Allow the Bible in high school reading class?

[usregimechange]

If the students get to decide from a list of book that includes it?

[Kerrytravelers]

1. It depends. Will there be someone there teaching it? What assignments

will go with the reading? How will these assignemtns be graded- bsaed on opinion or church interpertation? Is there a rubric for this grading, or is it subjective to the teacher? WIll there be class discussions? Are other works of other religions included? Will there be comparitive other religious texts? Will they also be studying the hitory of the Bible and it's creation by humans? Will they discuss how Christians collected these oral stories and wrote them down over the centuries? Will they discussed how some, like King James, had versus altered to suit his needs? Is this taught as literature that has inspired or as divine truth?

I didn't vote because I'd like more information regarding this "Bible in high school rading class." There are many variables. However, I suspect I would most likely vote no.

[Goldom]

2. Sure.

I read a part of the bible for a class. It wasn't a required 'this is -the- book you will read', but it was for an assignment. It was for the literature, not a theological standpoint, and in that context I didn't have a problem with it. (Even though I'm not even Christian myself).

[purduejake]

3. I voted yes as well...

but totally agree with you. The thing I especially worry about is somebody from the American Taliban doing a book report and pissing some people off and then bitching to the world if/when their grade sucks and accuses the high school of intolerance. I am not sure I trust our schools to pull it off correctly, but the idea in its purest sense sounds okay to me.

[NAO]

4. Sure. Just be sure to include other "holy books"

Tell students:

"Followers of religion X think book Y is God's word and those who follow it are going to heaven, while all others are going to hell."

"Now followers of religion Z think book Q is God's word and those who follow it are going to heaven, while all others, including those in religion X are going to hell"

"Tomorrow we will be talking about religion T. They believe book S is Gods' word, and that followers of it will go to heaven, while all others, including followers of religion X and religion Z are going to hell".

Children need to be exposed to religious literature, but they also need to realize that there are many contradictory claims and no rational way to make judgments as to which ones are correct.

Especially by talking about primitive beliefs, such as that rocks and trees have spirits, children can be taught that religious ideas are just ways that people invent to make sense of things they do not understand.

[DulceDecorum]

5. Does that list include other religious texts?

Or just the local phone book,
a thesaurus,
and a manual on the correct procedure for clipping toenails?

They used to have a literecy test for voting.
One had to read a passage from a newspaper.
When white people came in, they would give them the local newspaper.
When Black people came in, they would give them a Chinese newspaper.
Its amazing just how many Black people failed that literacy test.

[DanCa]

6. I abstain

I need to know more information. Is the christian bible or the fristian bible? Is it a mandatory class or a volunteer one. Is it the catholic bible, the gideon bible, or the king james bible? See there's too many variables for me to give you a simple yes or no answer. Have a gentle and healthy evening .

[Jamastiene]

7. There should be no list, because

there should be no limit to what they can read. They should be allowed to read anything they want to read. They could do the Bible, but it would have to be by choice only and there should be an option for people who don't want to hear it that they can leave the room if they want to. That way people would have their freedom of religion and freedom from religion too...

[LdyGuique]

8. Isn't "Literature" generally considered fiction?

And how much literature is assigned that includes as much mayhem? How does one discuss Lot in Sodom -- offering two of his virginal daughters to the mob so that he wouldn't break hospitality rules? How does one discuss all of the times that God insisted on genocide -- killing entire tribal groups of all men, women, and children? How does one discuss the betrayal of Job by God due to his wager with Satan? Would we allow other literary works to be included within the school's reading list that included such depravity?

Ahh, but, my mistake -- the bible = truth. It's not fictional. So, does it belong in a literature class?

If one is going to allocate biblical excerpts, such as Creationism -- would the class also study comparitive religions, going back to Sumeria or the Vedas, also? If one goes into the detail that Islamic scholars do, their version of creation is far closer to scientific thought than the bible -- so it must be included for balance.

Truthfully, this was all an exercise to prove why the bible shouldn't be included in public schools. It is held as sacred text to many believers and should not be analyzed from a secular perspective. This is the reason for separation of church and state -- does any religious group really want its sacred texts taught from a secular perspective, as though these works are simply myths?

As I've told annectdotally before, I got rid of some doorstep bible-thumpers once by offering them free access to my children, IF I were allowed similar time to talk with their child. They grew wings and nearly flew off my front porch.

[tk2kewl]

9. I read it in college as part of a classics course

it was included along with other mythology like Homer and Dante

[cosmokramer]

10. Only if it is presented as a work of FICTION, which it is.

It is the 'Emily Post' for moral conduct and not historical fact.

[NMMNG]

11. Does the list also include...

The Koran
The Buddhist Suttas
The Torah
The Bhagavad Gita
etc,etc?

If so then I figure it's ok

[carl_pwccaman]

12. Wrong Class

It would belong in comparative religion or sociology along with other texts from other religions.

In any other context, it tends to just prozelytize and introduce religion into a forien subject, to aid in making Christianity more normative for those who don't 'get enough of it' outside of public school.