Doesn't surprise me. I grew up in AR. It's always been a consideration. Actually, I found it odd that we didn't study something like Song of Solomon or Pslams as part of our poetry section of AP English. I think, religion aside, there's a lot to be learned from the Bible from a historical standpoint, and it's sad that ALL religious texts aren't explored at least a little bit.
As an English professor, I (and my collegues) are seeing a huge drop in the ability of students to make connections to themes, symbols and the like, and to think critically about the Bible (or any religious text) as literature, because that knowledge is just gone - so few students study or even read the Bible and understand it, which is problematic since most of our western literary tradition is impacted by the Bible and the Christian religion in general. From an academic standpoint, I would no sooner ban the bible (which is essentially what is happening right now) than I would Shakespeare or Twain. There is a huge gap in knowledge as a whole in our western tradition as a result. IMHO
I agree that Bible knowledge is essential for understanding literature and think that more schools should offer Bible as literature classes at least as an elective.
Here's the big problem: They are not allowing for the teaching of any other religious text. That in itself is going to cause this to spark gobs of lawsuits.
I agree. Yes, I teach only the Bible (for now), but I would expect a PUBLIC education to teach whatever the PUBLIC view is... which includes all types of religion.
I think public school should allow groups of students to have meetings after school for whatever interests they hold, but I do not believe they should be teaching any religion.
I took Bible As Lit in high school. It was a great class. I was surprised how many students, believers and non-believers, took the class.
