The question of whether the Bible becomes part of classroom study is now in the hands of Gov. Jan Brewer.
Without comment, the Arizona Senate on Thursday gave final approval to legislation that allows schools to offer an elective in high school on how the Old and New Testaments have influenced Western culture. The vote on HB 2563 was along party lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats against.
Rep. Terri Proud, R-Tucson, said her measure is not an attempt to introduce religion into classrooms. Instead, she said it is a simple recognition that the Bible has been a factor in civilization.
Under the terms of the legislation, courses would familiarize pupils with the contents, characters, poetry and narratives that will help create a better understanding of literature, art, music and more. And students would be told the influence of the Bible on laws, history and government.
The measure contains a requirement for any course to be legally reviewed to ensure that it does not run afoul of the First Amendment requirements dealing with freedom of religion. And there is a mandate that classes comply with all state and federal laws and guidelines to maintain religious neutrality “and accommodating the diverse religious or nonreligious views, traditions and perspectives of pupils.”
But the law covers only the Old and New Testaments and does not include other religious books.
American Socialist posted at 4:25 pm on Thu, Apr 12, 2012.
Sweet...when I was in high school we had to go to the store for rolling papers. Now there will be tons of rice paper to roll up a fattie at school.
Smoke your favorite passage... [wink]
mesateacher posted at 6:08 pm on Thu, Apr 12, 2012.
So now the arguing and complaining begins. Which Bible? The King James? Mormons won't take anything else. The New American Bible - the newest Catholic one, or the Douay, the preferred translation of the Vulgate. Fundamentalists will prefer KJV, but Protestants will likely be more familiar with the Revised Standard Version. Then there's the New Jerusalem. The Jehovahs Witness have their own New World Bible. As far as influence on Shakespeare and English go, only the KJV can make a claim. But as illiterate as most students are today, we'll wind up with the Good News Bible (The Bible for Dummies). And, what about the extra books the Catholics use that aren't in the traditional canon, the so-called Apocrypha? This is going to be a mess.
Accuracy posted at 6:16 pm on Thu, Apr 12, 2012.
Arizona Senate sends a bill to make the Bible and its role in Western culture the subject of an elective high school course to Gov. Jan Brewer.
Five other states have passed legislation similar to the Arizona proposal. And have laws allowing such classes to teach the Bible which focus on how the Old and New Testaments have influenced everything from law to literature: Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina and Oklahoma.
To allow public schools to teach courses on the Bible, based on the idea that understanding the scriptures is important in understanding the history and culture of America.
samkat posted at 7:37 pm on Thu, Apr 12, 2012.
What about the Koran and the Torah? I am not an ACLU fan but I hope they file suit before the ink is dry. The religious nuts are out of control.
spk2pwr posted at 12:39 am on Fri, Apr 13, 2012.
One has to wonder exactly what will be taught without getting into it being a class on religion. Will they teach for instance about all the religious wars that have taken place? Will they teach about the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition? Will they teach about the relationship between the Vatican and Nazi Germany during World War II? Somehow I doubt it.
downtownresident posted at 5:40 am on Fri, Apr 13, 2012.
Ignorance seems to be in vogue these days in state legislatures and politics in general.
Arizona's politicians are among the ignorantest in the entire country.
Sickening ans sad at the same time.
TioPastor posted at 8:54 pm on Fri, Apr 13, 2012.
Talk about off the wall comments. Each one of you missed a very important part of this bill. That the course is an elective course. No one is required to take the course. Only those students who are interested in the course will sign up for it so a lawsuit by the ACLU before the ink is dry will be a violation of those students First Amendment Rights which (the part that is generally left out) prohibits prohibiting the free exercise thereof of anything of religious nature whether on private or public property. If politicians can pander to every little group under the sun creating a course for this and that then at the same time they can and have an obligation to provide a course of religious historical content for those who are interested in taking the course. For those individuals who believe and state that the Bible has not had a profound influence in Western culture then they need to go back to school and study real American History and not the revisionist version that so many have been taught or are themselves teaching.
JMJ posted at 11:16 pm on Fri, Apr 13, 2012.
On the face of it, this curriculum [is there an actual curriculum?] could be valuable from the point that the Bible is being presented as "historically significant". I think most people would definitely defend that the Bible is a significant book, hands down, no argument. It is profoundly historical.
What will be interesting is how the curriculum is presented, and, more importantly, by whom. There are some very zealous people out there who give their side of religion believing that they are doing "God's work" by enlightening the masses to their personal point of view. Believe it or not, there was a professor I endured who gave his point of view all the time about his Christianity in a masters class in the East Valley [through one of our three state university classes], and he would feign "neutrality", all the while proselytizing. He'd sing hymns and go postal about evolution. He was a nut. No one said a word. What do you say? This guy was in charge of our grades. We just all shut up and listened and collectively rolled our eyes. It was uncomfortable to listen to this prophet go on and on about religion, when it wasn't even the theme of the class, and we were a captive audience.
When my kids attended public high school in Mesa, their school bus would park right on the curb of the LDS seminary [which abuts every public high school in the east valley, sharing a common boundary with the high schools so that the students can just walk to their seminary class during school time]. The "elder" who was all of 23, male ["elder" would suggest that, but for those of you who are not in the know, one is an "elder" at something like age 12 in the LDS culture], would come out and try to talk the kids into "visiting" the seminary. My kids complained about this more than once to me. They never fell for the invitation, but there was definitely pressure there as they waited for the bus to leave to take them back to their junior high school after their A Hour. They weren't even in high school, yet, but were being pressured, ever so invitingly, but pressured just the same.
So, with all the good intentions that may be present regarding this Bible elective, let's hope that someone is actually not just letting the wolves into the henhouse dressed in sheep's [...or Shepherds'...] clothing. A rounded education is a good thing. You sign up for a class on the Bible, you should hear about the Bible as impartially as possible, with no ulterior motive. "They" park your school bus near a seminary, your kids do not need to talk to an "elder" who isn't their teacher, and who is trying to talk them into visiting.
It all seems so innocent, right?
From experience. Just sayin'.