Those pilgrims were such wonderful people

The Dover, PA School Board controversy over Intelligent Design and Creationism reasserted that both those ideologies are religion, not science, and not to be taught in science classrooms. Yet, according to a Pennsylvania State University survey of schools, about one in eight high school biology teachers teach those two topics. Almost all also taught evolution, but spent a lot less time on that than the religious view of things. It is up to the teachers to carry out the curriculum. They're the ones, not the judges, who are actually in the classroom.

But it seems Creationism pales before another scary onslaught -- fake history. Our national mythology, from the pilgrims (religious bullies of their day) on down, is such that Christian revisionist history isn't challenged nearly as much as Creationism. The method of dissemination of fake history is much wider than biology textbooks are for Creationism and includes insertion by the Department of Defense into Junior ROTC programs. And it may matter more.

The reason for all this fakery is simple: He who controls the past controls the future. History, and the mythologies we build around it, permeates every aspect of our culture. If the Right can convince enough schoolkids their historical identity has been stolen and must be restored, their battle is nearly won. It doesn't matter that such history doesn't stand up under scrutiny. It only needs to be believed to affect culture. It is being believed to the point that fake history is being used in Congressional debates.

One would expect such government sponsored lies from a totalitarian regime, such as Germany in the 1930s or the Soviet Union. But this is free America! Isn't it?

Here are a few of the consequences of fake history:

Destroy the separation of Church and State through the idea that while the state is supposed to stay out of the church, the reverse is not true. We as a society allowed its steady erosion over the last two decades because so many are convinced the idea is a fraud, a pernicious myth.

Undermine the rights and increase the persecution of minorities. Undermine religious liberty. Put pluralistic society and American democracy at risk. Divide our country into two camps, one embracing false history, leading to the collapse of the center and polarization of all debate.

By 2002 only 45% of Americans believed the USA is a secular nation.

If today's Congressmen, educated before revisionist history was developed, spout fake history and create government policy based on it, then what will our nation be like when those who are taught it begin to get elected to government?

It seems a common refrain is to brand the Left as "secular fundamentalist" who are so anti-religious that they want to keep all hint of religion out of the public square. That statement has at least two faulty debate points. (1) Accusing your opponent of acting on your own misguided traits (I want to ban all hints of secularism from the public square, so you must be aiming to ban all religion from the public square). (2) Offering a false choice of only two extreme options. Here are a number of quotes about religion in the public square and some of the speakers show how pervasive the "Christian nation" ideas have become.