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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2017 14:15:48 GMT -5
www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/local/education/wva-public-school-district-halts-weekly-bible-classes/2017/05/26/90a3a81a-4229-11e7-8c25-44d09ff5a4a8_story.htmlI concur that a public school shouldn't hold Bible classes, or any other form of religious instruction. I'm genuinely confused by why they need to do so, anyway. I attended weekly Catholic religious study as a child. It was done after school, on Tuesday, at a local Catholic school, not at our public school -- even though our public school happened to be overwhelmingly filled with Catholic kids. Surely a similar solution could be found here. I can't imagine they are dissecting the Bible critically as a work of literature, or even as equivalent to and in the context of other religious texts, on a basis other than that of faith. Even so, a class like that would be better placed in a private university.
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Post by robeiae on May 27, 2017 15:39:35 GMT -5
My understanding is that the program was for elementary and secondary schools, so it's unlikely it was a critical dissection. But I think the school board has cancelled these classes while simultaneously offering a new elective Bible study class for high schools.
I don't think there should be any sort of mandatory Bible classes at any level of public schooling that are funded by the taxpayers. An elective in high school--that is about the Bible as literature to some degree--seems okay to me. And and an after school Bible study class for any level class would also be okay, provided materials and teaching salaries weren't coming out of the school district's coffers. And I'm okay with such a course being at a school, as well, because it makes things easier (just as I would be okay with an after school Quran study class that had the same parameters).
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2017 19:36:47 GMT -5
In theory, I could be ok with a Bible-as-literature elective at the high school level. But in practice, at a public school? I think it wouldn't work.
The religious parents would almost certainly be offended if what they consider a sacred and true document was being treated as being on the same level as Shakespeare or Greek mythology. (and of course, the atheist/non-religious/non-Christian parents would object if it were treated any other way than that, not to mention us separation-of-church-and-state fanatics.)
I think a teacher in a public high school would have a lot of trouble negotiating those landmines.
No problem at a religious school. Everyone is on board with Bible as truth. No problem at a college -- everyone is an adult (legally, anyway). But a public high school -- meh, more trouble than it is worth.
I think it would be better if after-school religious programs were not held in a public school, but if for some reason that wasn't feasible, I personally wouldn't get too hysterical about them simply being held in the school building -- provided, as you note, the school's budget and materials weren't used, and it was simply a matter of using the room.
That said, I would think that most of the time, it would in fact be perfectly feasible (and preferable) to hold them elsewhere. The church itself. The pastor's home. A religious school, as was done in my neighborhood. But if school $$$$ and resources weren't used, meh, my girl scout meetings were at our public school, and they didn't have squat to do with school business.
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Post by michaelw on May 27, 2017 19:39:48 GMT -5
I don't think there should be any sort of mandatory Bible classes at any level of public schooling that are funded by the taxpayers. Ditto. |
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2017 19:41:58 GMT -5
I don't think there should be any sort of mandatory Bible classes at any level of public schooling that are funded by the taxpayers. Ditto. Double ditto. |
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Post by Christine on May 27, 2017 21:43:40 GMT -5
Isn't mandatory religious instruction in public schools illegal?
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2017 22:08:17 GMT -5
Isn't mandatory religious instruction in public schools illegal? Not my area, but I can't imagine "mandatory" religious education in public schools wouldn't run afoul of separation of church and state! Indeed, I think there's a problem with it as an elective. |
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Post by Angie on May 29, 2017 11:01:03 GMT -5
Mandatory religious instruction is absolutely illegal in public schools. However, a lot of schools get around it by calling it an elective, or allowing Good News Clubs (which are legal as long as the school provides a limited public forum - meaning that other groups, like atheist or other faith groups, have equal access). That equal access thing is how Satanist clubs have gotten into some schools, and Satanist materials distributed at schools that have distributed religious materials (and refused to stop). Note that the Satanic Temple is not actually a Satan-worshiping group. They're an atheist group committed to church-state separation. Sometimes, IMO, they go overboard in their protests, but their shock value often gets results where other methods fail. Technically, using the Bible as a literary illustration or discussing it purely from a literary/cultural standpoint is legal. Teaching it *as the word of God* and teaching religious lessons from it is not. The problem is that many public schools don't seem to know where that line is (or ignore it completely). That's when showing them where the rabbit hole leads can be helpful. |
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