Bibles In Public Schools

Now, Religion in the News, a report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.This week’s item is from The Associated Press, March 9, 2007, with a headline:Bibles In Public Schools?Georgia is poised to introduce two literature classes on the Bible in public schools next year, a move analysts say would make the state the first at taking an explicit stance endorsing and funding biblical teachings.The Bible is already incorporated into some classes in Georgia and other states, but some critics say the board’s move which makes the Bible the class’s main text treads into dangerous turf.On a list of classes approved Thursday by the Georgia Board of Education are literature and history of the Old Testament era, and literature and history of the New Testament era.The classes, approved last year by the legislature will not be required and the state’s 180 school systems can decide for themselves whether to offer them.Senate Majority Leader Tommy Williams, the Republican who sponsored the plan, says the Bible plays a major role in history, and is important in understanding many classic literary works.It’snot just the “Good Book”, Williams said, It’s a good book.The bill approved overwhelmingly in the legislature was tailored to make it clear the courses would not stray into religious teaching, Williams said.The measure calls for the courses to be taught in an objective and non devotional manner with no attempt made to indoctrinate students.During last year’s campaign period legislative session Democrats surprised majority Republicans by introducing a plan to teach the Bible in public schools.Republicans, who control both chambers quickly responded with their own version, which passed and was signed into law by Governor Sonny Purdue.

Tom:

Dave, our program is called, Search the Scriptures Daily, so from that perspective, what do you think, is it something good, or what?

Dave:

Tom, I don’t know.What are they going to do with, “the sun standing still” and what are they going to do with creation and the miracles in the Old Testament, and what about Christ rising from the dead in the New.See, you just can’t treat the Bible like a literature book.The Bible is a history book, the history is accurate.But Tom, I don’t think the Bible is supposed to be picked apart, and we’ll take this part of it.No, it’s not like a cafeteria—well, I like that, and well, we can’t teach this in public schools because it’s getting into the miraculous, and that’s a no-no because you can’t have miraculous without God.So Tom, I think it would be such a watered down version of the Bible that it would be, maybe even worse than no Bible because it would give students the wrong idea of this is what the Bible is.

Tom:

Dave, you know, my daughter works with young people.She’s a college student and she works with young people in the schools of Eugene, Oregon as part of campaigners. So she’s got a group of young people, and they are totally clueless, they have no idea about anything.In other words they are—talk about being biblically illiterate, I don’t even know if they would rise to that level, so don’t you think that there might be some value in that at least giving a sense of what the Bible says to some of the individuals involved, or what?

Dave:

Well, Tom, look, I’m not the expert, and I don’t how—what is this, a semester course?

Tom:

Yeah.

Dave:

It’s pretty tough to go through the Old Testament or the New Testament in a semester, you are going to have to zip, zip, zip.Now, if these students will read on their own they might get some good ideas, or if it awakens their interest in reading the Bible on their own, that would be good.On the other hand, Tom, my experience from going way back to my college days, is that the religion department—now, of course this is supposedly not religion, but they’re the worst.

Tom:

But Dave, they do have in high schools—my son is taking a religion course in high school, and I don’t want to even get into that.You want to talk about a mess!Even when they had so-called experts in the particular religions, completely off the wall.So, I’m not talking about the way they presented what they were supposedly to believe.My son is pretty sharp in these areas, and he said, “Dad, it was just outrageous what these people were claiming, whether they be speaking on the behalf of Islam or whatever it might be.”

Dave:

Right.So Tom, I think they’re going to get a wrong perspective of the Bible, and only if they studied on their own, it’s going to be worth while at all.Now, that’smy opinion, and of course again, it depends upon the teacher.If we have a good Christian teacher, they may be able to do a good job even within the restrictions.So that would be beneficial.On the other hand are we saying that the Bible is just another piece of literature.Well, like the Fables of Aesop the slave, or the writings of Tacitus, or whoever you know, then we’re getting a wrong perspective, the Bible has been dragged down to the level of literature, and that is not what it is!

Tom:

Dave, we have these guys within the emerging church talking about the Bible as poetry, and you know, don’t take, let’s not take—the prophets, they were really poets, right?

Dave:

Well, this is what the Renováre Spiritual Formation Bible says, this is what the so-called Christian scholars give the commentary says.

Tom:

And this is professing Evangelicals, so if they are going to go that far South, Wow!

Dave:

Well, I’m sure that the legislative body that voted for this—this is the Bible Belt, they probably thought they were doing something really good.You know, it’s kind of like prayer in the public schools.Well, we ought to have prayer in the public schools, they used to have prayer in the public schools.Waitminute, who is going to lead the prayer?What kind of a prayer is it going to be, and who are you praying to, and so forth.Everybody who is a real Christian, they are talking to the Lord all the time anyway, they don’t need permission.So Tom, when it becomes an official course of the public school, who’s teaching it, what perspective?Supposing you have a Muslin teacher teaching the Bible as literature.Well, why can’t we teach the Qur’an as literature?

Tom:

Or what about the hard-nosed atheist who doesn’t believe in—you know, he’s a materialist and doesn’t believe in miracles.I’dlike to see him go through—I wouldn’t like to see him go through that, by the way.

Dave:

Tom, it could raise more problems than it will solve, in my opinion, But then, I guess it’s a done deal.