Bible curriculum in the public schools Anyone who so desires is free to believe that the Bible is inerrant. However, to use a position of authority to compel -in any form- others to accept this view is obviously unconstitutional and, in my view, is also unethical. It does not matter if the coercion is "soft" and merely consists of views expressed by a teacher or school administrator or school board member or etc. The fact is that someone in a position of authority has real power over children, and children are in a subordinate position and cannot fully express any views they may have to the contrary and not face serious consequences. Exactly why can't some people understand something so obvious?
As well, leaving aside my view that the Bible is manifestly NOT inerrant regardless of how crucial to all kinds of things it is objectively and how much it means to me personally, the argument seems irreproachable that an inerrantist outlook can cause some very unwanted problems by nature of inerrantism itself. This is not always the case, of course; some people understand all the implications and do not cross any lines. But others do not see the implications and for them ethical considerations simply do not figure in their calculus. As if the ends justify the means. There does not need to be any problem, is what is so vexing. I am 100% in favor of making study of the Bible part of the school curriculum. However, this necessarily must mean a non-devotional educational approach, with any devotion something that is a matter of individual conviction in a non-classroom setting. This could be on school grounds. A school should be able to offer space to voluntary religious clubs like Hi-C, where students can pray if they so desire and cite the Bible as a sacred text. But to impose one's beliefs on a cross section of students some of whom may not be Christian believers, is unacceptable for many reasons -and not to understand this viscerally ought to be reason enough for others to be critical of that person's faith. Bible study in a public school classroom should be objective and not require a test of faith of any kind. The case for a wide variety of kinds of outlooks upon the Bible should be explained to everyone, everything from "true believer" views to that hardest hard-nosed skepticism. Simply let the best arguments, outlooks, philosophies win. Along with required Bible study all schools should also offer classes in Comparative Religion. We need nothing less because (1) our nation's heritage is historically Bible-centric, and (2) we now live in a pluralistic society in which people representing approximately every religion on Earth are our friends, neighbors, fellow workers and so forth. We need to understand them and the place of their faiths in our society. Billy -------------------------------- American Baptist Press News Hobby Lobby Bible curriculum Advocates for church-state separation are monitoring a new high school Bible curriculum being beta-tested in an Oklahoma school district. By Bob Allen A group that advocates for separation of church and state says Hobby Lobby owner Steve Green’s new high school Bible curriculum is likely unconstitutional and warns that school districts that use it risk getting sued for violating the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. Attorneys representing Americans United for Separation of Church and State _wrote_ (https://au.org/files/pdf_documents/2014-04-23_MustangOK_BibleClass.pdf) the superintendent and school board members in Mustang, Okla., April 23 warning that their April 14 _vote_ (http://www.religionnews.com/2014/04/15/hobby-lobbys-steve-green-another-project-public-school-bible-curriculum/) to create an elective Bible curriculum in high schools “presents significant risks of unconstitutional religious instruction and could expose the school district to costly, time-consuming lawsuits.” Hobby Lobby, a family-owned crafts store chain _based_ (http://www.hobbylobby.com/our_company/) in Oklahoma City, is currently embroiled in a church-state battle before the U.S. Supreme Court with a lawsuit claiming the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act violates the owners’ sincerely held religious beliefs. Americans United, a non-sectarian and non-partisan religious-liberty watchdog group based in Washington, claims the family’s new Museum of the Bible Curriculum promotes a particular religious doctrine — that the Bible is inerrant. “The courts have been clear: there is to be no proselytization in public schools,” said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “Schools are welcome to teach religion objectively, but they’re not welcome to teach any one religion as literal truth. That’s exactly what the Mustang public schools are about to do.” <FIGCAPTION>SHobby Lobby President Steve Green, a member of Council Road Baptist Church in Bethany, Okla., _described_ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awrALVLc2zo) the curriculum last year while accepting the 2013 John M. Templeton Biblical Values Award from the National Bible Association. Designed to support the mission of a new Bible museum that Green is _building_ (http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117145/museum-bible-hobby-lobby-founders-oth er-religious-project) in Washington, the curriculum will focus on the Bible’s history, narrative and impact. Green said that includes archeological evidence supporting the historical accounts in the Bible as being literally true. “The book that we have is a reliable historical document, and we are going to point that out time and time again,” Green said. AU lawyers said Green’s public statement that the class will teach the doctrine of Bible inerrancy undermines his claim that it will be taught from an objective standpoint. While courts have held that it’s permissible for public schools to teach about the Bible as literature, they cannot teach it as religious truth. Americans United said any public school course devoted solely to Bible study risks running afoul of the Establishment Clause and recommended that the school board either remove the class or offer an alternative course on comparative religions. While the Mustang school board has agreed to beta-test the four-year curriculum as an elective, Green said he personally believes that Bible teaching in public schools should be mandatory. “This nation is in danger because of its ignorance of what God has taught,” he said. “There are lessons from the past that we can learn from, the dangers of ignorance of this book. We need to know it, and if we don’t know it, our future is going to be very scary.” The Bible course is also under scrutiny from the _Freedom From Religion Foundation_ (http://ffrf.org/news/news-releases/item/20500-ffrf-blasts-hobby-lobby-bible-curriculum) , a Wisconsin-based group that seeks to uphold church-state separation and educate the public about non-theism as an alternative to religion, and the _American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma_ (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/oklahoma-district-bible-class-sinners-suffer-234 75591) . Green said the Bible makes “some pretty incredible claims” about itself — that it is God’s word, will last forever and is a “living” book — and that readers can decide for themselves what to make of those claims. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
