Once Again Louisville Courier Journal Misses The Point On Teaching The Bible As An Elective Course In Schools. Read Their Editorial Below And Tsk, Tsk
Teaching the Bible
Plenty of serious concerns already existed about Sen. David Boswell's bill to teach the Bible as an elective course in public schools, and there are even more of them after the Owensboro Democrat's bill made it out of the Senate Education Committee on Thursday.
Briefly, the measure (Senate Bill 142) sets up guidelines on how to teach a class on the Bible and its many influences throughout the arts, history, cultures and mores. It also contains language that establishes the course must follow state and federal laws about religious neutrality.
On its face, that sounds reasonable. But the rub on religion is that the discussion surrounding it very often turns unreasonable — and intolerant.
This bill hadn't even escaped committee on Thursday before the first signs of that sort of discussion surrounded it.
There was so much wrong with what the lawmakers said, and how they reacted to its passage, that it almost served as a blueprint to why religion correctly belongs in houses of worship and not the public school classroom. This bill is a Trojan horse for trouble. Take a look:
Sen. Elizabeth Tori, R-Elizabethtown, cooed “an angel was sent down on your shoulders” to its co-sponsors, Sens. Boswell and Julian Carroll, D-Frankfort. “I've said for many years that until we put God back into our households, things in society will not change for the better.”
Problem is, the bill isn't about God in households; it's about God in the classroom.
Equally appalling was Sen. Carroll's statement that taking the Bible out of school had also removed the opportunity for students to learn life skills that will keep them out of prison. On its face, that is ridiculous. Don't parents and Sunday school teachers offer plenty of opportunities for those lessons? And is religion the only avenue to learn life skills?
Just as bad were the reactions of people who should have known better than to vote for this bill.
Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, voted for it but said he wanted it to include teaching the literary works of other faiths. Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, D-Louisville, voted for it, but noted, “I am concerned that we couldn't even get out of committee without the preaching.”
If it has those flaws, why vote for it?
Everyone should be concerned.
The mere fact that the proposed class only includes the Bible, and not the literary teachings of other holy books and religions, smacks of exclusivity and of promotion of one set of religious beliefs, and that is offensive to individuals of other religions (or no religion) and to the notion of a pluralistic society. Whether the course offered is an elective or not is immaterial.
This bill, which reeks of political opportunism, doesn't honor the tapestries of either faith or the great, diverse family known as Americans. Somebody in Frankfort with some guts needs to stop this bill.
Plenty of serious concerns already existed about Sen. David Boswell's bill to teach the Bible as an elective course in public schools, and there are even more of them after the Owensboro Democrat's bill made it out of the Senate Education Committee on Thursday.
Briefly, the measure (Senate Bill 142) sets up guidelines on how to teach a class on the Bible and its many influences throughout the arts, history, cultures and mores. It also contains language that establishes the course must follow state and federal laws about religious neutrality.
On its face, that sounds reasonable. But the rub on religion is that the discussion surrounding it very often turns unreasonable — and intolerant.
This bill hadn't even escaped committee on Thursday before the first signs of that sort of discussion surrounded it.
There was so much wrong with what the lawmakers said, and how they reacted to its passage, that it almost served as a blueprint to why religion correctly belongs in houses of worship and not the public school classroom. This bill is a Trojan horse for trouble. Take a look:
Sen. Elizabeth Tori, R-Elizabethtown, cooed “an angel was sent down on your shoulders” to its co-sponsors, Sens. Boswell and Julian Carroll, D-Frankfort. “I've said for many years that until we put God back into our households, things in society will not change for the better.”
Problem is, the bill isn't about God in households; it's about God in the classroom.
Equally appalling was Sen. Carroll's statement that taking the Bible out of school had also removed the opportunity for students to learn life skills that will keep them out of prison. On its face, that is ridiculous. Don't parents and Sunday school teachers offer plenty of opportunities for those lessons? And is religion the only avenue to learn life skills?
Just as bad were the reactions of people who should have known better than to vote for this bill.
Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, voted for it but said he wanted it to include teaching the literary works of other faiths. Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, D-Louisville, voted for it, but noted, “I am concerned that we couldn't even get out of committee without the preaching.”
If it has those flaws, why vote for it?
Everyone should be concerned.
The mere fact that the proposed class only includes the Bible, and not the literary teachings of other holy books and religions, smacks of exclusivity and of promotion of one set of religious beliefs, and that is offensive to individuals of other religions (or no religion) and to the notion of a pluralistic society. Whether the course offered is an elective or not is immaterial.
This bill, which reeks of political opportunism, doesn't honor the tapestries of either faith or the great, diverse family known as Americans. Somebody in Frankfort with some guts needs to stop this bill.
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 8:10 AM
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