Critical Thinking

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/1012974/texas_republicans_seek_to_ban_critical_thinking_in_public_schools/

I posted the link first, so you could get up to speed on this. I was in a Jon Stewart / Bill Maher reality when I thought this through. I am trying to beat them. 


So critical thinking would allow you to make informed decisions about all kinds of things. 


I am citing the Texas Republican platform, just to have it in front of me as I type this. 


Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.


In the article it bring up a good point, this may be related to Arizona's Bill HB2281 - the teaching of Chicano/a studies in Public Schools. I realize that there are a lot of illegal immigrants in Texas (and Arizona). The children attending the public schools may be born in the USA. They are American Citizens and of course it is reasonable to expect they know stuff about their country of birth. But kids can learn a lot, there is lot of room in their brains for additional information. Texas an Arizona are next to Mexico. Wouldn't it be good to know something about another country that you may go to? Even if you aren't a Chicano/a. Critical thinking may be involved in your deciding to visit or not to.


There is a  religion which originated in Eastern Europe,the Mennonites. They believe everything you need to know is in the Bible. One of them speak Low German and read that version of the Bible. They were persecuted in Europe so they came to the New World. To prevent being stuck again, in a situation where they are at risk they are highly mobile. They maintain citizenship in at least two countries at a time. To facilitate this they migrate from one country to another every second generation. As a group they have very strong beliefs in pacifism, which means they get a religious exemption from drafts. Anyway, I am not going to go into all their beliefs, the one thing that does not have occurred is their learning the culture or customs of the country they are in. In Mexico/Argentina/Uruguay there are whole communities which are isolated from the surrounding villages and towns. they do go there, to shop and they may know a little of the local language, but they have no interest in assimilating. 


Restricting education like Texas and Arizona want to do leads to this type of thinking. I know the Texans will say it is not the same, get over it, it is.


So today, we have an American. It looks like he is a young guy, possibly from Milwaukee or one of its suburbs. This guy took his trusty assault rifle to a Gurdwara. This is a Sikh place of worship/cultural centre/school. He killed 7 and injured some more. He himself was killed by a police officer doing his job. 


I could get sarcastic here about the cop using critical thing to figure out who the perp was, but that would be too easy. 


CNN in an effort to educate Americans decided to teach that Sikhs were not Muslims. 


The perpetrator of this heinous act is dead, maybe he left notes, a Facebook page or an essay some place on why he did this. There are allegations in CNN reporting as well as other news networks/papers which state that attacks on the Sikh Community have been on the rise since 9/11. CNN innocently said this.


The Sikh religion originated in northern India in the early 1500s. Sikh men are identifiable by their beards and turbans, but often confused for Hindus or Muslims. There are roughly 25 million Sikhs in the world, 700,000 of whom live in the United States, according to the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund.


What are the chances buddy in Wisconsin may not have done what he did with his assault weapon if he knew the difference between the two religions, but he had a fixed belief. Not that I am suggesting it would have been right against the other one. Wisconsin was one of the leading states in education in the USA, that is until a certain Governor got elected.


There are dangers inherent in xenophobia and its denial in multicultural countries, especially where there is a first Amendment which allows politicians to say whatever they hell they want and be protected.