How Secular History Textbooks Corrupt Our Children’s Minds and Faith

In today’s fast-paced, rapid-fire political and social environment, we often find ourselves either focused on what is happening right now or looking to the future. After all, with so many breaking news headlines and current trends constantly blasting us in the face, who has time to think about last week, let alone what happened years or centuries ago? Still, understanding the past is crucial to making sense of our world today.

For instance, as we face uncertainties in our economy and society, it would be good to know what economic and moral choices worked in the past and which didn’t. But before you crack open your old history textbook or start searching Wikipedia, it is critical to think about who wrote the book or article you’re about to learn from. Think about it—we probably all took some sort of history class in high school or college, but did you ever think about whose version of history you were being told? What were the professor’s philosophic leanings, and what were the biases of the author?

Today, the world is full of distrust. News agencies, AI, government officials, social media influencers—we could all list dozens of people and entities that we don’t trust. But what about in the classroom? What lessons from the past are our children being taught? After all, some of the same worldviews and agendas that shape the actions of pastors, politicians, and influencers also can be found entrenched in the history that our children read. And while a history textbook is an essential part of any history class, we rarely consider if the “facts” in that textbook are accurate.

Where did this information come from? Who chose to include these specific details? Would we agree that these “facts” are being presented accurately?

We cannot necessarily trust a textbook unless we can also trust the authors. And when godless writers are at the helm, philosophies like Marxism, the LGBTQ+ agenda, and evolution can be found scattered throughout history coursework, warping traditional accounts of history and shaping how our children perceive the past. To better illustrate this, let’s take a look at some of the topics presented in public school textbooks.

Part 1—The Opening Chapters: The Prehistory of Man and Civilization

As would be expected in most public school curricula, secular history textbooks ignore how God created man as a unique being. From the beginning of Genesis, we see that man is the crowning achievement of God’s creation. In those first two chapters, God creates man in his likeness (1:27), designs a special place for him (2:8), and gives him both responsibility (2:15) and purpose (1:28). In contrast, it is no surprise that most secular history textbooks, influenced by Darwinian evolution, present a lesser view of man. Rather than highlighting the uniqueness of man or his God-given purpose, secular textbooks suggest that both man and civilizations are simply the result of evolutionary pressures, with no credit given to God. Though God bestowed man with many blessings, including dexterity and intelligence, secular textbooks instead credit these abilities to evolutionary chance.

It is no surprise that most secular history textbooks, influenced by Darwinian evolution, present a lesser view of man.

As one history textbook, World History: Patterns of Interaction, explains, “Early hominids had already developed the opposable thumb,” which “was crucial for tasks such as picking up small objects and making tools.”1 The book further emphasizes that “the invention of tools, mastery over fire, and the development of language are some of the most impressive achievements in human history.”2 This clearly contradicts the Bible, for not only was Adam able to speak immediately after being created, but he was intelligent (Genesis 2:19–20), and his descendants were rapidly building cities, practicing husbandry, creating musical instruments, and working with metal (Genesis 4:17, 20–22).

Secular history textbooks not only ignore man’s uniqueness, but they also fail to acknowledge God’s guiding hand on history, instead insisting that civilization came about haphazardly. Patterns of Interaction, after detailing how humans evolved from early hominids in Africa, explains that as mankind’s agricultural prowess gradually became more advanced, man “began dwelling in larger, more organized communities, such as farming villages and towns. From some of these settlements, cities gradually emerged, forming the backdrop of a more complex way of life—civilization.”3 While some of this explanation accurately describes how a society grows, it ignores how God formed and shaped the nations of the world. After resetting civilization with the flood (Genesis 6–8), God provided the groundwork for government (Genesis 9:5) and intervened in the building of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11). These are a few early examples of how God guided civilization. In contrast, rather than acknowledging the power of God to work in the lives of men, secular textbooks emphasize that man alone slowly built civilization over time.

Without the solid foundation of the Bible, there is no governing plan for the world, and the rise and fall of nations and empires is not the work of providence but instead the mere happenstance of history. This stands in sharp contrast to a Christian worldview, which emphasizes that God has moved mightily throughout history. There is a purposeful direction in which all of world history has been guided, and it helps us make sense of the world around us. When we see how God shaped the world when looking at history from a Christian perspective, we can see so many miraculous and wondrous things. Joseph was providentially sold into slavery to save his family from famine. Moses was providentially saved from a premature death to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Christ providentially died on the cross to save the world from damnation. And the fires of persecution providentially spread Christianity throughout the world.4 God clearly had a guiding hand on history, and when we look to the past, we can see the endless miracles that he instituted to further his kingdom. That’s something you won’t find in a secular history textbook, which demonstrates why the underlying philosophies found in history textbooks matter.

Part 2—The High Road of History: The Oppressed and the Oppressor

Without the moral guidance of God providentially leading history along, we are left to question the justification for so many of the problems that we see throughout history. What is good or evil? From the Marxist perspective foisted upon American classrooms, those who are powerful take from those with less power, thereby establishing a never-ending cycle of the oppressors taking from those who have nothing (which, oddly, should be considered a good thing according to the Darwinian concept of survival of the fittest). From a Christian perspective, each person has individual value in the eyes of God, as a soul created in his image who is lost and in need of saving by the shed blood of Jesus (Romans 3:23). Christianity sees worth in the individual, regardless of who he is, and notes his need for salvation (Romans 10:9).

In contrast, secular philosophies break down the world into two distinct sides of good and evil: Those who are in power (evil), and those who are oppressed by the powerful (good). There is no reaching out to the individual; instead, you are only looked upon with favor if you are part of an oppressed group of people. Your responsibility for your personal actions does not matter in this worldview—only your status as oppressor or oppressed. And if your ancestors “may” have oppressed others, then you are still part of the problem according to critical race theory, a form of repackaged Marxism. Yes, these topics do show up in secular history textbooks.

In A People’s History of the United States, the arrival of Europeans in the Americas is implied to be a genocide. For example, the textbook states this:

Behind the English invasion of North America, behind their massacre of Indians, their deception, their brutality, was that special powerful drive born in civilizations based on private property. It was a morally ambiguous drive; the need for space, for land, was a real human need. But in conditions of scarcity, in a barbarous epoch of history ruled by competition, this human need was transformed into the murder of whole peoples.5

The text supports this claim with the Spanish conquistadors, battles between the English and Native Americans, and a quotation from Roger Williams that condemns greedy men in early America. While there were indeed selfish, greedy individuals, this is quite a broad brush to paint all of the first European colonists in America with. Many of these colonists arrived looking for freedom from religious oppression, and nearly all came to the new world seeking a better life. As William Bradford explains in Of Plymouth Plantation, his fellow Pilgrims chose to sail to America after they “came to the conclusion to live as a distinct body, under the general government of Virginia; and . . . to sue to his Majesty that he would be pleased to grant them freedom of religion.”6 The Quakers came to America for similar reasons, for “when William Penn set up the Holy Experiment in Pennsylvania, religious toleration and peace were its two key ideals.”7 And of course, as the Puritan John Winthrop told his congregation preparing to establish Massachusetts Bay Colony, “We shall find that the God of Israel is among us . . . when He shall make us a praise and glory that man shall say . . . ‘may the Lord make it like that of New England.’ For we must consider that we shall be a city upon a hill.”8 While many tragedies in the founding of America did occur, there was violence initiated on both sides of most conflicts, and it is misleading to claim that the goal of all Europeans was to wipe out indigenous people. Also, the word genocide, even today, is still defined as “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group.”9 There are situations in American history where “ethnic cleansing,” which describes the systematic removal of a people group from an area, may be appropriate, such as when numerous tribes were forced on to designated reservations or when the Spanish conquistadors fought many bloody battles in Mexico and South America. The treatment of the Native Americans is not a shining point of American history, and it is important for students to know about our nation’s historical shortcomings. But counting diseases and displacement as genocide is certainly incorrect, and planting these thoughts in the minds of students is dangerous because it misinterprets history, in some cases deliberately.

An example of such deliberate misinterpretation is when A People’s History tries to argue that this supposed genocide was justified as a means of progress, “As it was made by Stalin when he killed peasants for industrial progress in the Soviet Union, as it was made by Churchill explaining the bombings of Dresden and Hamburg, and Truman explaining Hiroshima.”10 To begin with, it is wrong to compare a Communist dictator murdering his own citizens with difficult and tragic decisions made during wartime. And even putting this false comparison aside, the textbook then comments,

That quick disposal might be acceptable . . . to the middle and upper classes of the conquering and “advanced” countries. But is it acceptable to the . . . prisoners in Soviet labor camps, or the blacks in urban ghettos, or the Indians on reservations—to the victims of that progress which benefits a privileged minority in the world? Was it acceptable . . . to the miners and railroaders of America, the factory hands, the men and women who died by the hundreds of thousands from accidents or sickness, where they worked or where they lived—casualties of progress?11

It is important to look at the details of each situation before making a conclusion.

The text makes two glaring assumptions: First, that all these events were one-sided, oppressive situations, and second, that those in power all supported violence and oppression. Rather than making sweeping generalizations, it is important to look at the details of each situation before making a conclusion. And while the majority came to America for a chance at a new dream, not everyone came willingly. For example, while some of my ancestors enthusiastically arrived at Ellis Island, others were forced to America as conscripted Hessians to fight for the British in the American War for Independence. But regardless of how my ancestors ended up here, it has no bearing on my actions today. Our children should be learning that in spite of the failing of many individuals and a discouraging and increasing loss of godly direction, we can still see that the hand of God providentially swept through history to create one of the greatest nations in history that still is a beacon of light for Christianity and freedom for all people groups.

Part 3—From Wrong to Right: Morality, Family, and the LGBTQ+ Agenda

At first glance, it would seem strange that the LGBTQ+ agenda would be pushed to the forefront of the history classroom. However, as George Orwell famously stated in 1984, “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”12 By controlling classroom discussion and emphasizing LGBTQ+, something that would have been avoided 50 years ago, radical liberals can cement these topics as fundamentally important in students’ minds, helping to rewrite the history of America.

In By the People: Debating American Government, it is implied that the gay community had been cruelly oppressed throughout American history, emphasizing that until the Stonewall Riots, the gay community “submitted” to law enforcement raids and mistreatment. Throughout the “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity” section, this textbook highlights that while there are freedoms the LGBTQ+ agenda now enjoys, these individuals “still face formidable barriers to full civil rights—in employment, housing, education, and public accommodations.”13 Not only is this statement blatantly false, but it also presents institutions of government, law enforcement, and the capitalist economy as evil forces keeping a morally divergent group of people oppressed.

Similarly, The American Pageant: A History of the American People ignores God’s standards of sexual purity and instead refers negatively to “pure-minded Americans” who “sternly resisted these affronts to their moral principles.” The textbook specifically points out that Anthony Comstock, the US Postal Inspector who defended Christian morality, had a proud claim “that he had driven at least fifteen people to suicide.”14 These suicides were tragic, and Comstock does not demonstrate Christian morality in having taken part and pride in them, but the textbook’s agenda is to paint all conservative Christians as prudes who lack compassion and understanding of how the world should be. The biblical family is also treated as nonessential rather than as a God-ordained societal necessity for human flourishing. As American Pageant explains,

But if the traditional family was increasingly rare, the family itself remained a bedrock of American society in the early twenty-first century, as viable families now assumed a variety of forms. Children in households led by a single parent, stepparent, or grandparent, as well as children with gay or lesbian parents, encountered a degree of acceptance that would have been unimaginable a generation earlier. . . . The family was not evaporating, but evolving into multiple forms.15

This positive statement about the evolution of family ignores the damaging effects of single-parent homes, the drastic rise in crime, and the collapse of morality and faith in the United States, which is concurrent with the decline of the traditional family unit. Thus, instead of addressing the root causes for the collapse of society as a whole, the text instead merely suggests that our society has moved beyond family, subtly brainwashing students into thinking that the removal of the traditional family unit from society is normal and will have no negative effects upon civilization.

Part 4—Faithless: Attacks on Religion

Another danger in a secular textbook is how it views Christianity and religions of the world. Some textbooks, such as Patterns of Interaction, do not favor a specific religion but rank all religions as equal, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. While this approach is preferable to a direct attack on Christianity, it still does not demonstrate God’s historical providence, emphasize the centrality of the gospel in history, or point out the shortcomings of other religions. All of this should be concerning to the Christian parent.

Of course, Patterns of Interaction does use Galileo to demonstrate how religion and science are in conflict, stating that “Galileo’s findings frightened both Catholic and Protestant leaders because they went against church teaching and authority.”16 This is a common incorrect interpretation of history, as is explained in “The Galileo Affair: History or Heroic Hagiography?”

Some textbooks go even further to declare that Christianity stands in opposition to science. In American Pageant, the term fundamentalism is defined as “a Protestant Christian movement emphasizing the literal truth of the Bible and opposing religious modernism, which sought to reconcile religion and science.”17 This definition implies that fundamentalism opposes science and that modernism is a valid methodology, though it attempts to combine what is diametrically opposed (i.e., evolutionary ideas and biblical inerrancy). In reality, though Christian fundamentalists are opposed to Darwinian evolution, they are certainly not opposed to science as a whole, as can be demonstrated by the proper definition of science.

Yet American Pageant ironically describes conservatives as the radicals who want to restructure American society. For example, the text states that “many New Right activists were far less agitated about economic questions than about cultural concerns—the so-called social issues. They denounced abortion, pornography, homosexuality, feminism, and affirmative action. They championed prayer in the schools and tougher penalties for criminals. Together the Old and New Right added up to a powerful political combination, devoted to changing the very character of American society.”18 The last statement is shocking because this would not be radically rewriting America; instead, it would be a return to its original religious moorings.

Furthermore, the text takes care to state that one of the religious leaders “tearfully admitted to repeated trysts with prostitutes” while “another went to prison following revelations of his own financial and sexual misconduct. But such scandals would not shake the faith of America’s conservative Christians or diminish the new political clout of activist, evangelical religionists.”19 These statements attempt to undermine the convictions of conservatives, suggesting the movement—and to a point, every conservative—was hypocritical. More importantly, that Christianity stands or falls on its professed adherents rather than the source: Christ (whom they dare not attempt to denigrate).

These examples should give Christian parents cause for alarm as they think about other ways their children’s faith, and truth itself, is being undermined in the classroom.

Part 5—More Concerns

The above examples only scratch the surface of secular ideologies woven into history textbooks. Topics including racism, abortion, war, and “tolerance” are also addressed in these texts. And beyond the textbooks themselves, there are also concerns that need to be addressed at the local level.

This article has specifically focused on textbooks, yet they are only designed to be a backbone for the history class, with the design of the course ultimately left in the hands of the teacher. Thus, a high school teacher in New York will likely present the curriculum differently than a teacher in Kansas. As a society, we assume that teachers are to be universally trustworthy and have our children’s best interest at heart. However, since each teacher can choose to emphasize specific aspects of the textbook, every classroom will vary in how radical the content will be.20 Personally, I would urge parents to remove your children’s education from the government, so you as the parent will have the ability to choose which textbooks your children read and who will teach them the material.

Parents should keep up with what their children are learning in any class, regardless of the school.

However, for many, this is not plausible. I would at minimum implore parents to obtain a copy of the course syllabus and speak to their students’ history teacher about specific topics that will be taught in their student’s class. What are the teacher’s personal views about socialism or Marxism? In what ways will religion be taught to the students? And of course, parents should keep up with what their children are learning in any class, regardless of the school. Most books and classroom teaching will have something we disagree with or would rather be stated differently, and it is good to take the opportunity to discuss this with our children. Parents have a responsibility to their children, and we must ensure that not only are we instructing them properly but that those whom we trust to teach them at school are doing the same.

Author’s Note:
The textbooks presented in this article represent only a sampling of textbooks that may be used in high school history classes. While the textbooks I chose are fairly well circulated, the exact textbook used in your child’s history class may be different.