Idaho GOP may push for Bible as elective

[boise1]

The Ada County Republican Central Committee might suggest tonight that state Republicans push for teaching the Bible as an elective in public school.

The committee will debate whether to adopt a resolution calling for the Idaho Republican Party to adopt as part of its platform support for teaching the Bible in a way that explores the history, art, literary and cultural elements of the book, committee member Mitch Toryanski confirmed.

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the Ada County Courthouse, 200 W. Front St.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060124/NEWS01/601240363/1002/NEWS01

-- Right next to the science classroom with a poster of Adam and Eve tossing a frisbee to their pet T-Rex?

[cali]

1. I don't see what the problem with this is.

They want to teach it as an elective. As long as it's not in elementary school, I don't see this as a threat. Convince me otherwise.

[BOSSHOG]

3. Using public funds to promote a religion?

They have the "elective" available to them; a tax-exempt church. I suggest that teaching evolution in sunday school also be an elective if politicians are going to promote the subject nonsense. This is just one small step for christian conservatives, and one large chink in the constitution of the United States. Keep religion out of public schools, all religion.

[Sam0724]

13. It already IS an elective.

It's called church.

[Ally McLesbian]

2. Let 'em do it!

If we are going to expose Christianity for the disaster to women and gays that it truly is, we must study the source of all its problems - the Book.

We must ensure that the teachers will approach it from a secular point of view, not a religious point of view. That's something I don't trust the Idaho state government to do though.

[A Simple Game]

4. Elective my a**.

Students will be pressured to take the easy A course, or just simply pressured to take it.

An objective teacher would make the course tolerable, but I can imagine many teachers would be fundies.

Why not an elective on comparing religions? Afraid of the competition?

[FreedomAngel82]

12. So does that mean no Spanish?

That's an easy A course as well. I knew tons of kids when I was in school who took this because it was just easy.

[A Simple Game]

15. I don't know about spanish.

I took one year of Latin and two years of French, Spanish wasn't an option.

I believe they would make it an almost automatic A just to fill the class. Would most teenagers want to study the Bible otherwise?

[Rob H.]

5. The headline tells me all I need to know

It might be different if it were a bipartisan group, but it isn't. It's the state GOP of one of the reddest red states in the nation, and I don't think there's any way that the Idaho GOP's push to teach about the Bible will be used solely to explore "the history, art, literary and cultural elements of the book." Notice they didn't ask for a comparative religion class, either, it's only about the Bible.

I lived in Idaho for eight years, and it sounds to me like just another cynical ploy to appeal to all those "values voters" (read: fundagelical nutjobs) and make them vote against their own economic interests because the state GOP is wrapping the Bible around their egregious right-wing policies.

</rant>

[boise1]

6. This article explains a lot -->>

http://atheism.about.com/b/a/050261.htm

[0rganism]

8. Right. This shouldn't be a partisan thing

Back in the mid '80s, my public high school had an elective class called "The Bible As Literature". While this does present some legitimate concerns, there is also a fair amount of western lit that derives material from biblical sources -- that being one of the primary bases of common European literary experience for most of the last millenia. So I'd be willing to give it a pass... IF IT WASN'T SPONSORED BY THE FARKING GOP.

As a normal elective class, sure.

As a piece of the neo-con domestic agenda, worse than useless.

[Ally McLesbian]

9. Religion can be like crack...

It can inhibit rational thought in otherwise sane people.

It's definitely true of American Dominionist Christianity.

[LondonReign2]

7. Sounds good

This is part of a Compartive Religion class, right? I mean, certainly equal time will be given to the Quran, et al., right?

Right?

<crickets>

[kevinbgoode]

10. I'm sick of these proposals

An "elective" is choosing to go to a CHURCH where they can study the bible. I do not expect public schools to cater to the whims of one religious belief only.

[FreedomAngel82]

11. We had this at my school

You could choose to take it or not if you didn't like another class (like art or something) and if you didn't choose to take it then you wouldn't have failed. Lots of people took the class both religious and non. The teacher told according to the rules of the country she couldn't preach to you and it was more like a history type class. I personally enjoyed it.

[bigjohn16]

14. If it uses tax payer money then it's in violation of the first amendment.

If you want to learn about the bible go to church.

[CottonBear]

16. My story: in 1974, my family moved to an upper-middle class bedroom town

which was a suburb of Chattanooga, TN. My 1st - 4th grade school was a fully integrated public school, which also had the first program for disabled students in the city! At my new public elementary school, there was a mandatory bible class which was held once a week in the library. The one Jewish girl in our class sat outside the library on a chair in the hallway for the duation of the class.

I knew this was wrong.

I attended church, Sunday school and church youth group each week. Why, I wondered, did we have a bible class that so obviously excluded and humiliated my classmate? Thus, was born a true liberal: Me! I then began to question my assistant pastor's (conservative Presbyterian) opposition to the ERA. He had no good anwers for me. After graduating from High School, I no longer attended church except for when I visited my family.

I now ocassionally attend a UU congregation which is much more in tune with my spiritual and intellectual needs.

Bible study belongs in Sunday school.

More sophisticated private schools may offer comparative religion classses. The public school students can study the same subject in college.

Peace. CB