There’s a local debate starting in regards to teaching the Bible as a historic document in public schools. Terry Redman wants to offer a class as an elective in Wilson County schools, using the Bible as the primary text.
As a sidenote, it seems kinda funny that Redman is shown holding up the Bible open to Song of Solomon (note the goofy grin on his face). Perhaps Song of Solomon should be used as a text in sex ed…but that’s another debate altogether.
A few days ago students voiced their views on allowing the class.
We as Christians can’t even agree on whether or not Jesus was born of a virgin. What makes us think that we’ll agree with whatever Mr. Redman wants to teach? I know nothing about Redman’s religious background. He could teach our children something doctrinally wrong.
Lets look at this from a different angle. Dearborn, Michigan has one of the largest concentrations of Muslims (outside of NYC). Approximately 30,000 of the city’s 98,000 residents are Muslim. What if the residents of Dearborn wanted to use the Koran as a historical document in public schools? Would you support taxpayer funding of instruction of the Koran?
What if Mormon residents in Utah wanted to teach the Book of Mormon in public schools as a historic document? Would you support teaching that a remnant of Jewish settlers came to pre-Columbus America as fact in public schools?
And what if Branch Davidians wanted to teach in public schools that David Koresh was our Lord and Savior?
By opening up religious instruction in public schools, you open up a huge can of worms.
I’m tired of hearing about well meaning Christians thinking that putting prayer and religion back in public schools as being the cure-all for society’s ills. Proponents of prayer in public schools point to 1962 as the landmark point in American history when prayer was taken out (due to Engel v. Vitale) and subsequently society went to hell in a handbasket. As a reminder, the 1960s were a turbulent time in American history. The Vietnam war, coming of age of the babyboomers, death of an American president….all of these things and more brought and upheaval of society which caused a change in how we as Americans see things. It wasn’t just taking prayer out of schools which caused this change in demographics.
I’m also tired of people trying use public schools as a vehicle for teaching religious instruction. This should be the job of churches, synagogues, and mosques….and most importantly parents. Too many times parents just don’t want to be parents and want to allow third parties to teach morals. Parents simply do not want to take a stand. Hence the strict dress code in Wilson County because parents do not want to inspect their child’s wardrobe upon leaving for school. Instead we put the wardrobe selection in the hands of the school board. Do we really want to put Christian education in the hands of third parties?