The Good Book Taught Wrong

[ck4829]

That was the title of a People For the American Way Foundation report in 2000 documenting the appalling ways that the Bible was being taught in Florida public schools. (Actual test question: " Why is it hard for a non-Christian to understand things about God?”) But “The Good Book Taught Wrong” would also certainly be the end result if a Texas bill to require that school districts offer Bible classes becomes law.

Under the headline “Bible Belt Refuses to Buckle under on Religious Courses,” the Family Research Council celebrates a bill introduced by Texas Rep. Warren Chisum that would require every school district in the state to offer elective high school Bible classes.

The committee considering the legislation held its hearing on the first day of Passover. A letter from People For the American Way, which testified against the legislation, spells out the myriad legal problems with the bill, including sectarian language and a failure to require or fund any teacher training, in spite of the enormous difficulties of teaching about the Bible in a constitutional manner in a public school. Without that kind of training, even in a properly designed course it’s likely some classes would be more like Sunday School than the kind of objective course required by the Supreme Court for teaching about the Bible in public schools.

In fact, a recent study by Southern Methodist University biblical studies professor Mark Chancey conducted for the Texas Freedom Network found that of 25 school districts offering Bible courses in Texas in 2005-2006, only three were doing it right. One district included Veggie Tales videos. Another included a PowerPoint presentation, "God's Roadway For Your Life," with slides proclaiming "Jesus Christ is the one and only way."

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2007/04/the_good_book_t.html

[DCKit]

1. There's little point to teaching comparative religion when your's has all the answers

Someone needs to compile a comprehensive list of states where this is the norm. From my own experience, I'm thinking Fl and TX are near the top.

[gratuitous]

2. The Fundies are talking out of both sides of their mouths on this

On the one hand, there's nothing intrinsically sectarian or unconstitutional about studying the Bible for a school course. But the Fundies who are pushing for these courses also demand that the teaching follows a sectarian line. Interesting and important facts are elided, significant scholarship based on literary analysis, and placing the various writings into their temporal and social contexts, all go by the wayside in favor of a slavish fealty to a single interpretation of texts, heavily influenced by a set of preconceived notions.

Why the Fundies would want to cheapen their own religious beliefs in this manner is a puzzlement to me. I'm left to surmise that they don't value their own experience or faith very highly.