plain jane Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I wanted to mention BJU's earth science text to a friend but realized that because she's Catholic, there may be some issues with it (for her) so I thought I'd ask here. I thought I remember hearing somewhere that there is some sort of issue with BJU and Catholicism? :confused: It might just be me who is confusing this with something else. :) Can anybody help me out? I don't want to mention a text to her that she would end up finding offensive. I'm worried she'd think I had some sort of ulterior motive or something. (yes, I worry about the strangest things sometimes, lol) I also realized as I was going to mention this to her (for 8th grade) that perhaps it is something I should be looking at :tongue_smilie: for my oldest. Can this text be done in 6th? I don't know much about it. Part of me was hoping that I would mention it to her and she would look into it for us. :lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 As a Catholic, I will not use any BJU products. Yes, they are offensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 As a Catholic, I will not use any BJU products. Yes, they are offensive. :iagree: I don't even open BJU threads on here. They are just not an option for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
didadeewiththree Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 (edited) I'm not Cathlolic, but we are partially using BJU Earth Science for 6th grade. I am following Christian Kids Explore as my spine for all my kids, but giving my 6th grader extra reading and short assignments from BJU. So if we are studying about glaciers, I will read the few pages to everyone from CKE, or teach the younger two separate and my son reads on his own, and then the 6th grader will read from BJU and answer half the questions from a section. It's pretty beefy material, it might be too much to do exclusively for 6th grade. But they could pick and choose assignments, use it as a spine, and get books from the library on the same topics which might provide more grade level reading. They could go over the questions together, skipping the in depth stuff in less he wants to persue it. It might be worth it if you have it already, or are getting it real cheap! Its got some awesome pics in there! FYI I havn't ran into any offensive material as of yet in this edition of BJU, but it could be because Im not the one reading it, he is! Edited November 30, 2011 by neenee7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkateLeft Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 As a Catholic, I will not use any BJU products. Yes, they are offensive. :iagree: There are plenty of Protestant companies that provide texts and materials I'd be willing to use. BJUP is one of the few companies whose products I won't even consider, regardless of subject or grade level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Can anybody help me out? I don't want to mention a text to her that she would end up finding offensive. I'm worried she'd think I had some sort of ulterior motive or something. (yes, I worry about the strangest things sometimes, lol) I don't think this is a strange thing to worry about since I would wonder about an alterior motive if someone suggested BJU materials to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquinas Academy Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Its not the content (tho the young earth viewpoint alone is enough to make me run screaming) but rather the history of BJU and catholicism. :iagree: I've never used a BJU book so I have no idea whether the books themselves containe offensive material. It is BJU's overall beliefs about Catholicism that make it a company I will not support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Its not the content (tho the young earth viewpoint alone is enough to make me run screaming) but rather the history of BJU and catholicism. :iagree:I've never used a BJU book so I have no idea whether the books themselves containe offensive material. It is BJU's overall beliefs about Catholicism that make it a company I will not support. Do you ladies mind if I ask what this history is with BJU? We use BJU and like it, but I am not aware of this history. I am not catholic but I also want to be sure I am supporting ethical companies, kwim? To the OP-- as of now I am planning on using Space and Earth science with dd4th when she is in 6th. I am now using it with my 8th grade since we started the WTM science cycles to late to jump her in without gaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Do you ladies mind if I ask what this history is with BJU? We use BJU and like it, but I am not aware of this history. I am not catholic but I also want to be sure I am supporting ethical companies, kwim? To the OP-- as of now I am planning on using Space and Earth science with dd4th when she is in 6th. I am now using it with my 8th grade since we started the WTM science cycles to late to jump her in without gaps. In addition to their view as a company, their texts are extremely biased. I enrolled our oldest in a local American Gov't class that was using the BJU text out of desperation when my dad died while visiting at our house and we were moving my sick mom in to live w/us. It lasted only about 5 days. My ds kept coming to me over and over pointing out how biased the text was. The one that sticks out in my memory is near the beginning of the text where they are talking about religious freedom and the Great Awakening and how it was twarted by a wall of Catholicism due to the Quebec Act. NO WHERE does it teach what the Quebec Act is nor explain the derogatory comment. It is easy for me assume why......the Quebec Act granted religious freedom to Catholics. (Prior to the Quebec Act of 1774 Catholics couldn't participate in the gov't w/o renouncing their faith: The Act allowed public office holders to practice the Roman Catholic faith, by replacing the oath sworn by officials from one to Elizabeth I and her heirs with one to George III that had no reference to the Protestant faith. This enabled, for the first time, French-speaking Canadians to legally participate in the affairs of the provincial government without formally renouncing their faith. It also reestablished the collection of tithes, which had been stopped under the previous administrative rules, and it allowed Jesuit priests to return to the province.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Act The Quebec Act of 1774 summary pertaining to Catholicism Religious freedom was guaranteed for the colony's Roman Catholic majority, and a simplified Test Oath, which omitted references to religion, enabled them to enter public office conscientiously......Others felt it was an attempt to deal more fairly with the colony's French Catholics, perhaps with a view to ensuring their loyalty in the event of troubles with the American colonies, and it effectively guaranteed the survival of the ancien régime society in North America http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0006592 So religious freedom and the Great Awakening were thwarted by granting Catholics religious freedom.....but it is simply presented as those evil Catholics suppressed religious freedom. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in STL Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I would never consider using BJU materials of any kind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CindyJ Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 This is interesting because as a Protestant, when I first started homeschooling years ago, my mother asked me what materials I was using. I told her BJU, because there weren't a lot of options and I decided to try them (as an evangelical), and she said, "Well, I won't tell your father you are using BJU." That's because of the negative history of BJU with evangelicalism. So it's not just Catholicism. I will say that I have used some of the BJU high school materials, because I taught in a school that used a few of them - American history, specificalliy; and I used their world history with my ds. There were times when I would correct what was said in the text because of an anti-Catholic bias. The world history text actually said that Henry VIII wanted a divorce because he was really concerned about being in an illegitimate relationship with his wife Catherine. I thought that even Protestants knew better; Henry VIII wanted Anne Boleyn, period. The other was just an excuse. But at the same time, I thought the American history was a well-presented history book, and in one passage which started out being somewhat anti-Catholic, it ended by being fair. (My take, anyway). I can't remember exactly what the passage was about now. But yes, you have to watch it if you use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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