Hijacking History: How the Christian Right Teaches History and Why It Matters

Product Description
The teaching of history has long been the subject of partisan warfare. Religion often plays a prominent role in these debates, as secular progressives and conservative Christians disagree over which historical figures are worthy of study, how (or whether) certain events should be portrayed,
and ultimately how tax dollars should be spent. But what about students who are educated outside the public schools, either in religious schools or at home? How are they learning history, and what effect does that have on our democracy?
Hijacking History analyzes the high school world history textbooks produced by the three most influential publishers of Christian educational materials. In these books, the historian, informed by his faith, tells the allegedly unbiased story of God's actions as interpreted through the Bible. History
becomes a weapon to judge and condemn civilizations that do not accept the true God or adopt “biblical” positions. In their treatment of the modern world, these texts identify ungodly ideas to be vanquished-evolution, humanism, biblical modernism, socialism, and climate science among them.
The judgments found in these textbooks, Kathleen Wellman shows, are rooted in the history of American evangelicals and fundamentalists and the battles they fought against the tide of secularism. In assuming that God sanctions fundamentalist positions on social, political, and economic issues,
students are led to believe that that the ultimate mission of America is to succeed as a nation that advances evangelical Christianity and capitalism throughout the world. The Christianity presented in these textbooks is proselytizing, intolerant of other religions and non-evangelical Christians,
and unquestionably anchored to the political right.
As
Hijacking History argues, the ideas these textbooks promote have significant implications for contemporary debates about religion, politics, and education, and pose a direct challenge to the values of a pluralistic democracy.
Review
"
Hijacking History is essential reading for those invested in understanding the culture and politics of conservative white evangelicals. In this meticulously documented and at times chilling account, Kathleen Wellman examines the historical narratives that have shaped the values of generations of
Americans, with profound consequences for our nation's democratic norms and institutions." -- Kristin Kobes Du Mez, author of
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation
"Many conservative Christians are taught a distorted view of the past, one which inevitably distorts their view of the present, and their own place in it. Kathleen Wellman's Hijacking History provides a timely examination of this vitally important problem." -- Kevin M. Kruse, author of
One Nation
Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America
"This alarming, even hair-raising book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the potentially catastrophic consequences of our current cultural and political divisions. Kathleen Wellman offers a meticulous and fair-minded evaluation of the ways the Christian right teaches American
and world history. The picture she draws should compel anyone interested in historical truth to get involved in fighting the increasing proliferation of these distortions and deformities. The American republic is at stake." -- Lynn Hunt, author of
History: Why It Matters
About the Author
Kathleen Wellman is Dedman Family Distinguished Professor of History and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor at Southern Methodist University