Kentucky senate passes bill to create bible curriculum for public schools
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This is another one of those “you’ve got to be kidding me” posts, complete with Crazy Christians, evangelical fanaticism, blind legislators, and the nutty electorate that puts these people in office in the first place. What’s next? Will Kentucky students soon be required to pray before each class. How about Jesus in the classroom, hanging on every wall, blood streaming from his head, hands and feet? Now that sends a gentle message! Anyway here is the story from Don Byrd. Don is part of the team at the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty:
Earlier this week, the Kentucky State Senate passed a bill requiring its Department of Education to create the curriculum for electives in the study of the Bible. The stated purpose of courses created by SB 56 is to:
Teach students knowledge of biblical content, characters, poetry, and narratives that are prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture, including literature, art, music, mores, oratory, and public policy…
The bill also allows for appropriate displays containing religious material in the classroom, consistent with the purpose of the course.
[But wait… a brief digression: public policy? Which elements of public policy can only be understood with knowledge of The Bible?]
An elective course that teaches about the Bible without indoctrinating students with religious education is already allowed, without the need for additional legislation. It’s also really difficult to pull off, a fine constitutional line to walk for teachers and administrators, made all the more challenging by the shape of the course itself: a class dedicated to the sacred text of one religious faith.
If awareness of religious characters, poetry, narratives in culture, literature, art and music are educational goals, why not simply include those in an appropriate way in our courses on literature, art and music, so there is some disciplinary context? Or, if an entire class on religious influence is desirable, why not include the poetry, characters and narratives of many religions?
Courses created under the curriculum mandated by SB 56 could be taught constitutionally, but they are an invitation to church-state trouble.
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My thought on reading that was the same as the author’s. Why just The Bible? Why not a course in comparative religion? For one thing, that would be a hell of a lot more interesting from a student’s point of view. The reason is that the authors of that bill, and much of their constituency, believe there is only one true religion–one true way–and theirs is it. In that respect they are no different than Islamic extremist, or all fanatics everywhere and at every time.
From Freedom From Religion Foundation, Feb 11th Texas backing off Arabic studies course. You have to scroll down a little to see it, third one down.
http://ffrf.org/news/headlines/
I haven’t seen anything on this Kentucky story till now and I get updates all the time from FFRF. I even went over there and could not find a thing about this.
Wow, meanwhile in Texas a school district has backed off plans for an Arabic studies class because some of the ‘rental units don’t like how the roll out was handled. Sure they didn’t, I am convinced of that. You know damn well, if they said we’re going to have Bible studies, nothing would have been said by those parents. Others were happy about it though, so that’s a plus. Virginia schools approving the Bible as history classes. Jehovah Witnesses able to get behind community gates. Guess they have different description of gated communities according to the lawsuit. These people don’t seem to have an issue when it is the Christian religion, but you bring anything else religion wise in there and nope, can’t have that you’re indoctrinating kids. * Jess’ mind soon to explode, trying to keep up*
http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/02/08/2834067/mansfield-school-district-backs.html
I just recently read Markos Moulatsis’ American Taliban and wow was he right on, with the Talibangelicals wanting to have a theocracy here if they could get away with it.