Texas students could soon be forced to read from the Bible in public schools
2mon 10d ago by lemmy.world/u/MicroWave in news from www.independent.co.uk
Required readings would include passages from Old and New Testament for students in middle school
The conservative-majority Texas State Board of Education is considering adding at least 15 passages from the Bible to a required reading list as part of English lessons in public schools – the latest push from conservatives to implement Christianity into school curriculums.
Beginning in middle school, Texas students could be forced to read stories from the Bible including Jonah and the Whale, David and Goliath, and Lamentations 3 in addition to passages such as The Definition of Love from the New Testament, according to the list reported by the New York Times.
The new proposed changes have raised concerns from advocacy groups and academics who believe the changes will teach children a one-sided history lesson and “indoctrinate” students.
Well maybe this will do something to increase their reading levels. And as they say, one of the best ways to lose your Christian faith is to read the Bible.
Yes, a lot of Christians never read it and just assume it is full of profound wisdom. If fact, it is mostly boring bullshit that hasn’t aged well. People are used to better writing nowadays, and even children today are less ignorant about the nature of the world than the average adult from the period when the Bible was being written.
It. Is. Soooop boring. And vague. There's a reason an entire priesthood exists to elaborate on and interpret it.
Ezekiel 23:20
There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.
It's not all boring!
From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” 24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.
And
Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them.
It’s not all boring!
Too much kink-shaming though.
Omg yes. I had an AP English teacher, who is an atheist, but felt like snippets of it had relevance to the other literature we were reading and the few bits I read completely turned me away from it.
Granted, one of the chapters was literally and (name) begat (name) who begat (name), and I was genuinely baffled by how one could read such a dryyyyy medium.
Also, it didn’t help that God seemed like such a jealous Zeus type. It’s hard to be on God’s side when humans do human things like, long for a home that’s forever lost, etc.
Less than 10% of surveyed Christians have read 🙄 The Greatest Story Ever Told
They'll start with sanitized versions of select excerpts and build up tolerance and indoctrination.
Yeah, this isn't going to be a free-for-all. Little Suzy isn't going to be able to write an essay on any part she chooses. This will just be bringing Sunday school into public schools. Lessons that are happy and further indoctrinate, avoiding any sort of critical thinking.
Its clear their choice of old testament nonsense they don't intend to teach them anything interesting.
I could honestly see this backfiring in a really funny way. Not only will they actually try harder to get them to learn to read, but in my experience kids tend to hate books they are forced to read. In the setting that is church there's more of a peer pressure from all the other kids and adults to learn the bible. In high-school/middle-school there's peer pressure to not read the books you are supposed to read save for those that love reading. The only books I remember reading from those years are the ones I chose to read while the ones I was told to read had left my brain almost entirely by my mid 20s
Banned books are also popular.
They are probably gonna ban Quran soon if they haven't already so double-backfire?
I dunno if that's always the case. I still love The Phantom Tollbooth.
On the other hand, I remember being really frustrated by a phrase from another book. (I think it was "Kneeknock Rise"? I remember exactly nothing else about this book, though, so it might not be that.) It was a description of a scene, and it said the dog was asleep, "arms and legs akimbo." Now, I was in... maybe third or fourth grade, so I had never encountered the word "akimbo" before, and asked my parents what it meant. They explained that "arms akimbo" was basically the only phrase in which it's used, and it means having your arms out to your sides with your elbows bent and your hands on your hips. But this just confused me further, because the book said "arms and legs akimbo." I had no idea what it was trying to describe, and could not picture it. I tried to draw a picture of what it seemed to be describing, and continued to find it baffling. My parents agreed that was odd, and suggested I talk to my teacher about it. The teacher was very dismissive, though, saying "well, obviously you've never had a dog, or you'd know exactly what they're talking about." Which...what? Why would you even say that to a curious kid? Couldn't you at least draw a doodle of what it looks like?
So yeah, being forced to stick with a book you don't like does leave a very strong negative impression.
Texas recently passed a law preventing books that involve sex from being in libraries. The story of Lot and his daughters, and the famous quote in Ezekiel mean the bible should be banned under that law.
Wasn't there a ruling that the Bible is exempted because it's "culturally important" or something?
At this point I’m surprised they haven’t started rewriting the Bible to bring it inline with their version of the faith. You know, drop the commandment about not committing adultery and swap it with “Thou shalt not abort”. Instead of Jesus feeding the masses and preaching neighborly love he says “get a job you fucking poors” and “hate the gays”. Moses frees his people with the power of the 2nd Amendment.
That would exempt basically most banned books
Naked Lunch is also culturally important.
Also Noah and his sons, and probably a whole bunch more. But god damn is it puritanical to pass such a law in [current year]
I don't mind them reading the Bible, if they are able to read the whole thing, one end to the other. For many people, a thorough reading of the bible beginning to end is what causes them to question Christianity and realize that it is a population control tool for those with power (and riches), not the word of a God. It is such an incoherent mess that cannot literally be followed - if you follow one edict, you break another. Reading it destroys the idea that an all powerful, all knowing God was it's roundabout creator. If there was a God surely it could have done a better job, even using inadequate humans to produce the product. So, after reading, you know it was a man made project. The Koran and Torah yield similar results. I think that is the main reason why religions try, or have tried in the past, to restrict reading to a select few leaders and try to keep the propaganda to what they want it to mean at any given time in history.
The Koran and Torah yield similar results. I think that is the main reason why religions try, or have tried in the past, to restrict reading to a select few leaders and try to keep the propaganda to what they want it to mean at any given time in history.
Regarding the Koran, your statement is verifiably false. It was widely read and memorized by the masses so that a select few leaders couldn't control what they want it to mean.
Quite a large number of those masses, in non-Arabic-speaking countries such as Pakistan and Indonesia, memorize the Qur'an without knowing what it means, which is a piss-poor way of preventing elite capture. More effective is that fact that, in Sunni Islam, there's no formal religious hierarchy, and each congregation operates independently (like the Christian Congregationalists used to). Though social conformity squeezes out the diversity of beliefs, and there are respected institutions and scholars such as Al-Azhar university that are widely respected, but there's no Sunni Pope. Sufis are structured similarly. Shia's, on the other hand, have a hierarchy of authority that puts the Catholics to shame.
Not knowing the language is a problem which doesn't fully eliminate the issue, you're right, but it does eliminate the possibility of changing the written scriptures. As a result there will always be thinkers who can return to the original text and come to their own conclusions, challenging the prevailing thoughts of their region or era, something that has repeatedly occurred in Muslim history.
Your claim of their statement being verifiably false is in itself verifiably false.
Their claim was the works do not inspire a belief in God (for them), and they know it was a man-made project. Since they know themselves so much better than you, they are the only ones who can give their opinion.
Yes, people memorized the Koran, Bible, Tanakh, throughout the history of each faith. However, there are many examples (legions!) of those same works (in whole or in part) being protected by a variety of sects... not one of those faiths was consistent throughout their history.
Remember, God hates liars! Don't call others liars just because one of their points isn't all-encompassing. Recall, they said "I think"... this means it's an opinion. Don't lie, Allah would be ashamed of you if He was real.
I was responding to the text I quoted, not the full post 🙄
Do you know how long and boring that is? This would be like just a dozen pages.
you really don't need to get to the end.
But you do! The ending is the very best part, it renders everything before it into an absurdity.
It's the punchline
Shouldn’t the bible be subject to that age verification thing that’s going around? You know, to actually protect the children.
Exactly, the Bible talks about donkey dicks and horse cum!
Also child slaughter. Some kids made fun of a dude for being bald, and god sent a bear to tear them apart. Wholesome story.
When I was a kid, my best friend's dad liked to cite those verses when we made comments about his receding hairline.
They made fun of Elisha for being a prophet, as well as for being bald. His predecessor Elijah was said to have ascended to heaven. The kids were saying "Go on, Baldy, why don'tcha go up to heaven!"
And that's why the naughty little fuckers got torn apart by a she-bear.
As a bald man, I approve of that message.
And if you believe that you'll believe anything
I'm less concerned about the anatomy lesson and more about the celebration of child rape and genocide.
Didn't The Satanic Temple do something similar to that when a bunch of book banning in schools was going around not so long ago?
Kids, there's plenty of verses to read from if you're called upon. Try this one first:
NIV Ezekiel 23:20 "There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses."
Or how about an abortion ritual?
Me too, thanks.
There’s a lot of….interesting sexual things in there. Anyone thinking of the children here!? 🤣
I really am tempted to walk into a bible thumping school and read every single sex related verse just for kicks. but I'm trans so chances are they would shoot me and claim I had a bomb.
I hope they study James 5....
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.[a] 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.
I think that would make an epic face tattoo
I was finishing elementary school in the late 1960s, in extreme right wing Anaheim, California. Twice a month, the (public) schools had something called "released time religion." Two trailers would pull up to school, one for the Catholics and one for the Holy Rollers. The kids whose parents had signed a release would spend the afternoon learning Jesus things. The rest of us were expected to sit quietly, reflecting on our moral inadequacy for not being in the trailer.
As you might imagine, the majority of students who did go to the trailer, took umbrage at those who did not. And even then, I noted that there was nothing for the Jewish or Muslim or Hindu kids.
we had a few things like that back in the 90s when i was in HS. I went to every available one. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Wiccan (we actually had a Wiccan club!). It got me out of class and was fun to learn about other cultures.
What Would Jesus Do? Flip every fucking table on the planet.
Jesus says they are wicked, meanwhile, He promises to kill everybody on Earth who won't bow to Him.
That's kinda creepy, don't you think? His promise is to be the greatest murderer of all time (again)
It is funny when you see one theocracy (Israel) in alliance with another (the US is a de facto theocracy, not a de jure one) bombing a third theocracy (Iran) killing indiscriminately. And they all believe in the same God, practicing similar methods, only their rituals of worship are different. Is there a more obvious fact that religion is the source of all evil in human history?
Genesis 19:30-38
New International Version
Lot and His Daughters
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab^[a]^; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi^[b]^; he is the father of the Ammonites^[c]^ of today.
I always took that story to mean, Lot raped his daughters but then changed the story. People were pretty messed up back then.
Yeah even back then it was hard to justify it. That's why they invented religion.
Time for the Satanic Temple to do its work.
One of the biggest mistakes resulting from the Protestant Reformation's push for the proliferation of Bibles was the belief that one can just pick the thing up and read it like it's any other book, divorced from the tradition that wrote and shaped it. The whole idea that God assembled 66 books and bound them up in leather and dropped it from heaven is both foreign to the vast majority of Christian thinking throughout history AND grounds for a very dangerous heresy (turning the Bible into the "ultimate" revelation of God, rather than Jesus being that or at the very least redefining the Trinity as "Father, Son, and Holy Scriptures").
The funny thing is, is that the same people who hold to an idea that if everyone read the Bible the world would be better are the same who offer selective readings and ignore/downplay the parts they don't like (as we see in this proposal).
Quite a few of those bumpkins believe that not only is the Bible the literally true word of God, but the King James version in particular.
Smart people sometimes do stupid things, but never vice-versa.
Oh I know! I grew up around King James-only people. The committee tasked with finding a new pastor for my church growing up was deeply split over this issue with some members claiming that the New King James translation celebrated the "Mark of the Beast" (this is because the NKJV used a Celtic knot as its logo; yes, the famous symbol associated with helping illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity).
Kind of related story: I had a lisp growing up and went to a speech therapist. Reading the King James out loud was difficult because all the -th suffixes ran counter to my therapy. So I started swapping the -th suffixes with -s whenever we'd read aloud from the Bible (like in school or congregational settings; no one seemed to notice). To the point that this is now just what happens when I read "olde English." Which was never a problem until I became a priest in the Episcopal Church and the early morning services tend to use what's known as "Rite I" which maintains the older English of previous prayer books (the people who go to such services take this very seriously). And so I'd have to consciously undo this habit when celebrating at Rite I masses.
Like others in here, I have a lot of concerns about indoctrination and separation between religion and government. However, I can see a serious argument for Jonah and the Whale and especially David and Goliath as cultural touchstones that are regularly referenced in modern media. Other stories may be a harder pitch, maybe Cain & Abel?
Yeah, if I set aside my deep seated hatred for religious people undermining the Texas public education system-
I do actually think some of those stories are relevant literature to have read, alongside beowulf, epic of gilgamesh, the Iliad, arthurian legends, etc.
Samson is another but even as a kid it felt very „look how the evil woman he trusted betrayed this godly man“. The Old Testament is full of those.
David and Goliath whitewashes and celebrates a genocide.
Yeah, but those stories are plagiarized along with most things in the Bible.
A more correct way of putting it is that they're embodiments of far more ancient cultural traditions (none of which were copyrighted, you can't steal a myth).
none of which were copyrighted, you can’t steal a myth
and wouldn't
There are some passages they could read to open their eyes about religion. Those that their pastor never uses in church...
I grew up Southern Baptist, was in church EVERY Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening. I also went to the school attached to our church from first grade through high school and was extremely involved in our youth group. I wound up having a bit of a messy break-up with the Southern Baptists and, after about two years of relative spiritual aimlessness, I found the Episcopal Church (which is quite different from the Southern Baptists, what with our women and Queer clergy and openness to a variety of things now deemed "woke"). I remember the Sunday when I heard both the reading and a sermon from Matthew 24 (the part where Jesus talks about His return and says "what you do for the least of these you do for me") and, I swear, I'd never heard that part before then. If I had, we must've just glossed over it. But it was like hearing from a completely different religion and made me really excited about being a Christian.
So many in fact they have a Kids Bible
Oh, man, I would so be there!
Ezekiel 20:24-26
"24 Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.
25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;
26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord."
Matthew 6:1-2,5-9
"1Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."
Based on the law of unintended consequences, this is one of the best inoculations against religion.
It's the fundamental flaw of Protestant theology. Hand out ten bibles, absent any further religious instructions, and you get ten different religions. Leave people to stew too long and they just start making up their own Apocrypha - a la Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses.
Texas is already a melting pot of faiths, quite a few of which aren't even Christian. You're going to be demanding teachers read from the Bible to such a wide range of denominations, all with their own priors as to what any of this stuff means.
Like, as a kid, I remember my dad explaining to me that the Sermon on the Mount and the Loaves and Fishes miracle was a lesson on the power of sharing. Jesus took a bit of bread and fish, passed it among the crowd, and then everyone in the crowd helped to pitch in with what they'd brought for themselves. And in the end they had more than what they began with. I've sat in class with people who seriously believe "No, Jesus just magicked up more fish and bread, because DUH it was a miracle". And that's firmly within the Christian spectrum. We're not dragging in Muslims or Hindus or outright born-and-raised Atheists to weigh in.
They need to make them read the entire thing
Do it. Forcing students to read the Bible will create a loooooot more Atheists. Better than "believers" who don't even know the source material, which is what we have now.
There's a reason they choose specific passages, and they'll come with specific interpretations as learning goals.
I mean, that's what they tried to do with me and my fellow students at my private christian school, but it just raised questions, and when the adults didn't like our questions it was very insightful. Most of the people I went to school with are no longer evangelicals, in fact I don't think a single one is.
My kids' mother's family are Muslim, so the kids were offered Islamic instruction when they were young. When they were teaching about the 99 prophets who preceded Muhammad, my daughter said "hey, wait a minute, this can't be right, none of them are women." So the school called me, I had to take her home from class early, and she never went back.
They also told her that her Barbies had djinn living in them, which she immediately realized was ridiculous.
My other kids also figured it out, but in a lower-profile way.
All my kids were also given the opportunity to be instructed in Christianity and to attend Jewish services, and all but one took that opportunity, but didn't buy what they were selling either. All are now atheists.
You're anecdote is nice and all, but it's an anecdote.
I couldn't find much data specifically on rates of students of religious schools leaving that religion, but what little data I found says more people stay in the religion when enrolled in religious schools than not.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4621974
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S073805932500238X
Most students in religious schools have very religious parents who indoctrinate them from early childhood, and my anecdotes are different from yours. Few students decide that losing their friends and support system are worth leaving the religion, and remain in it even if they have doubts. The more you force religion to be a part of a person's social support system, the tighter you hold them in.
I agree that if they start reading and studying it honestly the more disillusioned they'll become, that's my personal experience also. But most people in my experience do not have the critical thinking skills or the ability to study independently to come to those conclusions, they rely on the religious text being interpreted for them, and they accept a figure head (priest or pastor or Imam or Rabi) to answer difficult questions and reject anything that makes them "question" their faith, because they've been warned about the evil world that will try to get them to question their faith their whole life. They don't begin engaging critically with counterarguments because religious apologetics give them comfort.
Cult members might be fooled, but cult leaders aren't stupid, they know what they're doing. They're targeting people who aren't in religious schools, and don't have religious indoctrination already, so there's no effect on "leaving" the faith to consider here, any hooked student is a success.
Forcing students to read the Bible will create a loooooot more Atheists.
Forcing students to pretend to be Christian in order to get educational perks and avoid harsh discipline will create a lot more implicit segregation and cliches of Mean Girls who can harass non-confirming students with impunity.
Check out The Third Wave
Religious people are full of shit. Or they’d all have died in service to their make believe bullshit already.
If they still breathe and claim religion their lying
Good, the best way to get more atheists is to force students to read the Bible.
it's ridiculous tripe
Are they using the original book written in Aramaic or are they using that NEW one in English with all the translation errors?
And any translator had an agenda.
You can bet it won't be the Ge'ez translation with 81 books.
Yeah, they forked the canon before it was cut down. The greatest omission that the Ethiopians retained is the Book of Enoch, which is arguably the first sci-fi. Really whacky origin-myth narratives.
By that standard: First? Have you read Genesis? Exodus? Leviticus? Numbers? Deuteronomy?
I'm done with Christians. They can't stop pushing their religion on the rest of us
Why? I thought historically they made great cat food.
How to cause school shootings 101
School cleansings ☝️
I grew up in Texas in the 90s, in their public schools and going to church every Sunday. I'd be fine with Christianity if they all actually read the teachings of Christ and acted accordingly. But... Nah...
And even then, if that fantasy were reality, it shouldn't be forced in public schools
Christ teaches that He will return, and murder EVERY non-Christian across the globe, billions will die. The lake of blood will be miles wide, according to Him, and as deep as a horse's bridle!
Not only that, the murdered can't even have peace in death. Christ will banish them all to Hell, for an eternity of torture, with infinite wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Why do you want to teach this? Just wondering
Fair point. I wasn't really thinking of the book of revelations when I made that comment. Or the concept of hell. I'm agnostic/atheist now and don't really care what people think the afterlife or end of times may look like (as long as they're not actively trying to start the apocalypse or some shit). I more meant the teachings about loving your neighbor and feeding the hungry and helping the poor.
Pretty sure he also taught about false prophets and not trying to predict the end of times, but they seem to be ignoring that too, at least the extremists. I'd be on board with people living their daily lives how Christ taught is what I meant.
Force them to read the whole bible. Nobody who actually reads the bible remains a theist.
I've read the Bible through many times. Both in times of belief and in times of doubt. I wound up becoming an Episcopal priest. I'd argue that the more someone reads the Bible and truly studies it the less likely they are to remain "literalists" when it comes to the Bible. Which also has the effect of broadening one's view of God.
Have you read the Quran? How about the Tripitaka? The Torah?
Have you perchance read any texts regarding the The Satanic Temple?
I don't know how common it is, but I'd be concerned if any high religious figure hasn't done some at the very least surface level study of world religions, past and present
I’ve read the Bible through many times.
Even through all the lengthy 'begat' sections?
[sighs heavily] Yes
That's quite a feat. Have you had the time to read any other books?
I once was told that Jesus didn't actually multiply fish and bread, but that being in his presence inspired others to share their own bread and fish. And then went on to tell me I didn't actually understood the bible.
A man doesn't need to be of divine origin to be inspirational. If the bible isn't literal, then there are no miracles, and the parables in the bible are no more than fables to teach values. If that's the case, you get the same, or better, lessons from reading Aesop's Fables or Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. God optional.
I tend to maintain belief in the miraculous aspects of the stories. But this is one where I can accept the "non-miraculous" telling (because, as the saying goes, "it'll preach"). Whether or not Jesus actually multiplied fish and bread through miraculous means, the thrust of the story is still true: Jesus can take what seems meager and make it into something that benefits multitudes.
Texastan
Freedom of religion (of our choice, not yours).
From the "your body my choice" crowd? Ya, that tracks.
They gonna be real angry when they get to Leviticus and find out what foods they can't eat...
Lol, jk they'll skip the inconvenient sections.
And wait until they find out that their mixed polyester/cotton clothing is an abomination.
One of my own deeply held beliefs is that any religion that bans shellfish and carnitas cannot possibly be divinely inspired.
If you are in a comparative religions class or an ancient literature/mythology class and also reading passages from the Torah, Quran, Toa Te Ching, Bhagavad Gita, the teachings of Buddha, etc. for comparison, by all means, read the Bible. If you are just reading the Bible under a pretense to push Christianity onto students, push the law to its bounds and normalize indoctrination (and we know you are), then fuck all the way off.
I just joined Lemmus today. This is the very first post I see and this being my first comment. I think this is gonna be fun.
Welcome!
Talk about how to get kids to reject religion. Do they think this is going to convert these kids?
I don't think it's about conversion. I see it as keeping those already born and entrenched having it normalized as part of a "christian nation" to further prevent critical thinking.
Those kids would be furious if they could read.
I guarantee there's parts of the bible they won't be requiring.
I don't know about American politics much but I thougt mockery of Christianity in the Show The boys was just an edgy joke, but holy shit they talking real shit lmao.
Meanwhile I was forced to read Bible by my parents and didn't really help much rather than fuelling the fire of hate of for a religion being forced on me.
I don't care what the bible says.
You'll care when they come after you because of how they interpret some oblique passage.
and we shall fight back against having religion forced on us
there is no freedom of religion without freedom from religion
As soon as they replace aircraft carriers and guns with thoughts and prayer.
This is not the start of a theocracy, please move along.
It's the same stupid "If you just inform people, they'll agree with you" liberal magical thinking that gave us Earth Day and Black History Month. Just turned on its head.
If Texas legislators want to do a Jesus Day in school, they're going to get the same bucket of contrarian assholes doing "Jesus Isn't Real: Prove Me Wrong" stunts on the schoolyard lawn. Influence culture is going to twist these efforts in knots, especially when they double down and start making martyrs of smart-aleck tweenagers mogging on the course material out of the reflexive need to push boundaries.
That's not to say this doesn't have a secondary agenda. Someone in the classroom supply business is going to absolutely clean up, selling schools $.10 laminated copies of the Ten Commandments for $50/ea. And we're inevitably going to see the kind of in-group / out-group clustering among privileged families with Christian ideology, resulting in more harsh discipline for non-Christian students and more non-Christian kids getting pushed out of schools for failing to prove their piety.
And don't forget the Koran since the president of the United States said 'Allah be with you'.
Followed by the Torah in the afternoon as the US is a Israëli vassel state.
Sure. Throw in major stories from other religions, Along with Native People’s, too.
Along with Native People’s, too.
Yeah, we need more Coyote and Kokopelli in religious instruction. Maybe Tezcatlipoca too, though the Smoking Mirror might frighten the kiddies even more than all the stories of arbitrary smitings by Yahweh.
I wonder what ChatGPT has to say about the Christian Bible. Because, that's all they're going to do, just ask ChatGPT to write the report.
What's that you say? They're going to need to read it out loud? Good luck with that, most of the kids in grade school today read at, or below a 3rd grade level, refuse to read anything more than one paragraph, and don't understand what they've read when they're done. So, it doesn't really matter if you make them read from the Bible, they won't understand it, or remember it.
Another section of Gilead being raised.
See you in court, Pharisees.
The only good use of a bible is as a blunt object.
Or tinder for burning pedophile at the stake
It probably makes for good toilet paper as well.
Liberation Theology is cool and good.
Western Protestantism is a psychological cancer.
More of the atheists I know have actually read to Bible compared to the Christians I know who read some of the new testament maybe part of some gospels, some acts, revelations and psalms. It's pretty vile & gross to force religion on people, but I don't think this is going to have the impact they expect it to without also allowing clergy to lie about what it means when it says you should stone people to death for working on the Sabbath or all the pro slavery laws and parables.
Sounds great. Because nothing will get kids away faster from organised religion than being forced into reading about it 😂
I am just going to leave this here again
(https://ffrf.org/outreach/ffrf-chapters/)
Isn't a bad idea to get involved
we need in person community organization, like yesterday.
get involved.
Oh helllll no.
Is this only old testament bullshit?
Are your eyes broken?
Stop commenting on headlines.
Edit- nevermind you don't even need to go because OP posted the relevant part too.
Bible is referenced by countless other books. Of course it should be studied as part of any literature course. As long as it's treated like any other work and not as holy scripture there's nothing wrong with reading bible in school.
And add koran and tora to it.
Are koran and tora references as common in western literature? Greek mythology references are very common and we sure learned about it in language courses. But koran? I can't think of any important work that you would not be able to understand without learning about koran. It sure would be nice to expand the language courses and add books from other cultures but this would be a major re-work, not simply adding koran and tora. Early education also tends to focus on things kids are at least somehow familiar with so I'm not sure if adding books from Asia or Middle east would be a good idea.
Well then your argument is that you're just a supremacist who wants to keep his inherently superior culture on top by unorganically indoctrinating people.
Jesus... (or should I said 'Allah' not to sound like a supremacist?) Accepting reality has nothing to do with supremacy or indoctrination. I'm as against the church as anyone but the fact is that Christianity had huge influence on our culture over many centuries. If you just purge it all out of the education you will be lying about history and creating ignorant people who will not be able to understand most of our history, art and literature. And yes, understanding history of the countries we live in is more important that understanding the history of other countries. Obviously I don't really expect you to understand any of it. You sound like an angry teenager who's rebelling against the whole world without understanding half of it.
part of any literature course
Eh, maybe a college course on ancient literature or something.
It should be taught in history class along with the rest of them.
Depends on the education system, I guess. In Poland Greek mythology and the Bible are studied in primary school. That's because many other works studied in primary school reference them. Prometheus, Icarus or David are considered basic references everyone should know. If you think it's OK for people with high school education not to know basic mythology then yes, you can only teach in college.
You know that for example this is a Bible reference:
Abolish government schools
I went to Christian school. It's worse.
Sooo much worse, and mine only went to grade 8, so for grade 9 I was back in the public system and completely lost with the curriculum.
And replace with…? Thanks for the fruitless comment.