Uh, no, none of those. Rep. Warren Chisum (R) has instead decided that the high school students in our schools must be able to study the history of the Old and New Testament eras:
(b) The purpose of a course under this section is to:
(1) accommodate the rights and desires of teachers who wish to teach and students who wish to study, as applicable, the Old or New Testament;
Hey, Warren, got a question for you: ever heard of a church? I am absolutely, positively 100 percent certain that one of the thousands of churches in this state would be happy to see a teenager walk in their doors asking to study the Bible. And the history surrounding it. For that matter, they would just as well love to have teachers walking through their doors to study the Bible.
It really irks me when politicians try to cram their version of religion down the throats of the taxpayers. I do hope the fine citizens of the state help pull Rep. Chisum out of his hole.
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What’s with the out house?
BTW; First & Second
As long as his bill dies in committee, no harm, no foul. A representative does what he thinks his constituents wants and they answer him at the ballot box. The voter judges a person by where he or she puts their priorities.
I support Rep.Chisum 100% way to go Warren.looks like DAN is having a positive influence in Austin
I do not agree that Bible study should be a priority at this time, but I do agree it should be ABLE to be taught in schools as an ELECTIVE.
I prefer this to “Black History”
Why are we teaching Black and mexican history in out schools anyway. What happened to good ole American History and Texas History, which IF memory serves (and it does) included BOTH blacks and mexicans as well as germans, irish, english, scotts, french, ……….
Why not teach that history, The one that built this country and made it great!
big, While I wouldn’t want it to become a class on doctrine, I can see the positive of study the history, literary aspects, and influence on society of the Old and New Testaments. As long as it is offered as an elective. However, I can see how this could very easily become more of an indoctrination class which would be wrong.
#3 Robert
This guy is Chairman of the appropriations committee. I would think that he could focus his attention elsewhere.
#5 twocute64001
Would you be happy if Mohammed was teaching this class? Or a Hindu? A Buddist?
I agree. Why not just teach history?
I think this ought to be left to churches or Christian private schools. I don’t think that the idea runs afoul of the Establishment clause, but you gotta pick your battles…
I took a religions class a hundred years ago.
It changed the way I looked at the world around me.
It made me stronger in who I am!
#10 - it obviously extended your lifespan by quite a bit too!
While I am an evangelical Christian and believe that we all need Jesus, I would prefer that we not get our religion from the government. At the same time we should not totally bar God (religion) out of the schoolhouse. For example a Catholic student may object to a Protestant bent being given in a classroom, and vice versa (not picking on either, but seeing a possible unecessary conflict). I believe that this would divide Christians more than unite them. I envision arguments over immersion versus sprinkling and baptizing babies and the significance of the Virgin Mary and on and on… To me all of that is irrelevant to one’s relationship with God, but that is another matter. God belongs in our hearts, not in a state issued textbook. Allowing religious clubs and organizations into the school and to use the facilities for student ministries and bible studies during off hours would be appropriate IMHO. This type of legislation only reinforces the left’s view of the “Religionus Right”. We can’t legislate Jesus.
twocute — which religions did you study?
caption for pic:
Aggie:
Could you help me? I dropped my jacket in there.
Other Aggie:
Are you sure you want it?
Aggie:
Yeah, I had a sandwich in my pocket.
A quick read of the text of the bill didn’t reveal anything sinister to me. It’s just an elective class on the historical aspects of the Bible, not a religious indoctrination program.
And given the Bible’s significant influence on history it is a perfectly valid subject to make available for study.
#13 - I don’t think it is sinister, just that you know good and well that the anti-God, anti-Christian, anti-Bible, pro-”tolerance and diversity” crowd will scream like stuck pigs about this, saying that the eeevil religious right is trying to shove Christianity down everyone’s throats again. This particular bill introducint this particular class is not a battle that should be fought at this point…
#13
Can these aspects of the Bible’s influence on history not be taught in a world history or American history course? Must they be limited to an elective? The bill requires this to be offered. Why should we add teachers and classes for this when it can be taught in context in traditional history classes?
#14
Well, I understand that the ACLU crowd will challenge anything, but is that a reason to sweep history under the rug? We have already allowed school curricula to be dumbed down to a pathetic state by secular leftists as it is. I graduated HS in ‘89 and history classes were a joke then. I doubt they’ve gotten any better since, so I see more on offer as a good thing.
I was also rather surprised that some folks here seemed ready to get the pitchforks and torches and march on Austin to throw out the Bible-thumpers trying to indoctrinate their kids.
HAL eating my posts
This sort of study could and probably should simply be a part of world history study. Doesn’t have to be a stand alone. The old and new testament times are certainly critical times in human history that should be studied. It wasn’t all that long ago (my dad’s generation) that “Bible” was an actual required course to graduate high school.
#15
It’s possible that trying to stick some Biblical history in the regular classes would leave you much more vulnerable to ACLU challenge than the elective route.
Besides, PC textbooks today treat Thanksgiving as a love session between the mysteriously non-religious Pilgrims and the Noble Native Americans, so how are you going to get honest Bible history in that setting?
#18
And that is my point. You will not be able to get it in a public school setting at all. What you will get is an overall watering down or explicit misrepresentation of the influence of the Bible in history. Which is why I think we should leave the Bible to the church. It is, IMHO, impossible for anyone, regardless of their personal beliefs, to present a class on the Bible without a bias, left, right, up or down.
Jolly:
You are correct on this issue. It is the business of the churches to teach religon. I am not opposed to having a World History class that covers the ancient world, but the religous content should be left to the impact the many religons of that time had on Western Civilization.
Chisum is simply pandering to his base and if Dan brought up such an issue….He too would be pandering. Much like the “In God We Trust” bunk he did earlier last week.
WE SHOULD be concerning ourselves with the MATH and SCIENCE education given to our kids in the schools. Take a walk around the Math and Science Departments at any major university and note the demographics. We are raising an increasing number of burger flippers. It is no mystery why major US corporations are outsourcing more and more engineering and technical work to overseas centers. Our population is getting dumber by the day.
Want a national defense issue? Take this one on!
Simple
I was in public school ninth grade in 1961. My homework assignment for the first day in Biology was read the book of Genesis. Can you imagine if that happened today? Heads would roll.
I wonder where the teachers would come from. I don’t think they teach theology in the state universitys especially in the Education Dept.s.
That one already has my personal endorsement for best comment of 2007. Well done faster. You truly get it IMHO.
A history course that excludes religion is pretty useless.
I know, because that’s the kind of history classes I had in public school and it’s the same kind of history still taught in public schools.
Of course religious studies should be available to public school students.
History without religion is just a “bun-only” hamburger.
My junior hih history classes had a month on how Hinduism caused the Golden Age of india, a month on how Islam caused the Golden Age of the Middle east, three sentences on how the Roman Empire forced people to convert to Christianity by the sword, and no other mention of Christianity until WWII when it was noted that Hitler was a Christian. It was a very balanced curriculum.
This would never happen since the Old and New Testaments do not appear on the TAKS test. Texas schools teach to the standardized tests. Regardless, there are enough educational problems right now to worry about allowing Biblical classes - this will just die in committee and Rep. Chisum will be able to tell his voters that he tried.
I want to know why the guy holding his legs is in his underwear.
Jeremy Weidenhof Said:
Welcome to LST.
When can we vote a headline poster off the island?
Shannon, in case he falls in he doesnt want to get his clothes dirty
#31, it is because he lost his pants down the hole and is to fat to get them himself.
29
Let me guess, duhmoose….the guy in the diaper…uh, Ghandi…they also taught he was the greatest man that ever lived, right???
#32
Yeah, Jeremy, welcome to LST!
#32, 36,
Perhaps I was not clear. I’m surprised that some folks get up in arms and rail against “religious indoctrination” at the slightest provocation. There isn’t any “indoctrination” in this proposal.
Now if you want to get the pitchforks and torches and tear down Austin over TAXES…
Here in Utah Seminary is an elective in Junior High, and nothing is ever said about that. I wonder why that is.