Our daily instruction from Baptist Press News

[triguy46]

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=20770

ODESSA BECOMES HOTSPOT FOR BIBLE CLASSES -- After the local school district unanimously approved an elective course in biblical literacy in late April, a law expert from the University of Alabama is predicting Odessa, Texas, could become the new battleground for putting God back in the nation's public schools, according to The Dallas Morning News.

SNIP

Its interesting that those who are supposedly in tune with God have such a small, weak God. In this case, His omniscience and supreme power and authority has been usurped by man. It takes a godly school board to put God back where God is afraid to be, the public school.

Gee, I was taught that God was all powerful, not just pretty powerful and certainly not able to be "driven" from schools. Pretty weak god.

[teenagebambam]

1. Creationism as science is one thing....

....but really, I don't see the problem with a Bible course, as long as it's an elective and not a proscribed part of the curriculum. No one would have a problem with, say, an elective course on Greek mythology, would they? Learning about the context in which the Bible was written might even help the Fundie kids to break free of their programming and see that it's not the literal word of God.

[silverlib]

2. It depends on the curriculum

A Greek mythology class does not have the potential for a "biased" curriculum. Any curriculum in a Bible class would not, and verly likley could not, embrace all views of interpretation. If religion is going to be taught in public schools, a History of World Religion class would be much more beneficial in opening minds to others beliefs and perceptions would be much more advantageous to the students, but this will never happen. IMO, this is just another example, unfortunately, of fundamentalist taking over or government and our schools.

[teenagebambam]

3. I can only rely on my own experience...

...an elective Bible lit class in public High School (early 1980's) and mandatory courses in college on "Modern Christian Thought" and "The World of the Bible". All could not HELP but be mind-opening, even though the curricululm was heavily biased - especially in the latter course, which was at a Baptist-funded University in the South. Students actually READING the Bible and drawing their own conclusions instead of relying on what others have TOLD them it says can only be helpful in the end.

And, I stress, this is ONLY a good idea if the course is elective.

[cap]

6. which Bible will you use as the textbook???

there are so many versions... Catholics have one... Protestants have others.


This is a chance for a huge amount of religious squabbling.... In certain school districts this will be abused and only one faith will have the podium.

[BR_Parkway]

4. All the more reason for it to be taught then - imagine the uproar

when little Johnnie comes home and says - "In Bible class today, they taught us about Jesus loving others and turning the other cheek - so why are we killing people in other countries?"

"In Bible class today, they taught us about Jesus making WINE out of water and people asking GAWD to bless their vineyards - why does our preacher say that drinking wine is a sin, did Jesus do something sinful?"

"In Bible class today, they taught us that Jesus said that if you get divorced and remarry, you are committing adultery - does that mean that you and my stepdad are really going to hell?"

Let them teach it, first off I have no problem with the historical end of things, I'd love to see a course on the Crusades and all the Native American's that were killed into accepting Yahweh. But these fundamentalist idiots have no clue what Pandora's box they are opening - the Baptists will be complaining about one thing, the Catholics about something else, the Methodists will get pissed at everyone else and then along comes the child raised in a Wiccan home......

Do they really not understand that not everyone reads and picks the same scriptures to support whatever position they have already staked out? Do they not realize that this may be the only time in young Johnnie's impressionable life that he gets to hear something OTHER than the message he's been fed up until now?

[PATRICK]

7. Catholics and Religion in school

Catholics started their own private ethnic religious schools at great personal cost primarily because of the brand of intolerant Protestantism forced down their throat which probably went hand in hand with snearing discrimination against ethnic immigrants. NOT againbst godless secularism but de facto religious persecution, proselytizing and virulent anti-catholic hatred using prayers and Scriptures foreign to Catholic usage. Even SCOTUS had no sympathy for Catholics or their rights.

That is exactly what did in prayer in the schools in the first place. Infighting and religious intolerance among Christians, not atheist Madeleine O'Hare later pushing the envelope. Had they learned NOT to threaten the dangers the Constitutional separation guarded against they might have retained privileges as traditions. The public school system too might have retained the Catholic population better, but too late.

But no, establishment bigots had to prove the secularist safeguard right with painful lessons. One of the big parties of course in those days was the Know-Nothings who were anti-immigrant, etc.

[GOPFighter]

5. Also in the BPN...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Another debate over the teaching of evolution in public schools is underway in Kansas, where the state's board of education is hearing testimony from scientists who say students should be taught that there is a controversy over evolution.
snip--

Then to be fair, all church attendees should be taught that there's a controversy over whether god exists, right?

Since science can't "prove" the theory of evolution, the fundies want to throw it out. Then how about some proof of the existence of god??

[Bridget Burke]

8. Check out the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools

According to the article, they are behind this.

www.bibleinschools.net/sdm.asp

It's a relatively sane site, but check this out: The central approach of the class is simply to study the Bible as a foundation document of society, and that approach is altogether appropriate in a comprehensive program of secular education.

The world is watching to see if we will be motivated to impact our culture, to deal with the moral crises in our society, and reclaim our families and children.

Please help us to restore our religious and civil liberties in this nation.

Key phrases: "foundation document of society" "deal with moral crises" "restore our religious & civil liberties in this nation"

I'm a big fan of myth, legend & comparative religion. That is NOT what these guys are pushing. Check out their LINKS page--Dominionist scum....

[northzax]

9. in my high school (a private, non-religious one)

all Freshmen read the Bible, as a literary work. You cannot understand Western European literature or culture (including art) without a knowledge of the Bible. It is one of the major foundations of Western culture and experience, so read it. it's good for you. Just like reading the Iliad is good for you.