Religion in Public Schools

Discussing religion has always been a hot topic in American schools. The most recent large scale issue arose from Intelligent Design arguments, which caused a stir that reached The Supreme Court. However, it should be known that there is a curriculum being taught at the high school level that informs students about The Bible.

The aforementioned course being taught is at New Braunfels High School in Texas. It is based on The Bible and Its Influence curriculum, which is also that name of Schippe and Stetson’s book (2006). It is also important enough for Time to devote its April cover to it.

In short, the course and the curriculum are aimed at teaching about The Bible – the number one best selling book. It’s not about using public schools as a conduit for manufacturing Christian-bots, as secularists who are rigid Church and State separatists may worry about.

The act of including reference to The Bible in any form may cause consternation with such separatists. The themes in tales like Old Man and the Sea, Superman, The Chronicles of Narnia, Shakespeare’s works, and others require knowing about The Bible to be imperative for deeply understanding them.

The fact is, Biblical beliefs are so rooted in American values that not teaching about them is certainly a greater injustice than impartially including them within courses at the high school level. The Bible and Its Influence curricula will certainly reignite a debate involving First Amendment rights, even though the act of teaching about religion is without question constitutional (see 1943’s McCollum v. Board of Education and 1963’s Abington Township School District v. Schempp).

Bible Literacy Project (2007) Official Site. Accessed online at: http://www.bibleliteracy.org/Site/index.htm.

Karadimos, M (2005) Intelligently Designed Schools: The Role of Intelligent Design in the Science Curricula. Accessed online at: http://www.mathguide.com/issues/IntelligentDesign.html.

OYEZ (1948) McCollum v. Board of Education. Available online at: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1949/1947/1947_90/.

OYEZ (1963) Abington Township School District v. Schempp. Available online at: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1962/1962_142/.

Schippe, C & Stetson, C (2006) The Bible and Its Influence. Published by BLP Publishing. ISBN 0977030202.

Van Biema, D (2007) The Case for Teaching the Bible. Accessed online at: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1601845,00.html.