Georgia Lawmakers OK Public School Bible Classes

[katty]

(your tax dollars at work for bush&gang)

more:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-03-28T175349Z_01_N28210585_RTRUKOC_0_US-RELIGION-GEORGIA.xml

Georgia lawmakers OK public school Bible classes
Tue Mar 28, 2006 12:54 PM ET

By Karen Jacobs
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Georgia lawmakers have approved a measure to fund elective Bible courses in public schools, raising concern among civil liberties groups the classes could violate the U.S. constitutional separation of church and state.

Under the bill, which now goes to Gov. Sonny Perdue for his signature, the State Board of Education would have to adopt curricula for two classes on the history and literature of the Old and New Testaments. School districts would then have the option of offering the courses.

The measure's enactment threatens to again inflame the debate between secularists and the religious right that has been invigorated under President George W. Bush.

[drm604]

1. They want it to "inflame the debate

between secularists and the religious right". That's the whole point, it's a wedge issue.

I'm wondering if it wouldn't be best to leave this one alone as long as they really stick to just the history and literature aspect of it.

[sui generis]

5. It's absurd and it's taking away from orchestra or chemistry or

some real class about real things in the real world that other students deserve to get to attend. When you say that bible study has to occur outside of History of Literature or Ancient Comparative Literature, you're teaching religion, not literature or history.

It's taking resources away from other students who need a chance at real education for dealing with the real world, and it will most certainly be blatantly abused.

[katty]

7. exactly

[sui generis]

2. so if I understand this correctly

It's not enough to keep your miserable lives going to church three times a week, bible study on Saturday and church again on Sunday, but you have to bump curricula for students who don't give a flipping shit about the bible and pay for someone to teach the bible to these morons?

Pardon my anger, but I would volunteer to teach that class. Happily.

Kiddos, the Bible is a fairy tale book, and not the good kind. God is a petty and jealous tyrant who does parlor tricks like spinning flaming swords and invisible writing on the walls and setting bushes on fire and speaking through them.

He smotes and smites and generally has a vile and unforgiving temper all through the first testament, and keeps testing everyone's faith relentlessly and murdering their wives and children when they slip up. Nice guy that one. Then he conjurs up a heart, has a miracle spewing baby who walks on water and cures acne and then "sacrifices" his only son in a pretty gruesome Act II by torturing him to death, and then killing him some more, for your sins of spanking your monkey last Sunday (to that Maxim cover that the godless Skinner republished on that godless website DU) while wifey was out getting the groceries.

Then for 2000 years he just hangs out and watches as everyone murders everyone else in the name of goodness while the "devil" just sits back and shakes his head thinking, "I couldn't have done it better if I had in fact been evil instead of just questioning all this crap".

Well that would get us through the first day. I'd just take questions for the rest of the school year.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. I sincerely hope that a Muslim group in Georgia demands Koran study

And a Buddhist group demands study of the Pali canon.
And a Wiccan group demands study of "God of the Witches."
And a Hindu group demands study of the Mahabarata and Vedas.
And...
And...
And...

[katty]

8. agree-it's only fair

[jonkronz2003]

4. Here's the big deal....

This shouldn't be an issue-the bible is worth studying form a literary and historical perspective. But, with that said, shouldn't the koran also be studied? How about the gnostic bibles? What about non-christian non-judaic literature. Seems that this should all be put into a comparitive religions class.

But that's not the agenda-it's a deep wedge issue to drive the christofacist's point of view into the mainstream.

[northofdenali]

6. I have no objection to the Bible being taught

along with Humanism, Buddhism, the Koran, the Kabbalah, the Baghad Vita, Scientology, etc. etc.

A course on Comparative Religions, as an elective, is acceptable.

This will be challenged at first opportunity in court - and should be.