So for example with McCarthyism we should portray the cold war and its intensity, and the fear about spies leaking criminal information. We should present the view that communism is incompatible with the freedoms of America and that McCarthyism was necessary to prevent that threat. We should also prevent the view that communism is incompatible with American values but McCarthyism was also incompatible with those values. We should talk about how those errors were actually violations of rights, and how McCarthyism was a witch hunt where evidence was often at the level of he said/she said. We should present the Oppenheimer trial in all its gory detail from both sides.

You'd be amazed about how many Americans born well after the fact don't even know about how Oppenheimer (the man who developed the bomb that ended WWII) was treated by the Eisenhower administration due to McCarthyism.

Quote Originally Posted by Thorne View Post
Sometimes I do try to curb my biases. I'm not always successful, but I do try.

And you're right. Only one point of view is not, necessarily, correct. Subjects which teach subjective matter, such as English literature, psychology, etc., should portray multiple points of view. Objective subjects, on the other hand, should be required to teach the "approved" material, with the approval coming from those who have spent their lives studying it.

Would you want to attend an astronomy course with the curriculum determined by a flat-earther? Should a lawyer decide which laws of physics are applicable? (You knew this one was coming) Should biblical literalists determine the subject matter of a biology course? I don't believe any of these situations should occur, yet they happen all the time.

And to be fair, I also don't think an atheist would be acceptable laying out religious instruction. Although, I've seen some atheists who are far more informed of some religious belief systems than those who profess to be believers. Maybe a course in comparative religion should be taught by an atheist.

The point it, there are some things which cannot be decided by uninformed individuals. Let the experts determine what is right. Instead of allowing school boards decide what should taught in biology or geology or algebra classes, let the biologists, geologists and mathematicians decide. They are the ones who would know, after all.