The following comes from a March 20 story on MercuryNews.com.
The California Department of Education this week released its latest list of recommended reading for K-12 students, including some newly published works that address immigration and sexual identity issues.
While the state list has addressed controversial topics before, this is the first time it included works that were honored by the Stonewall Book Awards, which have been given out since 1971 to recognize contributions to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender literature.
“We have titles in the list for the LGBT community for multiple recommended grade levels,” said Roxane Fidler, the CDE’s education programs consultant. “There are books from the Stonewall Book Awards, which has not previously been on the list,” Fidler said.
The online catalog, Recommended Literature: Pre-Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve, contains more than 7,800 books meant to prepare students for college, a career and the changing world, Fidler said. Because the newest titles were published in 2012, some of the included books embrace today’s cultural and civil rights challenges. It was last revised in 2008.
The state-approved canon comprises fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama. None of the previous book recommendations were deleted, and new additions include De Donde?, a book that offers alternative reasons for why people come to the United States illegally, and I am J, a book about the emotional plight of transgender teens.
A spokesperson for Equality California, a statewide LGBT advocacy organization, said his organization is thrilled.
“We applaud Superintendent Tom Torlakson for including these books,” spokesman Stephan A. Roth said. “We think this is consistent with the spirit of the FAIR Education Act, which is a new law that mandates that the role and contribution of LGBT people is included in our state education curricula. ”
Some conservatives, however, disagree with the inclusion of texts they see as liberal and promoting alternative lifestyles.
Sandy Rios, host of a morning radio show on American Family Radio or AFR Talk, called this list of titles “appalling. ”
“It’s a frightening trend,” Rios said in an interview. “The reading lists are very overtly propagating a point of view that is at odds with most American parents. Leftist educators are advocates of everything from socialism to sexual anarchy. It’s very base; it’s raping the innocence of our children. ”
But Fidler said the works are not mandatory reading and they are chosen based on quality not ideology.
There are “no controversial books,” Fidler said. The teachers, librarians, administrators, curriculum planners and college professors who curated the list rarely had trouble deciding whether a well-written book should not be included because of its topic, she added.
“We never censor the list because it’s a list of recommended literature. It’s not a requirement that the literature be read or taught. We want to put out all literature that is of quality and of interest that someone might have an interest in reading,” she said.
The new reading list consolidates three other literature lists: science and mathematics; history, social science; and the visual and performing arts. Now parents, educators and school districts have one searchable resource to turn to, Fidler said.
Because the list is so new, the Los Angeles Unified School District declined to comment, other than noting that the district has its own policies for choosing specific books within the state policy.
In the next academic year, however, its schools will have to implement the Common Core State Standards, a state-led national effort that includes 45 states, two territories and the District of Columbia.
“A lot of districts and county offices will use the list to guide them in selecting literature, but they don’t have to use any title on the list. They have local policies for how to choose books,” Fidler said.
The online catalog is available at cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/rl.
To read entire story, click here.
“We applaud Superintendent Tom Torlakson for including these books,” spokesman Stephan A. Roth said. “We think this is consistent with the spirit of the FAIR Education Act, which is a new law that mandates that the role and contribution of LGBT people is included in our state education curricula. ”
Look what the dark spirit of Fair Education brings.
Diagnosis: Sister Lucia’s prophetic warning of a diabolical disorientation that would sweep over the world.
They are applauding the immoral downfall of America right along with Superintendent Tom Torlakson for corrupting and poisoning the minds of even more young students. Today Matt Drudge reports… CDC: 110,197,000 Venereal Infections in U.S.; Nation Creating New STIs Faster Than New Jobs or College Grads
March 27, 2013
By Terence P. Jeffrey
(CNSNews.com) – According to new data released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 19.7 million new venereal infections in the United States in 2008, bringing the total number of existing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the U.S. at that time to 110,197,000.
The 19.7 million new STIs in 2008 vastly outpaced the new jobs and college graduates created in the United States that year or any other year on record, according to government data. The competition was not close.
The STI study referenced by the CDC estimated that 50 percent of the new infections in 2008 occurred among people in the 15-to-24 age bracket. In fact, of the 19,738,800 total new STIs in the United States in 2008, 9,782,650 were among Americans in the 15-to-24 age bracket.
By contrast, there were 1,524,092 bachelor’s degrees awarded in the United States in the 2007-2008 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That means the total number of new STIs in 2008 outpaced the total number of new bachelor’s degrees by nearly 13 to 1, and the number of new STIs among Americans in the 15-to-24 age bracket outnumbered new bachelor’s degrees by more than 6 to 1.
Sister Lucia wrote about this diabolical disorientation that we are witnessing today.
April 12, 1970:
“People must recite the Rosary every day. Our Lady repeated this in all her apparitions, as if to arm us in advance against these times of diabolical disorientation, so that we would not let ourselves be fooled by false doctrines, and that through prayer, the elevation of our soul to God would not be diminished…. This is a diabolical disorientation invading the world and misleading souls! It is necessary to stand up to it…” (Sister Lucy, to her friend Dona Maria Teresa da Cunha)
September 16, 1970:
Sister Lucy wrote to a friend, Mother Martins, who had been her companion at Tuy, in the novitiate of the Dorothean Sisters. She had just been sorely tried by illness: “…I too, was not feeling very well in my heart, my eyes, etc.; but it is necessary to the Passion of Christ; it is necessary that His members be one with Him, through physical pain and through moral anguish. Poor Lord, He has saved us with so much love and He is so little understood! so little loved! so badly deserved! It is painful to see such a great disorientation and in so many persons who occupy places of responsibility…! For our part we must, as far as is possible for us, try to make reparation through an ever more intimate union with the Lord; and identify ourselves with Him that He may be in us the Light of the world plunged in the darkness of error, immorality and pride. It pains me to see what you tell me, now that that is going on over here…! It is because the devil has succeeded in infiltrating evil under the cover of good, and the blind are beginning to guide others, as the Lord tells us in His Gospel, and souls are letting themselves be deceived…This is why the devil has waged such a war against [the Rosary]! And the worst is that he has succeeded in leading into error and deceiving souls having a heavy responsibility through the place which they occupy…! They are blind men guiding other blind men…”
November 26, 1970:
“…The decadence which exists in the world is without doubt the consequence of the lack of the spirit of prayer. Foreseeing this disorientation, the Blessed Virgin recommended recitation of the Rosary with such insistence, and since the Rosary is, after the holy Eucharistic liturgy, the prayer most apt for preserving faith in souls, the devil has unchained his struggle against it. Unfortunately, we see the disasters he has caused. …We must defend souls against the errors which can make them stray from the good road…. We cannot and we must not stop ourselves, nor allow, as Our Lord says, the children of Darkness to be wiser than the children of Light… The Rosary is the most powerful weapon for defending ourselves on the field of battle.” (Sister Lucy, to Don Umberto Pasquale, an Italian Salesian devoted to the cause of Fatima for a very long time)
April 13, 1971:
“I see by your letter that you are preoccupied by the disorientation of our time. It is indeed sad that so many persons let themselves be dominated by the diabolical wave sweeping over the world, and that they are blinded to the point of being incapable of seeing error! …” (Sister Lucy, to her Salesian nephew, Father Jose Valinho)
Talk about evil disorientation, I just had to tell my very orthodox sister that the washing of women’s feet on Holy Thursday is an aberration that comes from the feminist movement to have women ordained to the Sacred Priesthood. Since she had been asked to take part, what I told her really upset her. “The truth shall set you free”
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
Mr. Fisher, Pope Francis washed the feet of prisoners on Holy Thursday. From what I heard, 2 of the prisoners were women. He is sending a message to the Church. Are you listening? We have been blessed by this Pope.
The washing of the feet of women is prohibited.
If they want changes to the Rubrics, then change them, but do not disobey them.
Examples by action teaches disobedience.
Anne, how can it be prohibited if the Pope did it? Many bishops wash the feet of women on Holy Thursday, in our parish women and girls have their feet washed on Holy Thursday. I realize that some people feel that it demeaning for a man to wash women’s feet. I think Pope Francis is sending the message that he is not only the Pope but also a servant of Christ. He is following Christ and His message by his actions.
ANNE it’s interesting this topic came to be…I was just wondering that last night during Mass…I have never been to a Mass where they washed women’s feet…I only saw them wash the feet of men and boys. Last night they washed the feet of the alter servers and in the past my husband was also invited to have his feet washed by father. I am just hearing about the Pope. I don’t understand all this. Now if our Pope did wash the feet of women, then how can we get upset at the comments of PA?
Good comments Catherine.
Shucks!
They should have made Sister Lucia the Secretary of Education for the whole planet.
Not a good sign. The last person who I heard making wisecrack jokes about Fatima and Sister Lucia was a wolf in sheep’s clothing who is now serving time in prison for harming young boys. His thinking was also on the fritz.
Not a good sign. The last person with this name I read about was Catherine The Great who went down in history for most unseemly conduct with soldiers and…others.
Still not a good sign. More evidence of immature reasoning on the fritz. All sin is an affront to God who is ALL GOOD and deserving of all of our love. God’s Mother, Our Lady of Fatima also deserves more respect.
Fritz,
You are really sick. What about St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Catherine Laboure, etc. etc.
May God have mercy on your modernist soul,
Kenneth M. Fisher
… ” It’s a list of reccomended literature. It’s not a requirement that the literature be read or taught.” Yeah, sure. Many teachers are very liberal and will see to it that it will be discussed in the classroom, and similar books will be assigned. Such literature shouldn’t be in a public school. Controverisal literature should not be used in public school. What’s wrong with teaching classical American literature? Most parents do not have the time to review all the books that their children use in school. What are parents to do? Not everyone can homeschool, and private schools are prohibitively expensive.
“There are ‘no controversial books,’ Fidler said.” Obviously this person doesn’t know what the definition of “controversial” is and/or she wanted to gloss over the fact that many, many parents will never be happy about introducing this subject to the very young (or old, for that matter).
This is another instance of where the state knows best and you shouldn’t complain because they’ll let you know what you should know. This has nothing to do with “equal rights” of a very small group of confused people, but it has everything to do with influencing the very young to accept the unacceptable.
The books are out……and there is nothing we can do to stop it except pray.
This is what happens when immoral people are elected to Local and State offices.
They make bad laws.
California Bishops do not do their own jobs of excommunication of Catholic heretics and Catholic schismatics through Canon 915 or 1399 within their own Diocese.
This is what happens when the Bishop’s Catholic California Conference does not publish the names of ALL those who run for any Office on any ballot in CA who support the non-negotiable mortal sins of – abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, cloning, embryonic stem cell research, and are against Freedom of Religion.
We all will pay for the sins of our Bishops who aid and abet Catholic heretics and schismatics in politics. Bishops do your own jobs. Work for God and do not be cowards or resign your clerical position.
CCC: ” 2286 Scandal can be provoked by laws or institutions, by fashion or opinion.
Therefore, they are guilty of scandal who establish laws or social structures leading to the decline of morals and the corruption of religious practice,
or to social conditions that, intentionally or not, make Christian conduct and obedience to the Commandments difficult and practically impossible.
This is also true of business leaders who make rules encouraging fraud, teachers who provoke their children to anger, or manipulators of public opinion who turn it away from moral values.”
CCC: ” 2284 Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor’s tempter.
He damages virtue and integrity;
he may even draw his brother into spiritual death.
Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offense.”
Bishops please note the word ‘OMISSION” in the last sentence.
Mike,
“Ommission” is the exact word my late Spiritual Father, and advisor, Bishop Austin Vaughan used when he warned his brother bishops about how they can lose their eternal souls!
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
MIKE you are right. I wish more would listen. Mr. Fisher I also agree with you.
These evil forces are much too powerful for ordinary lay faithful to handle, we need to perform an exorcism. Scandalizing children is a serious spiritual offense.
Mike, I totally agree with you. Our bishops should know the people that represent us in our governing bodies. All too often, these liberal pro-choice politicians are allies of our bishops who rely on their support for the various social programs they are pushing. Getting cash trumps ideology; getting favorable votes on issues such as illegal immigration is more important than their stand on abortion. How many times do I read in my diocesan paper that representative X, who enjoys a NARAL rating of 100, has been invited to address a diocesan panel or speak at a Catholic High School. Our “voter guides” never single out so-called “Catholic” politicos who openly defy church teachings. The buck should stop at the chancery office, but it never seems to get there. We have shepherds who invite wolves into our midst. There is not much hope that these pernicious alliances between our bishops and heretical politicians will ever end.
I am selling my house and leaving California. I am also trying to convince my daughter to leave as well, since she has 2 sons attending public schools. I ask for your prayers that my grandsons will be protected from such diabolical teachings.
Candace I can’t say I blame you. I have thought about it as well but for our family it is not possible right now. Yes I will say a prayer for your request and also for all our children. I know that there are a few Charter schools that do not have those kind of books and truly are focused on teaching the basics that are necessary to get them to college…maybe your daughter can search for one like that.
South Dakota is the place for you. They enjoy passing Catholic friendly laws.
Not to worry, folks. From my observations, there are so many students with poor reading skills in the CA public schools, that these books will probably fail to affect them. (I am, of course, making use of sarcasm.) Teach our children to read, write, and calculate. Then, and only then, they will be able to think for themselves. What a concept!
Oneofthesheep yes they do lack good skills but I noticed that their little eye’s do pop up when those kind of temptations enter their little minds. They may forget their English grammar lesson but they won’t forget scandal.
In all fairness I understand what you mean.
Catherine, GREAT POST! Over a year ago, I’d referenced “diabolical disorientation,” on this site, and had no idea Sr. Lucia had warned us in depth about it! (at least until very recently.) So you’re pretty much proving my point from then. And in my view, the abortionist-in-chief, Obama, dispenses diabolical disorientation pretty much every time he opens his mouth. As someone years ago pointed out about Bill Clinton, he’s a very skillful liar. With Obama, I’d say he’s a VIRTUOSO @ mixing truth and lie, can’t tell where one leaves off, the other begins, in many cases. As was said in the Bible about lucifer, I believe it’s Jesus’ own words: “a liar and murderer from the beginning.” Sounds very harsh, I admit, but Obama’s record from the beginning in government I believe confirms it. Especially in the extreme hostility he exhibits towards the most weak and innocent creatures among us, preborn humans. And yet some Americans find him to be personally very “charming, very ‘cool.’ So WHAT IS going on? All I’m sure of is the veracity of what Sr. Lucia told us, the Rosary MUST be recited every day. O Mother most Immaculate, please pray for us that we be saved from the fiery pit. GOD BLESS ALL, MARKRITE
Thank you markrite. May God bless you!
Markrite: You have an extraordinary talent for speaking the truth without hesitation! Your analysis is dead on target! You are indeed blessed, my friend!
WASHING of FEET – There has been no change in the universal norm which reserves this rite to men as stated in the circular letter “Paschales Solemnitatis” (Jan. 16, 1988) and the rubrics of the 2002 Latin Roman Missal.
No. 51 of the circular letter states: “The washing of the feet of chosen men which, according to tradition, is performed on this day, represents the service and charity of Christ, who came ‘not to be served, but to serve. This tradition should be maintained, and its proper significance explained.”
Rubrics can be changed, but should not be disobeyed or ignored.
You can find the following on the USCCB web site and should share this with your Pastor and Diocese Bishop if needed.
QUOTE: “After the Homily, where a pastoral reason suggests it, the Washing of Feet follows. The men who have been chosen (viri selecti) are led by the ministers to seats prepared in a suitable place. Then the priest (removing his chasuble if necessary) goes to each one, and, with the help of the ministers, pours water over each one’s feet and then dries them.” UNQUOTE
For this statement and the reasons – search “USCCB Washing of Feet”
MIKE thank you for making this clear. I think that there is some confusion about this with some people. The church has it’s wisdom and knowledge that is utmost beautiful in Christ and some people forget that.
My in-laws kept changing protestant churches and now are Methodist. They did the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday, my mother in law, poor soul not knowing the real traditions, she bragged that in her church they all washed each others feet. The women and men did and the pastor only did a few. There is so much error done in other religions but what gets me is when our own Catholic parishes try to copy the Protestants. Why are Catholics so insecure about embracing their Catholicity? Because they are ignorant and insecure about their own faith….that is truly a tragedy!