On Saturday August 8th, 2009, Kate Alexander of American Statesman stated that the Wichita Falls school district last fall jumped at the opportunity to offer its students a new high school elective course on the Bible after the Legislature created the course in 2007. Legislators had built safeguards into the law that were meant to ensure the class on the Bible's impact on history and literature of Western civilization would be taught in an "objective, academic manner that neither promotes nor disparages religion," and not "from a particular sectarian point of view," according to the law. But the Texas Education Agency told school districts that it would not provide the training and materials because the Legislature did not budget the $750,000 to do so, so the Wichita Falls district administration canceled plans for the Bible class.
Though district spokesman Renae Murphy said, "There was a lot there that was left up in the air with no details, and we needed a lot more details." so all Texas public school districts for the first time this fall must offer instruction in the literature and history of the Bible under the 2007 law. Even though the Bible is a big part of America's history, I believe this course requirement is completely absurd (no offense to religious persons). Many school districts, including Austin and most other Central Texas districts, say their current high school curriculum already satisfies the requirement because it addresses world religions in history and geography courses. To me, that's already enough. We don't need more classes teaching about religion and the Bible.
"If you're teaching history and literature without the Bible, you're not really teaching it," said Mike Stratton, an art history and humanities teacher at The Woodlands High School in the Conroe school district.
Really? We don't need religion to fully understand the subject a teacher is teaching. Some students and teachers believe that the Bible is important to grasp literature, history and culture but that doesn't mean this course should be a requirement. Religion, to me, is out of the question when it comes to teaching at school-- especially a course completely dedicated to it. I'm not against religions that intertwine with the Bible but I believe schools shouldn't have Bible classes because religion is such a personal and culturally touchy topic. Overall, religion and schools does not mix.
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Concerning an article published last Saturday in the American Statesman, our friend Jenny Tran wrote strongly against Texas public school districts being required to offer a course on literature and the history of the Bible. The course was created by a law in 2007 and now falls into requirement. I think the main point of confusion for Jenny is that students will not be required take the course in their standard curriculum, and schools will not even be required to teach the course. That is to say, the district must offer the course as a possible elective - if the schools want it - and students may elect to take it.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting, personally, that such a class would be created by law. Then again, I'm not completely sure about how a school curriculum is set up.
I can understand the argument made in the Statesman article that world religions are already covered in history and geography courses. In fact, it surprises me that no point is made of having the ability already to tie the Bible into literature in English classes. My own English classes did exactly this.
But I am surprised at the strong opposition. I suppose it may stem from fear of religious fanatics pushing their agenda, but the article refutes that thought:
"I first thought it would be devout kids who just wanted more Bible," Stratton said.
But the students want to take the course because they have an intellectual curiosity and understanding that the Bible is important to grasping literature, history and culture, said Gillory, an English and creative writing teacher at The Woodlands College Park High School.
We see that more often, children are eager to learn ways that their core classes are threaded together, and this class does just that.
As far as not being able to really teach literature and history without the Bible, I must also disagree with Jenny. By selectively deleting motivations and allusions in history and literature, you will lack full understanding of a subject. If you blindly ignore religious influences relevant to these courses, you are failing to consider and understand the concept, and understanding is what we all must strive for, especially when such contentious issues are at hand. Western society is riddled with the influence of Christianity, both in its structure and history; you don't have to be Christian to understand it.
I would say that if there is a demand for the class, why shouldn't it be offered?
Should religion and bible studies be incorporated into the curriculum in Texas high schools? My answer to this is an emphatic NO. I am not a religious person, and do not believe in god, but that is not the only reason that I agree with Jenny Tran's views in her commentary, "New Bible Requirement Hits Texas Schools This Fall," in which she discusses the issue of recent legislation requiring bible courses in Texas high schools.
ReplyDeleteJenny pointedly disagreed with arguments made by teachers and politicians that say that in order to fully understand history and literature, children must also have biblical knowledge. While I admit that history is chock full of references to religion as the cause for many events, such as the surge of immigration to the United States in the early 1900's by Europeans who were fleeing religious persecution, but this does not mean that I need to be able to recite the ten commandments by memory. I believe that the important facts and knowledge regarding our country's past and that of the world can be easily understood without deep religious or biblical knowledge.
As Jenny says, "I'm not against religions that intertwine with the Bible but I believe schools shouldn't have Bible classes because religion is such a personal and culturally touchy topic." She points out an important aspect of this issue, which is the extremely controversial and broad associations that people have with religion. What I struggle to understand is exactly how teachers are going to go about explaining the importance and truth of the bible to their Jewish, Buddhist, and atheist students. Why is it that these students should be forced to learn about something that they may not subscribe to by belief or morals? There is an extremely fine line between teaching facts about the bible and its interplay into history and literature and promoting the beliefs that it preaches. If we really want to be fair and politically correct, then high schools should also be required to teach the writings of the Koran, the Torah, and all other religious documents because each religion has an important place in history.
To me, religion and the bible are completely subjective things because to some they are fact and a way of life, when to me they are simply creations of men who fear death. Obviously, I have specific opinions regarding religion that would have been opposed by the teachings of the bible in school. I think that there are a lot of people like me who would not stand for this in a public curriculum. At least not for long. I went through four years of high school and learned quite a lot about history and literature, and continued studying the topics into college. At no point was the bible discussed, and I feel that I am perfectly knowledgeable about both subjects and would be no better off had I had biblical teachings.
Finally, our first amendment gives us the right to freedom of religion, meaning that we can choose to practice (or not) whichever religion we want. I stress the OR NOT portion of this because I think that it is the part that is violated when schools introduce religion into their courses. I agree with Jenny's opinion that school and religion do not mix, and think that she brought up good points in arguing for this stance. The use of quotes and facts regarding the legislation helped me, the reader, get a good idea about how this issue came about and what its status is in our state. Hopefully, parents and legislators will form a large opposition to this law and remove all religion from public high schools in Texas, and soon.