Do you think the Bible should be taught in public school?

[Deleted12]

Why or why not?

If so, which parts should be taught?

What classes (history, government, English, science, or other subject) should the Bible be taught in?

What do you think the rationale for teaching the Bible in public school is?

[doggie]

only if the Koran and the tao te ching and every other current religion is taught.

[Sunnichick31]

Only if they taught all major world religions, and I think that it would be best suited for a Religious Studies elective class, so that parents wouldn't freak out about their kids being "forced" to read the Torah or wahtever, Then again, those are the kids who NEED to be exposed to that kind of thing.

[terranova]

I disagree with "Religious Instruction" as it's called here, in public schools. I don't like my tax dollars going towards something I am very strongly against.

However! Having said that! I would also like my children to have an open and enquiring mind, so I would approve of teaching religious history in general and teach about the Bible in that class, alongside the sacred texts of many religions and belief systems. As long as the Bible is not taught as fact, I would not object to my children learning about it.

In this country, over a third of people identify as either being atheist or agnostic, so I think the rationale for the current teaching of the Bible in public schools is more attached to tradition than a real desire from parents to have it taught.

[doggie]

I agree. but really such people only want the bible taught and only their brand of it. can you imagine the fights that would happen if the bible was taught in school now days?

[keeperrox]

As part of a World/Living Religions course? Sure. In historical context, when teaching about the Colonies and Early America, the Middle East, Europe, and/or the Crusades? Sure. As fact or as the sole focus of a course? No way. Leave that to churches and college courses, respectively.

[Bookworm89]

When I was in the 9/10th grade in B.C. (not exactly sure which grade it was) we learned about all the major religions in the world in Social Studies class. We had to do a poster board presentation over one of them that we picked out of a hat, I still remember that it was taoism. I didn't have an issue with it, it was just taught as this is what different people around the world believe.

[Deleted12]

This came up because I was chatting with a friend and we both agreed that it would be really hard to understand most of English literature without the Bible. So much so, in fact, that we further agreed that some books of the Bible should be taught in the interests of having literate citizens.

[muffynbear]

Why or why not?

If so, which parts should be taught?

What classes (history, government, English, science, or other subject) should the Bible be taught in?

What do you think the rationale for teaching the Bible in public school is?

I wholeheartedly believe that the Bible should NOT be taught in school- at all. Unless it was part of a larger course , for instance 'World Religions' but no way should education be focused solely on the Bible.

[Deleted05]

This came up because I was chatting with a friend and we both agreed that it would be really hard to understand most of English literature without the Bible. So much so, in fact, that we further agreed that some books of the Bible should be taught in the interests of having literate citizens.

I'll second this. Most literature has a great deal of Biblical allusion, so it would probably be a good idea to have students familiar at least with general Biblical stories and parables, and able to look up a reference if it's footnoted in a book.

[Jessica]

In my world history class in 10th grade we did a portion on religion. We learned about the basic beliefs of a few of the major religions (the teacher, who was very openly atheist by the way, even let a couple girls teach us a bit about their religions--Islam (she brought in the Koran and told us about a few principles it teaches) and Catholicism). We didn't go too deep into them, just enough to have an understanding of why some things in history happened the way they did. For a lot history, religion WAS (still is) a big influence and if you don't know what the religion teaches it can be hard to understand why something was so important. So, for that reason, I feel like it's important to at least teach a little bit about religion as background info so students can think, "Oh, okay, so since Italy is mostly Catholic and Catholicism teaches _____, THAT is why they were so excited over ____! I get it!" Just my humble opinion. :)

[Joykins]

I think as either a literature course or a comparative religions course it might be OK. It would require a teacher with good background knowledge and a great deal of tact/sensitivity; I did take courses like that in college and there were always students who wanted to know the professor's "stand on the scriptures." Probably the same people who WANT the Bible back in schools now would not be happy with this.

[autumnchild]

As part of a larger scope, yes. Maybe as a section in a Humanities/World Religion/Sociology, Literature or History class but not as standalone.

[Patsy]

As part of English, sure, and I don't see a problem with acknowledging the fact that the Bible HAS had a bigger influence on motifs in literature, movies etc than the Koran.

I went to a private religious school where the Bible was part of religious education and still wasn't taught as "here is what's true," just given more consideration than as an influencing piece of literature.

[luckylibrarian]

I think K-12 teachers are under a lot of pressure as it is to squeeze in as much content in as possible, in addition to preparing students for standardized tests. There are plenty of classic works of literature or time periods in history that get only a passing mention because there just isn't time. I am okay with the Bible being mentioned in passing in relation to literature or history, but I wouldn't want a class period or a major section of course focused on it. Students can delve deeper into that in college, if they choose. Instead of spending time studying the Bible, I would prefer to have students read another important piece of literature or learn how to write a paper with proper citations and no instances of plagiarism.

[Lillian]

In public school, only as a part of a broader world religions/culture subject that includes all other major religious texts as well.

Similarly to Patsy, I went to a semi-private Catholic school and we learned about the Bible in context (different literary techniques it uses etc), as well as learning about other world religions.

[FloraDoraDolly]

I'll second this. Most literature has a great deal of Biblical allusion, so it would probably be a good idea to have students familiar at least with general Biblical stories and parables, and able to look up a reference if it's footnoted in a book.

I agree. The same is true for the Greek myths.

[DamnPrecious]

No. I plan on raising my children Christian and they can learn the bible at a church of my choosing. When they are older if they want take an elective on world religions they can do what they want.

[InkyGirl]

A great deal of Art is based on Biblical stories, and without knowledge of of the basics some paintings would be hard to understand. Perhaps including some biblical passages when studying biblical paintings would be one way to include the bible without having it teach in a religious way.

[Witsec6]

This came up because I was chatting with a friend and we both agreed that it would be really hard to understand most of English literature without the Bible. So much so, in fact, that we further agreed that some books of the Bible should be taught in the interests of having literate citizens.

This.

I would teach certain books and stories from the Bible in literature class. If I was teaching Rumi, I would include parts of the Quoran.

[flojo]

Yes, alongside other religious texts. In a neutral manner.

to me it is also logical to give some background for historical literature.

I'm a strong believer that one way of tolerance is to openly accept and discuss religion, not to run from it. This is how I run my classes. I think hiding it/ forbidding it creates an us vs them situation.

I will say, however, in classes where I have discussed religion, there has always been a great deal of religious diversity and acceptance. It may be different in a more religiously homogenous environment.

[lilwriter85]

Yes if it is a world religions class in which texts from other religions are also taught.

[JesusFightClub]

Yes, because it is difficult to understand large parts of literature, art and history without that knowledge. You don't need the more obscure bits but large parts of it provide context to culture. However it should not be taught as being the literal truth.

I like the idea of studying major world religions as that is part of the Scottish curriculum and I did that in high school. It definitely helped me understand other religions better, we had a great teacher too.

[Clementine]

Religion is mandatory here and we study the basic beliefs of all the big religions. We also went to a mosque, a buddhist temple and a synagogue as part of that class.

I think it's good to learn about different religions.

When I was in class 1-3, I think we studied Christianity a bit more, to get an understanding of where our religious beliefs and culture come from. It was more of a history thing than a religious thing. The teacher also taught us about why we celebrate christmas, easter etc. Pretty basic stuff that is good for everybody to know, since we are a christian country. There was no praying and the teacher was very clear about presenting religion as a belief and not the truth.

[Stickers]

No, schools are already struggling to teach kids the basics. The summary we get of the major religions in social studies and history class

is perfectly fine.

And maybe it's because I never read much of the assigned reading ( :oops: )but I don't think I've ever been assigned a book that you would need biblical background to understand. I honestly have no clue how it'd be helpful, can someone fill me in?