this e-mail under the subject line: “Socoalist/Marxist/Progressive.”
Dear Killer of Society,
Eat s**t you worthless misguided B**ch.
This is the Legacy of your blind idealism
Thank you.
The “thank you” was a nice touch, don’t you think? So polite.
Some hate mail has come in serial form, such as the following three e-mails from a sender having trouble staying on topic:
The liberals have had there way for a long time and it is about time the conservatives get there chance and the real truth. If the liberals are so upset then start your own schools like the conservatives did with the christian schools years ago!
Obama and the Gulf coast oil spill ! The President And his staff has handled the disaster awful and in disgrace! If this was under Bush he would have been killed in the main stream media! Can you say bias !!!!! !
A short spelling lesson :
The last four letters in American……….I Can
The last four letters in Republican…….I Can
The last four letters in Democrats………Rats
End of lesson. Test to follow in November.
Remember, November is to be set aside as rodent extermination month.
We also got e-mails from the conspiracy-minded:
Nice try. But not compelling. Your idiots wanted to change BC and AD to “Before Common Era” to avoid a reference to “Christ.” And by “academic experts,” you, of course, mean liberals. When you can show me “separation of church and state” in the Constitution, I’ll show you a pig that flies. It’s not in there, Kathy, and I think you know it.
Liberals such as yourself can’t stand the idea that ANY conservative (American) ideals might supplant the liberal crap that your academics force-feed our students every day. You shouldn’t worry, you still have most school boards, superintendents, and universities operating from a far left point of view. The good news is, that if we can teach our children to think before they get to UT or Berkeley, maybe the Robert Jensen types won;t be able to administer their liberal indoctrination.
We’re an exceptional nation, Kathy. Deal with it.
A writer who identified himself as a retired elementary principal also disputed whether the Constitution guarantees separation of church and state. And he suggests where folks can find accurate information about the curriculum debate in Texas:
I also think I think that teachers making curriculum decisions was once workable but today Left wing teacher Unions like the NEA and AFT would make these decisions which would not be supportive of the general value system of the General popuilation. Another problem is may of your so called Scholars are way outside the mainstream and also tend to lean to the Far Liberal Left. By the way the major cable news channel Fox applauded that the state board had the guts to stand up for the prevalent Christian values of the United States and were not swayed by the left wing media of the USA.
PS: By the way Austin is a fun city but is mostly made up of Left Winged Kook
Many writers pretended to know what Kathy and other TFN staff members believe when it comes to matters of faith, falling back on the insulting assumption that anyone who disagrees with them must be anti-religion:
People like you and I will never agree on what a fair presentation of history is, as when we look outside we do not see the same world. I see one where man is inherently flawed and must look to the Christian God for guidance, forgiveness and provision; you see one of secular humanist utopia being just around the corner if only we can give the “right” leaders another chance. I’ve seen that movie and I’m not interested in watching it again.
And apparently, if we don’t hate religion, we must hate America. From another writer:
You miserable people have been trying to destroy this great nation for years. You try to appear “concerned” for our future when you really hate what this country has always stood for. You should be ashamed of yourselves. You have pushed the real America around too much for too long and we are not standing by to watch you do it any more. God bless America!
We’ll end on a positive note:
I read your article in the Morning News today and felt compelled to contact you. Please, please keep up the campaign for letting academics and historians have the final say about what our history books teach our children. I definitely agree that the State Board of Education members are in no way qualified to speak to the intent of our Founding Fathers or the Constitution or anything else for that matter contained in text books. I am so tired of religious zealots and the “morally superior” making a mockery of our state. When facts become known as “leftist” ideals we are all in trouble. I know both parties contain incompetents…..just a shame when they are in the majority and are allowed to shout down the reasonable among us. As each year goes by, I am more and more embarrassed to call myself a Texan. Again, thanks for your article and keeping up the fight!
Very kind. (And not one naughty word!)
“Socoalists?” Are those coal-fired?
One Letter Said:
“People like you and I will never agree on what a fair presentation of history is, as when we look outside we do not see the same world. I see one where man is inherently flawed and must look to the Christian God for guidance, forgiveness and provision; you see one of secular humanist utopia being just around the corner if only we can give the “right” leaders another chance. I’ve seen that movie and I’m not interested in watching it again.”
These people are apparently not aware that this so-called utopia they are talking about is the principal idea of Rousas Rushdoony, one of the major ideological gurus of the Religious Right. Rushdoony was a postmillenialist who taught that Christians (like the ones who wrote the letters to TFN) are predestined to take dominion over the entire world and bring about (through human agency) a perfect world, a world so bright and shining for 1000 years, that Jesus will look down on it from heaven and say,”Men have made the world clean, and holy and inviting for me. I can return to Earth now without fear of being soiled.”
That’s heresy against the Christian faith—plain and simple. There is no direct teaching like this in the Bible or even one that could be credibly extrapolated from it. Even many of the old country preachers in the small Christian fundamentalist churches know Rushdoony was full of it. Yet, these same people that wrote these letters to TFN are completely unaware that Rushdoony and his surviving minions are practically in charge of the religious content of homeschool materials all across the United States—and that his heretical ideas are being taught to their children on the sly as if it was the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This is a well known fact. I can give you references. When are these people going to wake up?
A retired elementary school principal? Surely not.This letter deserves an F.
This is a retired elementary school principal impersonator.
Two things that make me happy:
They have the freedom of speech to say those things; you have the freedom to post them here.
I’m so proud of everyone who came out and spoke the truth: historians, scholars, educators, and residents.
Let’s give that “liberal school” thing a shot. Anybody else in?
A paraphrase from a law professor in the 1930’s often quoted by my father:
We all have a constitutional right to our opinions. However, we must remember that no one has a right to be taken seriously. That is a privilege that must be earned.
Senator Webb wrote a book, “Born Fighting”, on the history and culture of the South, largely about “Rednecks” that bears on the Culture Wars overall.
This book focuses on the Scot-Irish whose history in Scotland was characterised active resistence of the poor farmer against the lairds of the castle, the latter often being educated and often foreign. The anger and contempt felt against these elitist rulers remains to this day. The Scots who revolted against the English Crown, then held by King James I (aka King James VI of Scotland) were deported to Ireland (Ulster) where the tension carries on today.
Once America became open, many of the Scots-Irish immigrated and were invited to use their fighting skills a bit further to the west where the Indians threatened the peace of the Anglo famers. Thus the Redneck moved to the Alleghenies and followed the valleys to the Deep South. Their fighting spirit and contempt of intellectualism was a major factor in the secession movement and of the Confederate forces.
Reconstruction had the same effect as did the repressions of the English in Ulster and Scotland, and the deep seated anger at those who “put on airs” continues to this day. The economic devastation of the South incident to the Reconstruction took a century to recover from. As a continuation of a thousand years of struggle, the “guns and bible” tradition isn’t going to fade with a few arudite dismissals by academicians.
The attractiveness of the image of the revenge of the downtrodden faithful is not to be underestimated. The battles of the SBOE are just the beginning. This time the faithful are media savvy, well funded, and organized. The Main Stream Media (MSM) is seen as enemy propaganda.
The rumors of a gun seizure by the goverment lead to a major shortage of ammunition on the markets as the faithful armed themselves. The concept of open fighting is widely discussed on the blogosphere which is whipped up by some pretty outrageous stories such as the reports that President Obama ordered the arrest of any state governor that attempted to arm state militia’s other than the National Guard.
One of the side effects of the internet is that people can easily bypass any news that does not fit preconceptions, and create the illusion of masss support for whatever the favored belief is.
These are dangerous times. I have not seen such sound and fury since WW2.
Well, other than the suck-up, those were some very touching, heart-felt and completely deranged comments.
I am still astounded whenever I remember the death threats and threats of physical violence, as well as the threats to his superiors, when PZ Myers tossed the Communion wafer into the trash, with photographic evidence. I don’t deny believers their right to object, as forcefully as they wish, but really, they played right into his hands when the many, many, death threats were made by supposed “devout Christians”.
Apparently the righties who sent the hate mail did not listen to their commie pinko teachers when they sought to teach them to read, spell, and write grammatically. Nothing exposes ignorance so much as written comments. What a testimony about the state of education in Texas. The dumber the prouder, Governor Perry!
I must confess I’ve sent correspondence, some not so very nice, to Cynthia Dunbar,Don McLeroy and the revisionist historian David Barton. I never got a reply, imagine that. Anyway The Texas Board of Education has changed things up and it’s no longer possible to email board members directly. Now they can run……and hide!
Jefferson graduated from William and Mary and later started UVA. He was a founding father, wrote the Declaration of Independence, was a foreign ambassador and a two term president. Cynthia Dunbar has a law degree from Pat Robertson U, which carries almost as much weight as a law degree dug out of the Cap’n Crunch box on the bottom shelf in aisle 7 at Kroger. Which of the two know what’s best for America?. Hmm…gee that’s a tough one….
Hamilton? After a particularly contentious session at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 the boys gathered the following morning to start discussions again. One delegate suggested they open with a prayer to which Hamilton replied “we are not in need of any foreign aid.”
Far-left, “marxist”, “liberal”, “socialist”. Yup, someone’s been paying attention to fair and balanced reporting.
One even had to work Obama in. These people are really missing the point.
“Cynthia Dunbar has a law degree from Pat Robertson U, which carries almost as much weight as a law degree dug out of the Cap’n Crunch box on the bottom shelf in aisle 7 at Kroger.”
And the congregation said, “Amen!!!”
That’s being unfair to Kroger
If our schools have been so Left for so long, how can they have produced so many right wingnuts?
I wish I had been lucky enough to attend one of these left wing academies that apparently proliferated everywhere in the country, except where I happened to attend public school. Has anyone ever seen a football score from a game between a Catholic High School and a Unitarian High School? No? Well, neither have I.
Kroger can take it, they’re big boys.
I don’t get out much so when I read about the proposal to include in the Tx social studies curriculum the “Discuss the efforts by the United Nations to undermine American sovereignty and create a One World Government” nonsense I thought it was just a garden variety conspiracy theory, much like the UFOs in Roswell New Mexico. And so naturally I thought it could be dispelled with reason and logic. Will the crazy ayatollahs in Iran ever willingly cede power to a world governing body? How ’bout the Chinese leaders that have a death grip on that society? Or ol’ Kim Dung Illness over there in North Korea? The Sauds in Arabia? Russia? Japan? No, no, no no, no and no – as in never. If history has taught us one thing it’s that those who hold power will do about anything, including things quite drastic, to maintain that power. George Washington stepping down willingly after 2 terms as president when he could have hung around and been granted king-like status is the lone exception I can think of in history.
But alas the One World Government theory cannot be dispelled with logic and reason because, previously unbeknownst to me, it comes from the Bible, the Book of Revelation (I think). The theory says something about the world coming together as one united entity and the emergence of a world leader who is the anti-Christ. And the Rapture figures in there somehow as well (doesn’t it always?) Obviously I’m not well schooled on the theory. But it is a matter of faith and so logic and reason go right out the window.
Pat Robertson wrote a book on this whole One World Gov deal back in ’90 or ’91. And of course Cynthia Misguided is a graduate of Pat Robertson U. Good golly Gomer it’s a small world!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_Behind_(series)
http://www.leftbehind.com/
The Left Behind series of books, comics, videos and films are accepted in varying degrees to around a third of the American electorate. Some believe that Satan, the Anti-Christ is on the earth and manifested in the works of the EU and/or the UN. Such worthies as Jon Stewart and Colbert in their very astute comedy news shows have featured lampoons of the left behind theme.
US foreign policy has been decisively influenced by the LeftBehind requirement that the unification of Greater Israel and the construction of the Temple are preconditions for the Second Coming. In some circles, the events described in the LeftBehind series are treated as if there was a contract between Jesus and the faithful to return once the conditions spelled out in the requirements of the LeftBehind “Christian dispensationalist End Times: pretribulation, premillennial, Christian eschatological viewpoint of the end of the world”
One of the events laid down in the LeftBehind story is that the Anti-Christ revives Babylon as headquarters. I suspect that one of the prime motivators for the invasion of Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom was taht Saddam was rebuilding Babylon as part of restoring Iraqi ancient sites. When President Bush announced that it was a simple case of Good vs Evil, and in this regard he was not using hyperbole. This was real.
See also the website for Jack van Impe who is the leading TV personality in the series which are carried on a lot of mainstreat channels at various times:
http://www.jvim.com/
For those who wish to be prepared for the Rapture see also the Rapture Index the signs of the times:
http://www.raptureready.com/rap2.html
It is very important for TFN customers to understand the full nature and impact of this theology. Many of my friends have never heard of it, and tell me that no one can be this loony.
They can and are.
Oh my, what an outpouring of Christian Love we see above here. Of course, we Jews and other non-Christians have been feeling Christian Love for 2,000 years so there is nothing new at all to be found in the sentiments expressed in the mail.
I particularly enjoyed the word game, the one with the “I CANs”. Man, that was soooo enlightening. However, the writer should note that RATS are very intelligent creatures and, whether we like them or not, they have been a most successful specie. And it is highly unlikely that RATS will EVER be exterminated. One will have to make the active ingredient rat gene-specific in order to have a chance at success.
@ Gordon Fowkes: I nearly fell off my chair: For once we agree on something! I’m familiar with these books. I’ve read the grand-daddy of them all, the one that started the entire genre: The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey.
Yes, you are absolutely right that it is imperative the public be cognizant of these books and what a grip they have on not just the American electorate but the U.S. government. (Remember the large population of congresspeople who are members of The Family (aka The Fellowship) – whether the congresspeople actually live in the K-Street house or not). This is the same group that hosts the Prayer Breakfast.
Like I’ve said here so many times: It’s not the rhetoric and writing of these looney-tunes that scare me. And it’s not that these people exist. It’s the fact that they have such a large and gullible following that includes not just the ignorati but even the well-educated. That’s what scares the s**t out of me!