September 29, 2005

The Bible in Public Schools?

As I was checking my mail just now, a story, originally from the Christian Science Monitor and published in Yahoo News, caught my eye with the headline "A Bible course without the lawsuits?" In it, staff writer Jane Lampman talks about a new course that has been introduced to teach the Bible in a "secular" way. I found this article to be interesting, insightful, and not a little positive. The article opens with this statement:

Like prayer in the schools and the Ten Commandments in courthouses, teaching about the Bible in public classrooms has long been contentious. Some people question whether it is legal. Many educators worry they might be faced with lawsuits. And American students, it seems, end up the losers.

This, of course, is one aspect of the argument we do not hear much about, when it comes to religion in public schools--what is best for the student. The article continues:

Without academic knowledge of the Bible and its influence, many teachers say, pupils can't understand their own literary, artistic, and cultural heritage. In a survey last spring, 90 percent of leading English teachers said biblical knowledge was crucial to a good education. Yet a Gallup poll found that only 8 percent of public-school teens said their school offered an elective course on the Bible.

Working with students in the classroom and at camp for the past several years, I am a witness to the fact that they have an ever-decreasing knowlege of the biblical heritage of their own culture. When young people have no idea who David, Jonah, or Noah is, for example, something has gone terribly wrong.

For school districts, the difficulty lies in agreeing on what will pass constitutional muster, and then actually having the materials to teach it appropriately.

I am sure the founding fathers--all of whom were heavily educated in the Bible and greatly influenced by it--would be horrified that their magnum opus, the US Constitution, has been construed as prohibiting it's use in education.

Enter the Bible Literacy Project and their new release, "The Bible and Its Influence".

"The Bible and Its Influence," released last week in Washington, is designed to meet constitutional standards and to convey the Scriptures' broad influence on Western civilization. Covering Old and New Testaments, it presents the biblical narratives, characters, and themes as well as their cultural influences. Students may gain a more nuanced understanding of Shakespeare, with his 1,300 biblical references; or grasp the import of the Exodus to the African-American experience and musical heritage; or learn how the Bible shaped Abraham Lincoln's vision. They may even recognize a biblical origin for their hometown - Corpus Christi, New Canaan, and Salem, for example.

Of course, there are some who have grave concerns.

"I don't think the Constitution prohibits the use of this textbook, but I have real doubts about the wisdom of this approach," says Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. "At this time in America, it's better to simply talk about religious influences when they come up during the study of literature, art, and history, and not take the text of one religious tradition and treat it with special deference." Mr. Lynn also worries that individual teachers might go beyond the text itself and "spin it in ways that may well violate the Constitution."

It is obvious Mr. Lynn is worried, and with good reason. Although he would definitely not put it in these terms, he is well aware that the Bible is a powerful book. As Isaiah puts it, So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

It does not matter what kind of "spin" the teachers give it, it is the word of God, and it is about to get back into the public schools! No matter Mr. Lynn is worried.

Now granted, I would much rather have a text book that more explicitly taught the central theme of the Bible. The article goes on to talk about such a program--developed by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools--which is recieving a lot of flack.

I believe that this is an incremental victory in the effort to get Judeo-Christian values back into the mainstream of our society.

What do you think?

Posted by Andrew on September 29, 2005 3:17 PM.