Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Genie?

Apparently Michele Bachmann is.

While Bachmann’s five biological children attended religious schools in the area, the 23 foster children she has taken in -- never more than five at a time and all girls -- attended public schools.

Bachmann said she was “troubled” by the material the foster kids were bringing home because it lacked an “academic foundation.”

In 1993, she helped start the New Heights School, one of the first public charter schools in Minnesota.

Almost immediately, reports that the publicly funded school was dabbling in religion began trickling home to parents. Denise Stephens, the mother of a student, said a teacher banned the Disney movie “Aladdin” because it depicted magic. An American Indian-themed art project was nixed. And there was talk that the special board created to help guide the school, which included Bachmann, wanted to mandate prayer and a religious curriculum.

The school district started a fact-finding inquiry that confirmed evidence the curriculum involved religion, according to Stephens. At a packed public meeting, just three months after the school opened, Bachmann and four other board members resigned when presented with the parents’ concerns, Stephens said.

UPDATE: (for marK's sake)

In 2001 Bachmann joined Maple River Education Coalition (MREC).

...in a fact-sheet they drafted for the MREC two years later, revolved around a fear that federal education policy (of which the Profile was an extension) was stealthily laying the groundwork for a "state-planned economy." The Profile, which was initially created by former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson, established 10 basic "learning areas" that students were required to pass—things like reading, writing, and mathematics. But according to Bachmann and Chapman, this was merely a gateway; they argued that public schools, in collaboration with business interests, would then funnel children to specific careers through a program called School to Work. Officials in Washington, in that dystopian scenario, would form "workforce boards" to promote different sectors of the economy—green jobs, say—depending on their political whims.

"Government is implementing policies that will lead to poverty, not prosperity, by adopting the failed ideas of a state planned and managed economy similar to that of the former Soviet Union," Bachmann and Chapman wrote. "The system is based upon a utilitarian worldview that measures human value only in terms of productive capability for the 'best interests of the state.'"

...

When the group, which by that point had rebranded itself as EdWatch and begun to expand its reach into other states, held its national convention in 2004, the charismatic state senator was a natural choice to deliver the keynote address. This time, the focus wasn't on encroaching United Nations tyranny; it was on a threat of a different sort. In a 45-minute speech, Bachmann tackled the specter of the gay agenda in public schools. She alleged that teachers were indoctrinating students in homosexuality and encouraging children to give it a try. Even the word itself—"gay"—was an issue. "It's part of Satan, I think, to say that this is 'gay,'" she warned. "It's anything but 'gay.'"

Even Pawlenty, then the state's Republican governor and currently one of Bachmann's top rivals for the 2012 nomination, wasn't immune to the group's scathing criticism: "Under Governor Pawlenty's supervision, his administration is actively promoting the indoctrination of students into a homosexual worldview and value system," it warned in an open letter in 2006.

When Bachmann went to Washington, DC, she took Maple River/EdWatch with her. Julie Quist, a former MREC board member, went on to take a job as Bachmann's district director; Renee Doyle, the former school board member who founded the organization, currently works in the congresswoman's Washington office. The group closed up shop last December, but Effrem simultaneously launched a new organization, Education Liberty Watch, whose mission is more or less the same.


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6 comments:

marK said...

All this happened in 1993 -- nearly twenty years ago. I've got a ten-year statute of limitations of stupidity.

We are all human. We all make mistakes. The question is, did we learn from our mistakes? If you haven't repeated the mistake in more than ten years, then you have learned the lesson. You are now sadder but wiser.

So unless you have proof of Michele starting another charter school and pushing religion again in it since this time, then it's all water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned.

It was foolish. It was a mistake. But she's moved on. So should we.

larry said...

This isn't a one shot deal with Bachmann.

She has a history of associating with groups that have wacko religious views.

Just recently, she stopped attending a church that believes The Pope is the anti-Christ.

There are also several videos out there with her weird religious rants

Anonymous said...

Apparently, the Bachmanns attended a Lutheran Church. As you probably know, the Lutheran Church is based on the teachings of Martin Luther, who had the courage to break with the Catholic Church over some serious doctrinal issues.

Luther was a very important figure in the Reformation. These were people who really had to fight for what they believed in. So what if they thought the Pope was the anti-Christ? Apparently, that is a doctrine that was established a long, long time ago.

When dealing with politics and religion in America, I think we are going to have to look at what that religion does and not analyze their doctrine to death. Religion seems crazy to all non-believers, and pretty much all religions have beliefs that seem silly to those who don't subscribe to that religion. Let's leave the Pope/anti-Christ thing alone. It can only lead to division of our party, and the Left (our common adversaries) will win.

AZ

Anonymous said...

AZ,

I bet that you wouldn't be so blithe about Bachmann's church calling the Papalcy the anti-Christ if you were Catholic. You may feel like singing kumbaya with Bachmann, but millions of Catholic Americans wouldn't feel so kindly to her if she were the nominee.

Anonymous said...

Funny how marK comes on here with his smarmy live and let live shmaltz, but when I provide a documented rebuttal for his touchy feely defense of Bachmann he is no where to be found.

Anonymous said...

DanL,

You are on a role today, aren't you? Did you have a fight with your wife, or something?

If you don't like my defense of the Lutherans, why don't you go to Article VI Blog and read what John Schroeder wrote about the Lutheran Church and Michele Bachmann. He is much better at talking about religion than I am, and I thought he made some very good points. By the way, he's not a Bachmann supporter, either.

I am not a passionate Bachmann supporter, so I don't know why you are so anxious to knock me for singing her praises. I simply advocate that we not go crazy looking for religious reasons to divide us politically. Those of us with similar political philosophies need to unite together, or the Left will successfully drive us apart. I apologize if any Catholics are offended by any of my comments.

AZ