Democrats Push Bills for Bible Study in Schools

[Rudey]

Democrats in 2 Southern States Push Bills on Bible Study

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/27/po...7religion.html

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: January 27, 2006

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 — Democrats in Georgia and Alabama, borrowing an idea usually advanced by conservative Republicans, are promoting Bible classes in the public schools. Their Republican opponents are in turn denouncing them as "pharisees," a favorite term of liberals for politicians who exploit religion.

Democrats in both states have introduced bills authorizing school districts to teach courses modeled after a new textbook, "The Bible and Its Influence."

In Indiana, Democratic legislators are among the leaders of a bipartisan effort to preserve the recitation of specifically Christian prayers in the Statehouse. In Virginia, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine relied heavily on religious themes and advertised on evangelical radio stations to win election last fall; Democratic Party leaders have called his campaign a national model.

In an interview, Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, promised that Democrats would do a better job talking about values to religious voters. "We have done it in a secular way, and we don't have to," he said, adding, "I think teaching the Bible as literature is a good thing."

Some liberals are unhappy, however. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, argued that "The Bible and Its Influence" was "problematic" because it omitted "the bad and the ugly uses of the Bible," like the invocation of Scripture to justify racial segregation.

-Rudey

[hoosier]

What could it hurt?

Today, some Muslim is in court seeks to pray at school.

[honeychile]

Religious feelings aside, I think that since many of the sayings we use on a daily basis are from one religion or another, a course such as this would be invaluable. We had one in high school.

In our class, one part was assigning everyone a few Bible verses, and having them find out the modern day usage. Some of those included:

-Alas, Babylon
-pillar of salt
-two by two
-to everything there is a season
-through a glass darkly
-the Alpha and the Omega
and many more.

There were a lot more from many other religions, too; it's been a while since high school, though!

[Coramoor]

Lol. Where are all the hippies here that normally bitch when a religious matter comes up in the gov't?

Surely they won't be silent on this issue simply because it is being posed by a democrat.

[MTSUGURL]

I think that this is a good idea to teach the Bible as Literature in schools. They aren't supporting it from a religious slant; they are exploring something that is relevant in our culture.

[AGDee]

I would want to see the syllabus. As an elective course, a "Bible and it's Influence" sounds interesting. I imagine it to be a study of how the Bible has influenced our culture. That's different than making someone pray to a God that they may or may not believe in or saying that the Bible is precisely true and accurate. I would think it should be an elective course and not a required course. I am not opposed to the studying of religion in school, as an education based focus saying "this is what other people believe". I think everybody should have a course like that and learn about Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism. It depends on how it presented though. That is very different than a teacher saying "We're going to pray to Allah while facing Mecca today" or "We're going to do a rain dance to the Rain God".

[alum]

I am completely appalled! This doesn't belong in public schools, "literature" or not.

[MTSUGURL]

It was taught in my highschool Advanced Placement class and in one of my World Lit classes in college. I don't see them making it a required thing, but even if it was part of a required class (like my English class in highschool), why is it something to be apalled at? It is something that affects our culture whether you agree with it or not. Why wouldn't it belong in public schools? Is there a mandatory conversion?


Edited because requiring and mandatory was redundant.

[alum]

Children don't need to be exposed to religious works of other religions unless their parents permit it. Will parents get to opt-out their kids as they can for certain areas of Health class?

[MTSUGURL]

If children go to a public school, they're exposed. I wouldn't see there being an opt out like there would be in Health classes... I remember the section in English being like 3 days long. I also remember reading portions of the Koran, and being completely offended when I read Candide...
If it were offered as an elective and your child opted to take it, would you not let them?

[ZTAngel]

My Honors English class Freshman year in high school was focused on religion in literature. We would read poems and books and find any biblical refernces in there such as numbers used or names. It was very interesting. Religion was never preached during class. It was more a research-based class on how the First Testament has influenced today's literature. We learned about how ancient Greek religion influenced today's literature.

As long as the class is kept factual-based in that we learn where the Bible has influenced literature rather than having a Sunday School style classroom that read Bible passages, I'm ok with it.

[MTSUGURL]

I'm a Christian, and I agree - I wouldn't want it to be taught in a kind of Sunday School format either.

I'm taking a Judaism, Christianity and Islam class, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm also taking Sociology of Religion. I think it's important to understand how we are impacted by the different religions in the world.

[valkyrie]

Originally posted by MTSUGURL
I'm taking a Judaism, Christianity and Islam class, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm also taking Sociology of Religion. I think it's important to understand how we are impacted by the different religions in the world.

What bothers me so much about teaching a class like this, or anything related to the Bible, in public school is that it's going to leave out other religions and, in my opinion, that endorses the religions it includes over those it excludes -- which is completely inappropriate for public school. Why can't these things be taught by religious institutions -- why do people feel the need to include them in public school curriculum?

The above applies only to elementary, middle, and high schools -- I'm not going to object to anything taught in college.

[damasa]

Religion is for the weak.

[Taualumna]

If this is an elective course, then I don't see the problem. Many schools offer a course on world religions, which may or may not include the reading of scriptures.