Tenn. approves guidelines for Bible class

[The Straight Story]

Tenn. approves guidelines for Bible class

NASHVILLE, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Tennessee high schools will be getting guidelines from the state next fall on teaching the Bible as part of a secular curriculum.

The state Board of Education approved the guidelines Thursday, implementing a 2008 state law calling for "non-sectarian, non-religious academic study of the Bible," The (Nashville) Tennessean reported. The guidelines include a requirement that literature from other religions be available for students. Bible courses cannot be compulsory.

Brenda Ables, a social studies specialist with the state, said schools are not required to offer a Bible class. Schools that have been offering courses in the Bible do not have to change their curriculum unless they have a court challenge.

Hedy Weinberg, head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, said few details had been released. She said the board appeared to have been sensitive to constitutional issues.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/01/30/Tenn-approves-guidelines-for-Bible-class/UPI-73111264828513/

[spanone]

1. will they have guidelines for koran class?

[The Straight Story]

2. yes (nt)

[rd_kent]

3. As long as it does not become a religious class, I am ok with it.

Studying the bible is a good idea, that way, students will be able to examine it critically and question the inconsistencies, the hypocrisy and the violence that is found in it. The students will be able to see for themselves how at best, it is nothing more than historical fiction.


As long as it is not a ruse to pray in class and suppress critical thinking.........

[sweetloukillbot]

16. I studied the Bible (or at least select parts) in my high school World Lit. class.

We read the Book of Ruth, parts of the Psalms and Proverbs during the ancient literature section of the class. No mention of religion was made at all, it was more "this is what was being written at the same time as the Iliad" - don't remember if we talked about Confucius or and Hindu texts. I know we didn't discuss the Koran.

[Lint Head]

4. The Koran, Hara Krishna, among others should also be taught.

Even Satanism. If they are approached as a secular subject I see nothing wrong with being informed of the teachings of all societal aspects of belief or non belief.

[Igel]

10. I have a different view.

English has a lot of biblical allusions embedded in proverbs, in sayings, in metaphors; as does English-language literature.

Qur'aanic allusions? Not so many.

So while it's fine to say all religions are created equal, their importance to a given culture is not equal. Were I raising a Xian kid in a Muslim country (notice that this doesn't require that the government be officially "Islamic", just that most people be Muslims, devout or nominal) he'd know the Qur'aan. Not inside out, but enough to understand what people meant, what words mean beyond their denotations.

In a Christian country (notice that this doesn't require that the government be officialy "Christian," just that most people be Christians, devout or nominal) people should know the Bible and the rudiments of Xian history necessary for understanding what people mean, what words mean beyond their denotations.

As an atheist Russian professor I once had put it, if you're a grad student in Russian literature the best use of your first summer is to read through, at least once, the Church Slavic version of the Bible. Esp. the NT. Even atheists would be familiar with it; it provides a common set of references and allusions, which every educated Russian would both know and employ widely. Just as when reading Iskander I found having read a lot of Pravda and CPSS documents handy for spotting when he'd take a standard Soviet communist term and use it in a way that upset what a passage would normally be taken to mean.

So beyond the strictly "we appreciate diversity and don't value any culture, even our own--well, at least partially--above any other" POV there's also a practical view for this. Unless we, as many want, basically write off everything Western before about 1960 and everything that has a whiff of conservatism as completely irrelevant.

On edit: I'm also the view that we should teach more linguistics. For example, knowing that "Krisna" very nicely has the same root for 'black' that Russian "chernyi" 'black' has, and, like Russian "chereshnya" 'cherry' also shows up in the English word 'cherry'. Of course, this is a Gricean violation, and I tend to think Grice is even more important than the cherry guy for Americans, but since when do people care what I think?

[liberal_at_heart]

14. But why must the minority be taught about the majority and not the other way round

Why should we all learn about Christians? Just because they are in the majority? Shouldn't the majority also have to learn about the minority? Shouldn't the Christians know just as much about atheists and Muslims and others so that they know what they mean? I was watching Rick Steve's Iran special and he was in a cab. The driver yelled "Death to traffic". Rick Steves asked him about this refference and he said that Iranians say "Death To ..." anything that frustrates them including traffic. So when we as Americans hear Iranians say Death To America or Death to Isreal do we really understnad what they mean? We shouldn't take such an isolationist strategy in our learning. Yes, I think that Americans should be aware of some bible literature but I also think that Christians should be aware of other religion's literature as well and not just so they can dispute them but to truly learn about people who are different than they are. We have to learn about each other or tolerance and understanding can never grow.

[customerserviceguy]

5. I support this

If young people are ignorant of this book, they may become enthralled by it someday, unless they are exposed to critical thinking about that.

On the other hand, I would guess that such critical thinking about this book would be harder to come by in Tennessee than in a lot of other places...

[hayu_lol]

6. For probably the last century or so, it has been the state...

of Tennessee that has fought like tigers to get religion into their schools. All of their efforts to date ended in failure in the court systems. Their legislature just goes back and writes up a new approach and they try that. This effort is just another attempt at an end run.

Most of the states that push the teaching of religion fail to properly educate their students in the other, more important, areas. Math, Science, English, Spelling and the like. Look at all the red states and check their educational records.

Studying the bible is a course that should be an elective at the college level...and it should only be allowed as a comparison of religion course. Wanta study the bible? Go to a fundy college. That way the mythology will not be diluted.

High school courses in bible or religion should refrain from keeping live rattlesnakes in the classrooms.

[Union Yes]

7. How bout Satanism? Poor devil never gets his fair shake. nt

[Taitertots]

8. Total bullshit way to sneak in religious indoctrination

Unless it is a bible as fiction class.

It is just an attempt to get the bible into schools to pretend it is something other than a work of fiction.

[ThatsMyBarack]

9. "Where is God? He is everywhere."

[TheMightyFavog]

11. Bastard screwed me!

I'm still waiting for my prize that I won from his "Find the Popes in the Pizza" contest!

[ThatsMyBarack]

12. What did you win?

Love your handle, by the way! :)

[liberal_at_heart]

13. I think it should be done in a comparative religion class not literature class

but as long as they do it from a non religious stand point and they include literature from other religions as well I have no problem with it. My daughter read Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie in her literature class. I read a great book in my comparative religion class in college called A River Sutra.

[johnaries]

15. GOOD! The more they learn about the Bible and it's history,

well, it all depends on if they actually teach about the history of the Bible, it's actual writers, and how the canonical books were chosen.