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| Britain |
| Churchill dropped from England's history syllabus |
| 2007-07-13 |
| Be sure to read comments! Britain's World War II prime minister Winston Churchill has been cut from a list of key historical figures recommended for teaching in English secondary schools, a government agency says. The radical overhaul of the school curriculum for 11- to 14-year-olds is designed to bring secondary education up to date and allow teachers more flexibility in the subjects they teach, the Government said. But although Adolf Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi, Joseph Stalin and Martin Luther King have also been dropped from the detailed guidance accompanying the curriculum, Sir Winston's exclusion is likely to leave traditionalists aghast. A spokesman for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority said the new curriculum, to be taught from September 2008, does not prescribe to teachers what they must include. But he added: "Teachers know that they need to mention these pivotal figures. They don't need to be instructed by law to mention them in every history class. "Of course, good teachers will be teaching the history of Churchill as part of the history of Britain. The two are indivisible." Sir Winston's grandson Nicholas Soames, also a Conservative Member of Parliament, described the move as "madness." "It is absurd. I expect he wasn't New Labour enough for them ... this is a Government that is very careless of British history and always has been. "The teaching of history is incredibly important," he added. "If you're surprised that people do not seem to care that much about the country in which they live, the reason is that they don't know much about it." The History Curriculum Association said it was "appalled" by the move, saying the new curriculum would "promote ignorance" and was pandering to a politically-correct agenda. The Conservatives' schools spokesman Michael Gove added: "Winston Churchill is the towering figure of 20th century British history. "His fight against fascism was Britain's finest hour. Our national story can't be told without Churchill at the centre." Schools Secretary Ed Balls defended the move, saying a slimmed-down curriculum was overdue and traditional elements in all subjects had been protected. Among the few named figures that stay in the new history curriculum are William Wilberforce, the British law maker who was instrumental in efforts to abolish the slave trade. Sir Winston, who was British prime minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955, was famous for his defiance to the Nazis, stirring oratory and trademark cigar and "V for victory" sign. In 2002, a BBC poll with more than one million votes saw him voted the Greatest Briton of all time. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #14 Well, he was half-American, doncha know. can't have that trash in our new open British society...... |
| Posted by: Thineter Hitler9656 2007-07-13 20:15 |
| #13 "He who controls the past controls the future" Big Brother is your friend. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-07-13 19:58 |
| #12 And then they came for history..... - thats the left. |
| Posted by: newc 2007-07-13 19:06 |
| #11 FIVE-MINUTE CLASSES FOR KIDS More details.... |
| Posted by: KBK 2007-07-13 18:05 |
| #10 The man had guts and a spine--no doubt. Something the toadie politicians of today know nothing. Here and across the pond. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-07-13 16:51 |
| #9 But although Adolf Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi, Joseph Stalin and Martin Luther King have also been dropped from the detailed guidance accompanying the curriculum, Sir Winston's exclusion is likely to leave traditionalists aghast. Let's be honest. By comparison, Britain's current round of leaders all look like neutered toothless poodles unworthy of having Churchill piss on them if they were set ablaze. How intimidating it must be to vainly posture and prink about in the shadow a man who was unabashedly called Nazis and fascists what they really were: Namely, "Thugs and guttersnipes". Does anyone really think British politicians could ever be so unvarnished as that and not begin to rot after the first light rain? "It is absurd. I expect he wasn't New Labour enough for them ... this is a Government that is very careless of British history and always has been. Careless, not just of British history, but of Britain's future survival as a free nation. Something that Churchill cared about far more deeply than this bunch of Islam appeasing tossers. "His fight against fascism was Britain's finest hour. Our national story can't be told without Churchill at the centre." This cadre of revisionist traitors cannot bear to see WWII anti-fascist Britain mantled in the least shred of glory. They would sooner wipe their arses with the Union Jack than have a single schoolchild recall even one millisecond of "Britain's finest hour". In 2002, a BBC poll with more than one million votes saw him voted the Greatest Briton of all time. The "Greatest Briton" in living memory? Most certainly, without doubt. King John's enactment of the Magna Carta might give him an historical edge. Our modern world owes both of these giants a debt that surpasses estimation. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-07-13 16:34 |
| #8 As a young man Churchill understood Islam (see 'River Wars' excerpt above) - an unusual accomplishment. As a more mature man he was significantly responsible for what became the disaster at Gallipoli - but he was not an idiot for trying a daring and unusual tactic. It could have worked and shortened the war by years. Lessons learned were applied at Normandy, etc. He was about the only voice warning of Hitler during the '30's, and what little air defense England had was due to his back bench campaigning. All that was before his brief moments of fame. As soon as the crisis passed, he was discarded again. His 'History of English Speaking Peoples' should ensure his place in history for centuries, but sadly, even that is now being discarded, to the detriment of all civilization. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-07-13 16:21 |
| #7 "Colorado" |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-07-13 15:58 |
| #6 WTF? You would have thought people were talking about Ward Churchill--that a$shole from Colorada. In 2002, a BBC poll with more than one million votes saw him voted the Greatest Briton of all time. I read the comments as far as I could stomach many of them. I guess some Brits would have preferred to be speaking German or Italian today. We have our share of moonbats too. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-07-13 15:56 |
| #5 I can understand dropping Churchill. After all, he was a bad example: he stood up to evil, he smoked and drank. /sarcasm It's like the American history books that, if they mention Washington and Jefferson at all, stress that they were slave owners, rather than the great things they did and wrote. |
| Posted by: Rambler 2007-07-13 15:01 |
| #4 Not yet sarge. As soon as reading the Koran all the time supplants all learning, they will have. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-07-13 14:20 |
| #3 OK Now they have hit bottom. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2007-07-13 14:05 |
| #2 Winston Churchill (The River War, 1899): “How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property - either as a child, a wife, or a concubine - must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen: all know how to die. But the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytising faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science - the science against which it had vainly struggled - the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2007-07-13 13:50 |
| #1 Churchill? Oh, yeah...big fat guy? Smoked cigars, right? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-07-13 13:35 |