Idaho Republican Party Considers Proposal Supporting “Bible Use” in Public Schools

So,,,

If I am reading Hemant correctly, this is what we got: "Militant control over life in Mosul extends to education, where schools have been shut down or replaced with IS-approved teachings aimed at indoctrinating students, sources in the city revealed to the BBC. Science subjects have been removed from the curriculum, one resident told Al Jazeera."

 

Wait, sorry, wrong article,,,

According to Mehta, Republicans in Idaho have published a set of proposed resolutions, one of which is entitled “A Resolution Supporting Bible Use in Idaho Public Schools.”  It is a resolution put forth by Republican party chairperson for Idaho County, Marge Arnzen to include within the state’s curriculum biblical teachings. As Hemant points out,

The GOP controls the House and Senate by large margins and the Governor is also a Republican. So bad ideas can become law without much opposition.

And,

,,,there’s no law banning the Bible from being used as a point of reference in class. There’s good reason to discuss the impact of the Bible in world history, just as there would be in philosophy and comparative religion classes. You can even talk about it in a “Bible as literature” class. If students want to write about the Bible, that’s fine, too, assuming it follows all the other guidelines for the assignment. And certainly, no atheist group has ever tried to ban students from bringing the Bible to school.

But what justification could anyone possibly have for the relevance of the Bible in astronomy, biology, geology, etc? There is none whatsoever.

In other words, as a supplement or "a point of reference", the Bible is allowed in the public school setting making this resolution redundant.  Which leads me to wonder, along with numerous comments, what the agenda may actually be. 

Will they also allow the use of the Quran, the Bhagavad Gita or the Popol Vuh in that same way?  According to Melissa Davlin, 

Some members of the committee expressed concern with other religious texts, such as the Quran, being used in the same way, while others questioned whether a change would violate the Idaho State Constitution. Ultimately, the divided committee amended the resolution to take out a phrase supporting classes on the Bible in school.

Which means the Idaho Republicans are state sanctioning one religion over another.  Which as we all know is unconstitutional.

Resolutions aren’t legislation, but sometimes plant the seeds for future bill proposals.

Idaho Republican Party Considers Proposal Supporting “Bible Use” in Public Schools

Texas Public Schools: Still Teaching Creationism | Mother Jones

In Texas public schools, children learn that the Bible provides scientific proof that Earth is 6,000 years old, that the origins of racial diversity trace back to a curse placed on Noah's son, and that astronauts have discovered "a day missing in space" that corroborates biblical stories of the sun standing still.

[,,,]
Some Bible classes in Texas public school appear to double as "science" classes, circumventing limits placed on teaching creationism. Eastland ISD, a school district outside Fort Worth, shows videos produced by the Creation Evidence Museum, which claims to possess a fossil of a dinosaur footprint atop "a pristine human footprint."

[,,,]
In Texas, public schools have the legal right to offer these kinds of classes—up to a point. In 2007 the state legislature passed a law allowing school districts to offer "elective courses on the Bible's Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament." The Supreme Court long ago ruled that such classes pass constitutional muster, as long as they don't advocate for a specific religious view. As Chancey points out, the state of Texas obviously needs to do a much better job of educating its teachers about what that means.

Texas Public Schools: Still Teaching Creationism | Mother Jones

Jesus, Take the Wheel: Texas Education Is a Mess of Biblical Proportions: Texas education is a mess of biblical proportions - News - The Austin Chronicle

Although the Texas Legislature in 2007 passed a law requiring school districts to teach the influence of the Bible on history and literature, just 60 districts have used that to create special electives on the Bible. Indeed, before the bill was passed, there were 25 Bible courses already offered, and a 2006 report by the Texas Freedom Net­work Education Fund detailed "serious academic and constitutional problems" with most of them. In passing the 2007 bill, lawmakers put in measures designed to address some of those problems. Now, some five years later, the problems persist, according to a second report, conducted by Mark Chan­cey, a professor of religious studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas for the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund.

According to the new report, most of the districts with Bible-specific courses failed to train educators to teach the course, as required by the law, and the State Board of Education has failed to adopt content-specific curriculum standards for the Bible classes, also required by law. Combined, the lack of training and guidance mean that many of the classes lack academic rigor, are biased in content, and treat the Bible as a history text. In short, many of the districts now offering the classes are not only out of compliance with state law, but may also be running afoul of constitutional protections. Indeed, as a PowerPoint created for Harris County's Klein ISD explains to students, "The Bible is united in content because there is no contradictions in the writing [sic]. The reason for this is because the Bible is written under God's direction and inspiration."

Jesus, Take the Wheel: Texas Education Is a Mess of Biblical Proportions: Texas education is a mess of biblical proportions - News - The Austin Chronicle