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[videogamer]

Students at one of the area's largest Christian schools are reading a controversial booklet that critics say whitewashes Southern slavery with its view that slaves lived "a life of plenty, of simple pleasures."

Leaders at Cary Christian School say they are not condoning slavery by using "Southern Slavery, As It Was," a booklet that attempts to provide a biblical justification for slavery and asserts that slaves weren't treated as badly as people think.

Principal Larry Stephenson said the school is only exposing students to different ideas, such as how the South justified slavery. He said the booklet is used because it is hard to find writings that are both sympathetic to the South and explore what the Bible says about slavery.

"You can have two different sides, a Northern perspective and a Southern perspective," he said.

'SOUTHERN SLAVERY, AS IT WAS'

Here are some excerpts from the booklet:

* "To say the least, it is strange that the thing the Bible condemns (slave-trading) brings very little opprobrium upon the North, yet that which the Bible allows (slave-ownership) has brought down all manner of condemnation upon the South." (page 22)

* "As we have already mentioned, the 'peculiar institution' of slavery was not perfect or sinless, but the reality was a far cry from the horrific descriptions given to us in modern histories." (page 22)

* "Slavery as it existed in the South was not an adversarial relationship with pervasive racial animosity. Because of its dominantly patriarchal character, it was a relationship based upon mutual affection and confidence." (page 24)

* "There has never been a multi-racial society which has existed with such mutual intimacy and harmony in the history of the world." (page 24)

* "Slave life was to them a life of plenty, of simple pleasures, of food, clothes, and good medical care." (page 25)

* "But many Southern blacks supported the South because of long established bonds of affection and trust that had been forged over generations with their white masters and friends." (page 27)

* "Nearly every slave in the South enjoyed a higher standard of living than the poor whites of the South -- and had a much easier existence." (page 30)

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1913619p-8258411c.html

of course, they're a private school so they get a lot of leeway with what is covered

 

[Zilch]

Christians-are-evil thread of the day.

 

[Piecake]

wtf

this is just really...depressing.

 

[levious]

FAMOUS ATHEIST CHANGES MIND (again), NO LONGER BELIEVES IN GOD

 

[xsarien]

Well, at least this particular brand of stupid isn't tax-payer funded.

 

[videogamer]

Christians-are-evil thread of the day.

No, they're trying to be "fair and balanced" over something they don't need.

 

[KingGondo]

FAMOUS ATHEIST CHANGES MIND (again), NO LONGER BELIEVES IN GOD

:lol

 

[ManDudeChild]

I can agree that the victors of wars write history, but even with that said, this is still bullshit.

 

[Father_Brain]

http://carychristianschool.org/NewsAndEvents/default.cfm

Actually, they took the booklet out of the curriculum, supposedly because of questions about its accuracy, which until now they hadn't been aware of. Right. Of course, it couldn't possibly be because the article made them look like white supremacists in front of the entire country. Nope.

As you may be aware, today the News and Observer published a rather negative article about Cary Christian School and our use of a small booklet supplement entitled, "Southern Slavery, As It Was". Within the article it stated, "the booklet has received criticism from a number of historians and that it has been pulled from publication because of faulty footnotes and citation errors."

We were unaware of these findings and as a result have already pulled this booklet from our curriculum. Let us reiterate that it is always our goal in the secondary grades to present two sides of an argument. At no time has slavery ever been condoned in our curriculum. As Mr. Stephenson stated within the article, "Slavery is wrong, that’s not debatable. The South was wrong about the slave trade."

We apologize for this oversight and covet your prayers for our school.

 

[Traumahound]

"As a classical Christian school, we think it's important for our students to be able to think and not be slanted to a particular position," Stephenson said. "We want them to think for themselves."

Nah, too easy.

 

[Mercury Fred]

As you may be aware, today the News and Observer published a rather negative article about Cary Christian School and our use of a small booklet supplement entitled, "Southern Slavery, As It Was". Within the article it stated, "the booklet has received criticism from a number of historians and that it has been pulled from publication because of faulty footnotes and citation errors."

We were unaware of these findings and as a result have already pulled this booklet from our curriculum. Let us reiterate that it is always our goal in the secondary grades to present two sides of an argument. At no time has slavery ever been condoned in our curriculum. As Mr. Stephenson stated within the article, "Slavery is wrong, that’s not debatable. The South was wrong about the slave trade."

We apologize for this oversight and covet your prayers for our school.

WTF? Thou shalt not covet!

 

[bishoptl]

We were unaware of these findings and as a result have already pulled this booklet from our curriculum. Let us reiterate that it is always our goal in the secondary grades to present two sides of an argument. At no time has slavery ever been condoned in our curriculum.

Why couldn't the military jet strafe this school instead of the one in New Jersey?