Panel Approves Bible Classes For Public Schools
Posted: Feb 19, 2010 8:08 AM
FRANKFORT (AP) - Kentucky may follow the lead of Texas and a handful of other states in allowing Bible classes to be taught in public schools.
The Senate Education Committee on Thursday unanimously approved legislation that would effectively return the Bible to classrooms across Kentucky.
"The purpose is to allow the Bible to be used for its literature content as well as its art and cultural and social studies content," said state Sen. David Boswell, D-Owensboro, chief sponsor of the bill that is modeled after a Texas measure.
Under the Kentucky proposal, Bible courses would be offered as electives, meaning schools could choose whether to offer them to students as a social studies credit and that students could decide whether to take them.
Boswell said he believes the legislation is constitutional because the Bible won't be taught from a religious perspective. What sets the legislation apart, he said, is that it proposes teaching, not preaching, the Bible.
It's the kind of legislation that most Kentucky lawmakers dare not vote against, especially in an election year. Colleagues heaped praise on Boswell and fellow state Sen. Julian Carroll, D-Frankfort, who helped explain the measure to members of the Education Committee.
Carroll, a former governor, assured lawmakers that passing the measure is the right thing to do, legally and morally.
"We took the Bible out of our schools, but we put nothing back," Carroll said. "When we took the Bible out of the schools, we also unfortunately took out that portion of the Bible which relates to life skills, which relates to value systems. And so our students these days do not have the full opportunity, in my judgment, to be taught those life skills and value judgments that keep them out of our penitentiaries ..."
The American Civil Liberties Union said some of the comments made by lawmakers suggest that their true intent is to try endorse the establishment of a religion.
"It's not clearly unconstitutional on its face, but it will likely lead to a host of unconstitutional actions by school boards," said ACLU of Kentucky executive director Michael Aldridge. "It's obviously kind of a backdoor means to open the door to teach unconstitutional Bible courses in public schools."
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The legislation is Senate Bill 142.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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Firefly at Feb 19th 2010 9:21 AM
I think this is absolutely absurd. Separation between church and state. There is no way that a school can teach the Bible as literature. It's just a ploy by the state to get control through religion. If you implement the Bible, you should implement a class on evolution, on atheism, the Qur'an and all. The state isn't gonna do that now will they?? They're biased. I am now embarrassed to say I am a student of this state's school system.
BrianS. at Feb 19th 2010 9:42 AM
Well isn?t that nice, the wedge just drives deeper and deeper until we all end up in a theocracy.. We must all understand that the establishment clause to the constitution wasn?t established jut to protect the minority from the majority, but to protect the religious from government. The mingling of the two will only end badly and our forefathers knew this.
lovekc at Feb 19th 2010 9:53 AM
Finally! My daughter is a middle school student and I am thrilled that she may have the option of studying the Bible at school. I am a Christian person and have watched as my right to express my beliefs have slowly been taken away. Now you have to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", when that is exactly what December 25th is- Christmas! The ten commandments are no where to be seen, but I don't understand when rules such as "Thou shall not kill" became such bad rules to live by. Simply put this is going to be an "elective" which means you don't have to take it. If you don't belive in the Bible, don't take the class. If you don't believe in saying "Merry Christmas", don't say it. And if you don't believe in the ten commandments, don't read it when it's displayed, but I'm tired of not even being given the option of expressing my beliefs in God due to the people that choose not to have blocked him from everything. I have rights as a Christian too and it's about time lawmakers recognized it. Thank you and God Bless.
mathom at Feb 19th 2010 11:38 AM
So, as a Christian, you really trust some teacher that you don't know to teach your kid about the Bible?
There are probably a few atheist teachers out there who see this as a great opportunity to point out contradictions in the Bible and convince children to step away from religion.
Separation of church and state was created to help religion retain its autonomy from the state, not just the state from the church.
Firefly at Feb 19th 2010 12:36 PM
It's not that you don't have a right to say or do as you please, you have those rights as a human being...regardless of your belief system. Saying Merry Christmas to people is assuming they celebrate Christmas, or assuming they believe in Christ. It's one thing if you know they do, another to assume something of someone else.