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Elective Bible Course Attacked by Christians
Posted on Wednesday, August 03 @ 08:54:27 EDT by SweenyTod
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Elective courses in public schools that teach
the Bible and its historical implications came under attack yesterday
in Texas. This time, however, the opposition came in the form of "far
left" Christians who said the courses promote a fundamentalist view and
violate religious freedom.
The Texas Freedom Network, which includes clergy
of several faiths, complained that an elective Bible Course offered by
the Greensboro, N.C-based National Council on Bible Curriculum in
Public Schools is full of errors.
“When taught with credible
materials and from a nonsectarian perspective, such courses are an
appropriate and even laudable way to help students learn about history
and literature,” the group stated. “However… the country’s most
aggressively marketed - and perhaps most widely used - Bible curriculum
fails on both counts.”
The National Council on Bible Curriculum offers
its elective course in high schools and junior highs by more than 300
school districts in 37 states.
The President of the Freedom
Network, Kathy Miller, said her group looked at the course after the
Odessa school board voted in April to offer the class. According to the
Associated Press, it asked Southern Methodist University biblical
scholar Mark A. Chancey to review the curriculum.
Chancey, who
spoke at a press conference yesterday, said he found that the course
characterizes the Bible as inspired by God and that Jesus is referred
to as fulfilling Old Testament prophecy. He also said the court bases
scientific discussions on biblical accounts of creation, uses
archaeological findings as erroneously used to support claims of the
Bible’s historical accuracy, and suggests the Bible should be
considered the nation’s founding document.
"No public school
student should have to have a particular religious belief forced upon
them," the Rev. Ragan Courtney, pastor of The Sanctuary, a Baptist
congregation in Austin, said at a news conference held by Texas Freedom
Network.
Read the full story here.
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Average Score: 5
Votes: 2
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Re: Elective Bible Course Attacked by Christians (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Wednesday, October 05 @ 12:55:52 EDT | | The Bible is historicaly correct. I would think a Pastor would not deny that. There is nothing wrong with teaching those who want to be teached. It is our duty as Christians! |
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Re: Elective Bible Course Attacked by Christians (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Thursday, September 28 @ 10:51:58 EDT | | Thank the good Lord that we are able to study and inturpret scriptures. By studying we can grow in wisdom, hopefully. The idea that a group of people can go into a public school and teach as the absolute truth their understanding of scripture is frightening. That is a job done best by the student's churches or their parents. Should it be evangelical Christians teaching, I would not worry too much about the course; but should you be fundamentalist Muslims, I would be more than a bit nervous. That is one reason why I pray that we keep religion out of public schools. Also, people far more intelligent than I have dectected major errors in the texts originally offered for the course. The fact that one of the contributors was too serious about space aliens and secrets of the ancient pyramids made me skittish. This all seemed a scam that tried to discredit SMU professors and other theologians and thinkers. It seemed to be a tempest in a tea pot over who was a better Christian while 30,000 children continued to die daily from the effects of malnutrition. With that closing remark -- tag! You are it! I gottcha! |
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