Thread by @JoekillianPW

Unsolicited e-mail this morning from a group using a Mark Twain quote to argue for an exodus from American public schools, which they believe are not fulfilling God's mandate for Christian education in this country.

This is infuriating on several levels.

First, the quote, which the group flubs a bit:"First God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards."

It's often been said that Twain quotes are so numerous and so witty that they can be used by almost any group to promote almost anything.

And that's true, to a point.

You can use poison oak for toilet paper if you're desperate or determined.

The e-mail from this group goes after teachers, asking:

"Have teachers chosen to join professional sports, the media, higher education, and big corporations in a woke crusade against their own country and its traditions?"

Mark Twain's wife, Olivia Langdon Clemens, was a teacher.

There are entire volumes devoted to his "woke crusades" and what he thought of his "own country and its traditions" (short version: he opposed nationalism and rose-tinted U.S. history explicitly throughout his life).

Twain didn't think school boards were full of ivory tower liberals bent on indoctrinating children. He thought they tended to be small minded and provincial. Many a school board strengthened his point by banning his books.

This group argues there is a mandate from God for Christian education in this country that's not being fulfilled by the public schools.

I've got some *really* bad news for them about what Mark Twain's thoughts on that sort of thing.

Somebody ought to hip these people to this bit of Twain knowledge:

"Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his own tail. It won't fatten the dog."

@threadreaderapp unroll, please.