Resolving Religion in Public Schools
|link| Anyone with half a brain has realized there is some controversy regarding the teaching of religion within the public school system. The Bible Literacy Project has released a scholarly book regarding the Bible which they developed in conjunction with The First Amendment Center. If the rumors are true then the kids of tomorrow could be learning about the Bible in a way that teaches, not preaches. Two steps backwards, one step forward.
link submitted by: mookee
December 31st, 1969 at 4:00 pm
2 steps back and 1 step forward? I’m not sure you understand what’s going on here…
It’s teaching the bible as a set of stories, which is technically is…there is no first amendment qualification for teaching about myth, it’s called knowledge. Don’t be mad because knowledge, in this case, is a reference to religion. There is no religious dogma being taught, THAT would be wrong, and unprotected.
All this is, is a textbook that says, “look, here are some stories,” and who doesn’t like the story of David and Goliath (the original underdog story)?
There is no difference between this new book and a book on Greek Mythology, the reason you don’t see a textbook on Greek Mythology however, is because there aren’t people that adamant about teaching Greek mythology. In my experience with people I know, teachers who teach from the bible tend to be very secular, very anti-religious, and just use it as a point of reference for people being stupid with a belief.
December 31st, 1969 at 4:00 pm
Mookee, you make a valid point (at least technically), but…
An *entire* textbook devoted to the Bible? In American public schools? While I will grant that the Bible can, at times, be valuable as a point of reference, I have trouble buying into the idea that America’s public schoolchildren - regardless of their own individual religious choices - need this book on their required reading list. To boot, I doubt the veracity of the publisher’s stated motives.
Bottom line, such a degree of exposure to one religion’s propaganda needs to be in the context of some sort of comparative religion course if the school in question is public.