Charlotte County Public Schools
Request for Review of Media and Instructional Materials
Name:
ACT! For America, Charlotte/Desoto Chapter Education Committee Date: 9-5-2014
Address:
Email:
tinamarielawler@comcast.net
Text/Media Title:
*Edition:
World History – Connections to Today published by Prentice Hall
2008
Citation(s) for Review (please include page numbers):
1. “Muslims profess faith in the same god as that worshiped by Jews and Christians” (Page: 254)
2. “As they did their work, Christian missionaries like Paul added ideas from Plato, the Stoics, and other Greek
thinkers to Jesus’ message.” (Page: 144)
3. “Jihad-a struggle in God’s service to overcome immorality or to spread or defend Islam, sometimes resulting
in war(p.254)” – glossary definition, reference section (page 1017)
Rationale for Review:
1. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God – one person of the Holy Trinity. Muslims believe that Jesus
to be only a prophet.
2. While it may be true that Paul the Apostle spoke about some of the same issues that were addressed by
some of the ancient philosophers, (e.g., Paul’s letter to the young bishop, Timothy in the first book of Timothy
of the New Testament), the idea that Paul incorporated man-derived teachings into Jesus’ message cannot be
supported.
3. This glossary definition of Jihad(as well as the paragraph contained on p. 254) intentionally minimizes the
significance of Quran which calls True Muslims to war with nonbelievers in at least 109 verses. Examples can
be found in the Quran: Surah 8:12, Surah 8:39, Surah 8:74
--------------------------------------Aside from specific inaccuracies and misrepresentations prevalent in the textbook, the sheer volume of
information presented was far from balanced. The authors devoted an entire nineteen page chapter to Islam,
entitled, “The Muslim World”, containing five separate sections of instruction. (Pages 250-269) Christianity is
presented in a single five page section of Chapter 6, entitled “Ancient Rome and the Rise of Christianity”.
(Pages 141-146)
In the text, the roots of Judaism are covered in three pages of one section in Chapter 2, entitled, “First
Civilizations”. (Pages 45-47) Hinduism and Buddhism are contained in two pages (Pages 76-77) and three
pages (Pages 76-80) respectively in a single section in Chapter 4, entitled, “Empires of India and China.
Please include the edition number and/or the year of publication in the copyright statement.
Submit to:
Charles Bradley, Assistant Superintendent of Learning
1445 Education Way
Port Charlotte, FL 33948
941-255-0808, extension 3027
Revised 06/2014