Kentucky Gives Blessing to Bible Classes in Public Schools - Polidicks

[quote] In the beginning, there was a proposed bill that would allow Bible courses to be taught in Kentucky’s public schools. And it was controversial. Now that Gov. Matt Bevin has signed the so-called "Bible Literacy Bill" into law, the ACLU and other watchdog groups say they are going to make sure the classes don’t cross the constitutional line from teaching to preaching.[/quote] [URL]http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kentucky-gives-blessing-bible-classes-public-schools-n777721[/URL] it being an elective lessens the blow a bit but tbh they'd be better off with a general religions class that is much more broad.

Why are you dedicating an entire class to one mostly fictional book. That's like having an entire class that only studies the Iliad or something. Obviously this is an attempt to spread the religion and not actually examine the book, its historical context and effects. (Which could actually be interesting if they didn't sugar coat it.) I give it less than a year before the ACLU sues and this is removed.

The best thing about studying the Bible would be reading through the parts about how to be a good person (the letters from Paul especially), but I'm guessing they'll just be focusing on Noah's Ark and the story of Jesus and all that other stuff we've heard a thousand times. Either way, I don't see how you could get an entire semester/trimester of helpful information out of it.

A theology class would be nice (I didn't even have that option in highschool) -- but a BIBLE class? I'd maybe understand that as a part of a theology degree, but not a highschool class. Usually those are focused more on general ideas.

It's weird that you Americans don't have a class dedicated to the various Religions of the world, despite not believing myself I really enjoyed Religious Education classes.

[QUOTE=jonu67;52424594]It's weird that you Americans don't have a class dedicated to the various Religions of the world, despite not believing myself I really enjoyed Religious Education classes.[/QUOTE] we do. er, at least my schools did. I don't know about the southern states. There's a reason they're called "the Bible Belt"

[QUOTE=c:;52424597]we do.[/QUOTE] Ah, from the replies and replies from previous threads like this, it didn't seem like it, I guess not every state has that option?

[QUOTE=Richoxen;52424506]Why are you dedicating an entire class to one mostly fictional book. That's like having an entire class that only studies the Iliad or something. Obviously this is an attempt to spread the religion and not actually examine the book, its historical context and effects. (Which could actually be interesting if they didn't sugar coat it.) I give it less than a year before the ACLU sues and this is removed.[/QUOTE] uh the bible is much more than "one mostly fictional book"

[QUOTE=Richoxen;52424506]Why are you dedicating an entire class to one mostly fictional book. That's like having an entire class that only studies the Iliad or something. Obviously this is an attempt to spread the religion and not actually examine the book, its historical context and effects. (Which could actually be interesting if they didn't sugar coat it.) I give it less than a year before the ACLU sues and this is removed.[/QUOTE] what do you mean mostly fictional? large parts of it are genealogical lists, legislation, philosophical and theological musings, plus historical records in addition to various other things. it's not all mythology from the bronze age.

What perspective on the bible will they teach, though. Protestants have a dozen different interpretations of what scripture means.

[QUOTE=jonu67;52424594]It's weird that you Americans don't have a class dedicated to the various Religions of the world, despite not believing myself I really enjoyed Religious Education classes.[/QUOTE] Some schools do. Mine didn't tho in Texas. They briefly go over them a few times in history.

we kinda glossed over judaism, christianity, and islam in my ap world history class (during the islam section my teacher was like "yeah you don't need to take notes over this" :v)

It's times like this I was fortunate to have a staunch creationist in my world religions class. It helped make everyone try to understand what we were learning better because we had a jackass who would go "But they were wrong because..." while we're learning about Buddha, Taoism, etc. Basically, we were learning about religion two fold, the actual religions themselves, and the side affects they can create, IE the creationist who was entrenched in his beliefs to the point he would not budge in the face of actual facts.

Call me ignorant but I think we shouldn't be wasting any more time on fairytales

[QUOTE=MendozaMan;52424794]Call me ignorant but I think we shouldn't be wasting any more time on fairytales[/QUOTE] Ah, there it is. For a second I thought that nobody had made a smug, low effort zinger in a religion thread. I definitely don't agree with instituting Bible classes in public schools (unless it was just a regular religious studies class, in which case that's fine), but these threads are exhausting because you people pop up like clockwork to crap out basically the same post every single time. I guess that's just another reminder for me to stay out of it.

[QUOTE=Kirbunny431;52424847]Ah, there it is. For a second I thought that nobody had made a smug, low effort zinger in a religion thread. I definitely don't agree with instituting Bible classes in public schools (unless it was just a regular religious studies class, in which case that's fine), but these threads are exhausting because you people pop up like clockwork to crap out basically the same post every single time. I guess that's just another reminder for me to stay out of it.[/QUOTE] At least in English class, the books you're made to read are disclosed as being true or false before hand, and you're not required to believe that Ultima was a witch with [I]actual[/I] magic powers. I also fail to see the point in dedicating an entire class to a single religion (an elective at that), particularly when there are already churches that provide these services for "free". I guess one day a week just isn't enough for some folks.

i'm fine with going full neckbeard mode tbh religion is superstitious nonsense. it's outrageous that we can't call it for what it is

[QUOTE=Zero-Point;52424963]At least in English class, the books you're made to read are disclosed as being true or false before hand, and you're not required to believe that Ultima was a witch with [I]actual[/I] magic powers. I also fail to see the point in dedicating an entire class to a single religion (an elective at that), particularly when there are already churches that provide these services for "free". I guess one day a week just isn't enough for some folks.[/QUOTE] Well executed, the point isn't to preach. That's literally unconstitutional. The point is to look into the cultural backdrop of the US. Like it or not, we are deeply affected by the ramifications of what's in the bible and how it has been interpreted, beyond even issues like homosexuality and abortion.

[QUOTE=MendozaMan;52424794]Call me ignorant but I think we shouldn't be wasting any more time on fairytales[/QUOTE] i was gonna read the Aeneid but now that you mentioned it i decided to chuck it in the bin. fuck virgil, he's just a bullshit artist

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;52424632]what do you mean mostly fictional? large parts of it are genealogical lists, legislation, philosophical and theological musings, plus historical records in addition to various other things. it's not all mythology from the bronze age.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Judas;52424602]uh the bible is much more than "one mostly fictional book"[/QUOTE] Uh thanks I know. That's why I said "Obviously this is an attempt to spread the religion and not actually examine the book, its historical context and effects. (Which could actually be interesting if they didn't sugar coat it.)" Did you even finish reading what I wrote or just get really mad at the first sentence and post immediately. :chillout:

[QUOTE=Zero-Point;52424963]I also fail to see the point in dedicating an entire class to a single religion (an elective at that), particularly when there are already churches that provide these services for "free". I guess one day a week just isn't enough for some folks.[/QUOTE] The point is that they can use it as a jumping-off point for dismantling separation of church and state and our secular institutions. If you want to teach world history and involve a variety of world religions in that discussion, cool, that actually makes sense to do; for that matter, a lot of schools already do this. But this is nothing more than an attempt to push Christianity under the guise of education. Like you said, there's no honest reason why they needed to create an entire class dedicated to just the Bible when there's literally dozens of alternative ways they could've gone about approaching this subject. They've been pushing for this sort of shit for years now. It's like when they were peddling that "teach the controversy" creationist nonsense against biology and evolution: they argued for it under the guise of being impartial and wanting a variety of perspectives represented, but the reality is that they were just trying to disseminate their religious dogma by infiltrating the public school system (which is bad enough as it is; we don't need them making it even worse).

Good on them.

[QUOTE=MendozaMan;52424794]Call me ignorant but I think we shouldn't be wasting any more time on fairytales[/QUOTE] Wow man, you definitely made everyone switch beliefs with that one sentence statement. So sick of these snarky, unoriginal zinger attempts.

[QUOTE=thelurker1234;52424418][URL]http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kentucky-gives-blessing-bible-classes-public-schools-n777721[/URL] it being an elective lessens the blow a bit but tbh they'd be better off with a general religions class that is much more broad.[/QUOTE] I fail to see how an elective to study one of the most important books to western culture is in any way controversial. Now if they go and teach the idelogical take on it, or some horrible "Obey god or else, also fuck gays" take, then yeah we've got an issue here. But up until that point, this is perfectly reasonable. [QUOTE=MendozaMan;52424794]Call me ignorant but I think we shouldn't be wasting any more time on fairytales[/QUOTE] Yeah but you have to ask yourself, what are fairy tales? They're stories you tell kids that are essentially condensed representations of life meant to instruct them on an ideal mode of being. Religion is philosophy before codified philosophy, and to reject it because "we've grown past it" or some such reasoning is fantastically pretentious. It's like either Nietzsche or Jung said, if you throw out all those stories, all that's going to happen is we're going to learn those lessons again the hard way. And i'd prefer not to know what that looks like.

Studying the single most influential piece of literature in the world seems like a pretty good idea, whether you're religious or not.

[QUOTE=Govna;52425124]The point is that they can use it as a jumping-off point for dismantling separation of church and state and our secular institutions. If you want to teach world history and involve a variety of world religions in that discussion, cool, that actually makes sense to do; for that matter, a lot of schools already do this. But this is nothing more than an attempt to push Christianity under the guise of education. Like you said, there's no honest reason why they needed to create an entire class dedicated to just the Bible when there's literally dozens of alternative ways they could've gone about approaching this subject. They've been pushing for this sort of shit for years now. It's like when they were peddling that "teach the controversy" creationist nonsense against biology and evolution: they argued for it under the guise of being impartial and wanting a variety of perspectives represented, but the reality is that they were just trying to disseminate their religious dogma by infiltrating the public school system (which is bad enough as it is; we don't need them making it even worse).[/QUOTE] That's just it though. If it's an elective, then the people who select it will do so either because: 1) They already believe in that stuff and want an easy grade, or 2) Don't care either way and are just doing it to fill an elective slot. Or possibly 3) They're edgy kids signing up to troll religious students/teachers.

[QUOTE=sgman91;52425385]Studying the single most influential piece of literature in the world seems like a pretty good idea, whether you're religious or not.[/QUOTE] sure but is that what this is going to be

[QUOTE=c:;52424584]The best thing about studying the Bible would be reading through the parts about how to be a good person (the letters from Paul especially), but I'm guessing they'll just be focusing on Noah's Ark and the story of Jesus and all that other stuff we've heard a thousand times. Either way, I don't see how you could get an entire semester/trimester of helpful information out of it.[/QUOTE] I go to a Catholic liberal arts college. So glad we were able to read the letters of St. Paul and the Patristics in my Theology classes. (Everyone had to take a 100 level first theology class freshman year and a 200 level Theology class any time after that.) I took a class last year on Marian Apparitions. Next semester I'm taking a class on the ethical and moral questions spawned by the Holocaust. These schools Inn kentucky are intellectually dishonest and theologically sloppy.

[QUOTE=sgman91;52425385]Studying the single most influential piece of literature in the world seems like a pretty good idea, whether you're religious or not.[/QUOTE] Man, I bet half of these classes aren't even gonna crack open a Bible and just filter feed kids politically charged bullshit rhetoric like they've already been doing for generations.

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;52425480]sure but is that what this is going to be[/QUOTE] Who knows, why don't we wait and see the curriculum before deciding? For example, I hope they do a bit on the establishment of the Biblical canon to dispel all the myths pushed by the new atheists. I'm talking purely historical fact here. You don't know how many times I've heard someone say that the canon was made up at the Council of Nicea and that Emperor Constantine played a big role. There's literally zero evidence that the Biblical canon was even spoken about at the Council of Nicea. I wouldn't want them preaching either.