Distribution of Bible prompts complaint

sunherald.com ^

[chance33_98]

Distribution of Bible prompts complaint

Student's mom unhappy with the version

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOBILE - A public school let an evangelical group distribute Protestant versions of the Bible to students, prompting complaints from a Roman Catholic mother.

Leigha Arnez said she doesn't have a problem with the Bible but she would rather her 10-year-old son be brought up on the Douay-Rheims translation favored by many Catholics, not the King James Version handed out by members of Gideons International.

She also was concerned that parents were not notified before the group gave away Bibles in a hallway at Semmes Elementary School, where her fifth-grader received a copy after classes a few weeks ago.

"With a child being 10 years old, my feeling is it should be the parent's decision," she said.

Principal Sharon Anderson said the Gideons have passed out Bibles at Semmes Elementary for years with the permission of system administrators. They also distributed Bibles at other public schools, she said.

The state Attorney General's Office has told schools that citizens are free to distribute religious literature in public schools as long as people handing out other material unrelated to curriculum are treated the same way.

Based in Nashville, the Gideons are a Christian men's missionary organization best known for placing Bibles in hotel rooms. Gideons say they pass out some 60 million scriptures worldwide annually, almost all of them either New Testaments or complete Bibles.

Buddy Adams, a member of the west Mobile County camp of the Gideons, said the group tries to visit every school in the county each year. Students are not required to take a Bible, but Adams said he has seen fewer than 50 students decline a book while visiting more than two dozen schools this year.

Arnez said she would rather her son Zachary not read the New Testament provided by the Gideons because it was the King James Version, often preferred by conservative Protestants. The Douay-Rheims translation version favored by Arnez is most commonly used by Catholics and was based on early Latin texts rather than the original Greek and Hebrew.

Anderson said she would require students next year to have a signed permission slip allowing them to take copies.

[AnAmericanMother]

I think the mother should have just explained to the kid that the KJV is a different version of the Bible "that we don't use because it's not as accurate." Then give it to the local Baptist church and buy the kid his own Douay-Rheims translation.

By making a huge stink, the mom is playing right into the hands of atheists and ACLU types who want to remove all references to Christianity from the schools, Catholic and Protestant alike. Better that SOMEbody is passing out SOME edition of the Bible . . .

[ladylib]

Yeah, it could have been a copy of "Prince and Prince" like in that "cutting-edge" North Carolina school.

[AnAmericanMother]

What you said. This is counterproductive.

[ladylib]

You're right.

[george wythe]

In the sixteenth century, the Protestant Reformers removed a large section of the Old Testament that was not compatible with their theology. They charged that these writings were not inspired Scripture and branded them with the pejorative title "Apocrypha."

Exactly.

For instance, when I read the Protestant NIV version of St John 10:22, 23, I'm informed that Jesus celebrated the "Feast of Dedication" in Jerusalem.

If I hadn't read 1 Maccabees in my Catholic Bible, I would have no clue about what "Feast of Dedication" is. It's the celebration also known as Hanukkah honoring the re-dedication of the Jerusalem temple after the Maccabees' victory against Antiocchus Epiphanes.

The Protestant Bible has a big whole in the history God's Chosen People. Between the return from Babylon and the Roman rule, there is a historical gap that leaves the reader guessing at the reasons behind many events in the New Testament.

[cripplecreek]

It may be counter productive but it beats a nonsense lawsuit my a mile. Personally i would encourage the kid to read and widen his horizons, but he's not my kid.

[Mr. Lucky]

May one guess that your understanding of the Protestant Bible was gleaned from Catholic sources?

[VRWC_minion]

Catholics have bibles ?

My 8 year old is turning into an opionated bible thumper. He has been exposed to the NRSV, the NIV, KJ, and the Good News under various circumstances. Yesterday he announced that the NIV is the best.

[AnAmericanMother]

All I'm saying is that the mom is cutting off her nose to spite her face.

Better to make common cause with other Christians who are floating on a sea of atheists, agnostics, and secular humanists, than kick a hole in the bottom of the lifeboat because of a family disagreement.

[auntdot]

I hate to disagree with most of the posters, but I feel that handing out Bibles, or any religious texts, in a public school is inappropriate.

Once you allow that, you can have people handing out Korans, the 'sacred' writings of Ron Hubbard, or the scribblings of Madelaine Mary O'Hare.

Public school is there to teach our children how to read, write, and cipher.

It is also there to teach them science, English, history, and how to think for themselves.

If people want their children given a religious education, send them to religious schools.

Or depend upon the home and the church or temple.

To bring religious fractiousness into public schools will only undermine the ability of the teachers to do their jobs.

Public schools are there to educate everyone.

If someone wants to hand Bibles, or other texts, off campus, they should be free to do so.

But to do it on school grounds can only lead to diminution of the educational experience.

[VRWC_minion]

If the protestant bible omits a few books that no one reads anyways, whats the big deal ?

[cripplecreek]

I tend to agree mom.

[BSunday]

Because the Catholic Bible contains non inspired "apocryphal" books.

[cripplecreek]

they did it when i was in grade school in the 70s. In fact there was a traveling minister who came to our school a couple of times every year and told stories

[BSunday]

I hate to disagree with most of the posters, but I feel that handing out Bibles, or any religious texts, in a public school is inappropriate.

I agree. The same people who handed out these Bibles would have a conniption fit if Moslems were allowed to hand out the Koran, or worse, devil worshipers were allowed to distribute the Satanic Bible

[Integrityrocks]

"She would rather have the young boy learn from one of the catholic priests!"

That was uncalled for. I would hope people in this forum don't sink the the sort of things the democrats do on DU.

I think the issue was BIBLE PREFERENCE, not slaming the Catholic Church because of a batch of BAD priests.

[Gil4]

The state Attorney General's Office has told schools that citizens are free to distribute religious literature in public schools as long as people handing out other material unrelated to curriculum are treated the same way.

Anderson [the principal] said she would require students next year to have a signed permission slip allowing them to take copies.

Permission slips are fine with me, "as people handing out other material unrelated to curriculum are treated the same way."

Instead of hiring a lawyer, maybe mom should have bought and handed out some of her preferred Bibles.

[VRWC_minion]

Once you allow that, you can have people handing out Korans, the 'sacred' writings of Ron Hubbard, or the scribblings of Madelaine Mary O'Hare.

All learning in school is appropriate. In fact being ingorant of the bible in this culture is a huge disadvantage. In many respects I wish I had more instruction in the muslim religion because it is affecting me so much. The idea that certain subjects are taboo (accomodating age) in school is too sheltering.

[AnAmericanMother]

Unfortunately, the teachers are "handing out" plenty of stuff you would probably disagree with, under the guise of "assignments" and "reading lists". A friend of mine showed me a reading list for her 7th grade son in the public schools here. Very controversial and in my opinion age-inappropriate books - all of course very liberal and environmentally conscious and sexually "relevant."

I would not be at all surprised if excerpts from the Koran are assigned in social studies class. As for Hubbard and O'Hare, nobody can sit down and seriously read their ravings anyhow. O'Hare in particular can't write a simple declarative English sentence. It's like when the Hairy Krishnas used to hand out "The Bhagavad-Vita As It Is" on street corners. The writing was so bad even a college student couldn't plow through it, so everybody just looked at the pictures and then put it down somewhere inconspicuous . . .

[Integrityrocks]

Geeze you guys.. "...omits a few books that no one reads anyways...." ???? Only about 6 billion Catholics... just a few.

I think the mother should have explained the difference to her child and left it at that.

Do we have to get into CATHOLIC BASHING here?