Posted on 09/13/2006 7:59:19 AM PDT by atlaw
AUSTIN - Public school students don't need to go to church on Sunday for a strong dose of religion — in some cases, according to a new study, they merely show up for class. . . .
The 76-page report, titled "Reading, Writing and Religion: Teaching the Bible in Texas Public Schools," is one of the most ambitious looks so far at Bible courses that have sprouted in the nation's public high schools.
The report was a joint effort by Mark Chancey, a biblical studies professor at Southern Methodist University, and the Education Fund of the Texas Freedom Network, a group that works to counter the religious right. The report was endorsed by at least eight mostly religion scholars from around the country. . . .
Districts surveyed
Over the course of the year, TFN surveyed the 1,000-plus school districts in Texas to learn which offered Bible electives. Chancey then analyzed the course work, going back five years, from 25 districts — roughly 3 percent of the total that offered them as electives in 2005-2006.
Among the findings:
•The vast majority of Texas Bible courses, despite their titles, do not teach about the Bible in a historical or literary context, as required under state law. Instead, the electives tend to be explicitly devotional in nature and reflect an almost exclusively Christian (usually Protestant) perspective.
•The Bible is often presented as being divinely inspired and biblical stories treated as literal history.
•Most Bible courses in Texas are taught by teachers who have no academic training in biblical, religious or theological studies and, it appears, little familiarity with separation of church-state issues. Some districts bring in local clergy to teach their Bible courses and fund them with private money. . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
I would propose any curriculum include "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis.
The Constitution ALLOWS states to govern themselves - Texas simply has to obey the Constitution and tell these *** lawyers and judges to go back and *** their masters.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are the rules for the FEDERAL government.
Maybe these POS's need to go back to school themselves to where they learn the real history of the USA and the real reasons for these words in the Constitution and mostly so they can LEARN ENGLISH!
Of course, in the real world, that hasn't been the case for quite awhile. And I strongly suspect you wouldn't really want it to be.
Probably so. But if schools are using Bible study courses to proselytize for a given denomination or religious viewpoint, the problem still exists, whether the reporter of the problem is biased or not.
"...I strongly suspect you wouldn't really want it to be."
You suspect wrongly.
I am an American who has fought for this country and have sworn an oath to protect the country AND the Constitution from all enemies foreign AND domestic.
YES I want the Constitution back - taken far away from the lawyers and their masters who are ruling by judicial fiat and who have destroyed the Constitution.
YOU may not want the Constitution back, but most true Americans will fight to the death to maintain it.
If the BOR isn't incorporated into the states then a state can pass all sorts of restrictions on speech, race and religion.
It might be worthwhile for you to do a little reading about the history and purpose of the extension of the bill of rights to the states.
Did you read the report?
It's full of questionable statements, that reflect a bias in the analysis.
For starters, it claims that "most" courses are taught by teachers with no training in biblical, religious or theological study. Then it goes directly to state that local clergy are used to teach the course. Think about that, clergy are certainly required to undergo training in biblical, religious and theological study -- it's called seminary.
The press release claims that "The study of the Bible deserves the same respect as the study of Huck Finn, Shakespeare and the Constitution", yet the findings fault the course for promoting scripture memorization. High School kids around the country are required to memorize Shakespeare lines, parts of famous speeches, etc.
When you read the detailed findings, you'll see that often their claims are backed by evidence from a single school, yet the findings indict the program holistically.
It goes on and on. And it never makes, let alone supports, a point that it proselytizes for a single denomincation. Indeed, the word proselytize doesn't appear in the findings.
Yes.
For starters, it claims that "most" courses are taught by teachers with no training in biblical, religious or theological study. Then it goes directly to state that local clergy are used to teach the course.
That you do not understand the distinction between academic religious studies and the necessarily sectarian bias of denominational clergy is not an indictment of the report. The report itself identifies the difficulties in having local clergy imprint their particular brand of religious preference on the curriculum. I took a number of courses on Biblical influences in western culture and the literature of the English Bible in college (using, principally, the Dartmouth Bible, an excellent resource). Denominational or sectarian bias was non-existent. For that, I attend the Church of my choice.
The press release claims that "The study of the Bible deserves the same respect as the study of Huck Finn, Shakespeare and the Constitution", yet the findings fault the course for promoting scripture memorization.
I am under the impression that you did not read the report yourself. It discusses the memorization of verses in the context of relatively vapid course content and testing. It also discusses the importation of creationism, dispensational premillennialism, the rather appalling use of the Left Behind series of films (as ridiculous a source as one could imagine for an academic course), cartoons, sectarian workbooks, etc. An academic Biblical studies course is not Sunday School.
When you read the detailed findings, you'll see that often their claims are backed by evidence from a single school, yet the findings indict the program holistically.
The report specifically identifies the successful programs and courses of study (and specifically identifies problem programs and courses of study) and nowhere recommends that Biblical studies be eliminated or banned.
Thanks for that link. Fascinating.
Try not to embarrass us with your complete lack of understanding of one of the most basic Constitutional principles.
The report doesn't state the distinction between types of educational backgrounds -- that's the bias the report has. It also notes the use of mulitple denominations of clergy, and again, at no point does the report state that one denomination is proselytized over any other.
Your accusations about denomination bias are not supported by any facts in the report, and are indicative of an inherent bias in your own analysis. Merely having a member of clergy conduct part of the course is not evidence of proselytization. That is inferred by you, and comes from bias, not rational analysis.
It mentioned such practices as memorization, fill in the blank, and matching questions. This is entirely consistent with practices in all other courses. The report claims that critical thinking is not encouraged, yet provides no support for that accusation. Indeed, the report details the use of essay and open ended questions in more schools than it noted the lack of use of analytical tools. Yet the finding was about the lack of such techniques. Blatant bias.
The best evidence of the bias is the conclusion you reached about the courses being used for proselytizing. Either a biased report led you to that statement, or you are biased in your understanding of the report.
Because the report and the facts don't support such a claim.
A demonstrative excerpt:
________________________________________________
"Other examples of the use of distinctively Protestant materials include:
• Alvin ISD : Robert H. Gundry, A Survey of the New Testament, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994);41
• Amarillo and Perryton ISD s: a curriculum produced by an Amarillo minister associated with the Church of Christ;
• Belton ISD : transparencies from an organization called Walk Thru the Bible;42
• Big Spring ISD : charts, tables, and outlines from Gospel Light Productions and Rose Publishing;43
• Celina ISD : workbooks created by David Padfield, a Christian evangelist in Zion, Illinois;44
• Coahoma ISD : Max E. Anders, 30 Days to Understanding the Bible (Brentwood, Tenn.: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, 1988);
• Duncanville ISD : Catherine B. Walker, Bible Workbook (Chicago: Moody Press, 1952), vols. 1 and 2;
• Forsan ISD : charts, tables, and outlines from Gospel Light Productions;
• Lindale ISD : the Dallas High Schools Bible Study Course Book: Old Testament (Dallas: Dallas Public Schools, 1949) and Dallas High Schools Bible Study Course Book: New Testament (Dallas: Dallas Public Schools, 1947), which, though formerly taught in public schools, reflects a strong Protestant theological orientation.
"Video choices also often reflect sectarian perspectives. Several districts (Alvin, Brady, Brazosport, Coahoma, and Greenville ISD s) use the NC BCPS-recommended video series The Visual Bible, which presents dramatizations of biblical stories, reproduced word-for-word from the New International Version and apparently designed primarily for faith formation and evangelism.45
"Big Spring, Blanket, and possibly Alvin ISD s show Jesus, a film based on the Gospel of Luke that has been widely distributed for missionary purposes. Greenville ISD shows Resurrection (1999) by evangelist Max Lucado as well as videos marketed as “family” or “Christian” movies that have little relevance to biblical studies. One example is The Miracle of the Cards (Cloud Ten Pictures, 2001), about the 1.3 million get-well cards sent to an eightyear-old cancer patient; the video cover itself promises that the movie will “bring tears to your eyes and make even the toughest skeptic examine their own faith.” Two others were produced by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, The Climb (2003), about competing mountain climbers, and The Ride (1997), about cowboys.
"Greenville and Alvin ISD s show students fictional movies that reflect dispensational premillennialism, a belief held only by certain Protestant groups that faithful Christians will be “raptured” to heaven while less faithful Christians and members of other faiths go through a period of “tribulation” before Jesus returns in glory and defeats the forces of evil. Both districts show movies from the Left Behind series, based on the best-selling books by Timothy LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1995–present). In Greenville, students also watch Tribulation (the movie’s tagline: “You know it’s faith, when it’s all you’ve got left”)
"More details about many of the sources noted above and examples of other problematic resources are discussed in the following sections of the report." [In not inconsiderable detail, I might add]
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Given the wide availability of insightful and respected nonsectarian materials concerning the Bible's impact on western thought, history and literature, the use of the materials cited above is certainly indicative of sectarian intent.
And that the selections may accord with your particular religious preferences does not render them "nonsectarian."
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