Trump Endorses Bible Classes in Public Schools

 

 

Here’s a story you might’ve missed.

After a segment on Bible classes ran on Fox & Friends back in January, President Trump tweeted an endorsement of incorporating such classes into educational curriculum:

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“Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible. Starting to make a turn back? Great!”

As reported by CBS News, the prospect of public schools teaching the Good Book is alive and well:

Christian lawmakers in six Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country are pushing for legislation that would allow public schools to offer elective classes on the New and Old Testaments.

The push by conservative legislators in Florida, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia has stirred some controversy.

Unsurprisingly, the ACLU isn’t a fan:

Critics of the proposals, including the American Civil Liberties Union…argue that public school classes on the Bible would jeopardize the separation of church and state enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Alabama’s in the mix too, baby!

Alabama, Iowa and West Virginia have also considered Bible literacy bills, but all of the measures were voted down, according to the Fox News report.

The road to a school & scripture combo may be rocky. Such a move caused some hubbub in Kentucky when, in 2017, Republican Gov. Matt Bevin signed a law allowing public schools to teach classes on the Bible and Hebrew texts. That didn’t go over well with the ACLU, which claimed the implementation violated a constitutional requirement: All classroom religious passages must be used in a secular way and not promote any religion.

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The ACLU said it found “public school teachers using the Bible to impart religious life lessons” and use of Sunday school lessons and worksheets for source material. These are not academic approaches to objective study of the Bible and its historical or literary value, the ACLU pointed out.

In June of last year, the state’s Board of Education approved standards to be applied in school usage, but the ACLU wasn’t relieved, releasing a statement of their concern:

“Without more specific guidance, we fear some classrooms will once again be filled with preaching, not teaching,” the organization wrote in a statement last August. “The ACLU-KY reminds students and parents that ‘Bible Literacy’ courses may not promote religion or a particular religious viewpoint, test students on matters of religious faith, nor be designed to instill religious life lessons.”

Indeed, the subject is guaranteed to produce controversy.

Schools were once the focal point of learning. Now, they’re a hotbed of “education,” more in the prison camp sense of the word. Indoctrination by the Left is seeping into it all, right down to grade schoolers. For an example, see here and here. Personally, I’d be happy if America’s public school system just churned out people versed in math, english, science, government, history, and the like. And adults who knew the definitions of words, unlike these goofballs.

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Maybe let’s shoot for that first, then we can talk about Biblical literacy. Thou shalt not be a dummy.

Athough, we might need the Bible classes — to counter this.

-Alex

 

Relevant RedState links in this article: herehere, here, and here.

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