You already know that the Kentucky legislature is considering the nation’s first creationism bill of 2011. As we said in our post about that distinctive accomplishment:
Kentucky can be proud. Not only are they the home of the mind-boggling Creation Museum, the brain child of Ken Ham (ol’ Hambo), but now they’ve got the first creationist bill of the year cooking in their legislature. Maybe they should change their state’s motto to: Kentucky — First in Creationism!
But Kentucky isn’t merely enjoying their well-earned reputation as a center of creationism. Now they’re pondering an additional law that will take the next logical step. In the Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, we read Kentucky Senate committee advances bill to teach Bible classes in public schools.
The story is a week old. It’s about Senate Bill 56, which — if passed — permits bible classes in the state’s public schools. The article is very brief; other than informing us of the bill’s existence, the news is this:
The Senate Education Committee approved the measure on Thursday, sending it to the full Senate for consideration.
Here’s a link to the legislature’s page on Senate Bill 56. And here are links to the legislature’s pages for the bill’s sponsors: Joe Bowen (R), a partner in Bowen Tire Co., and John Schickel (R), a retired policeman, and Jerry P. Rhoads (D), a lawyer, and Mike Wilson (R), General Manager, WCVK Christian Family Radio.
This is the text of their bill, with some bold font added by us for emphasis:
AN ACT relating to Bible literacy courses in the public schools.
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 156 to require the Kentucky Board of Education to promulgate administrative regulations to establish an elective social studies course on the Hebrew Scriptures, Old Testament of the Bible, the New Testament, or a combination of the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament of the Bible; require that the course provide students knowledge of biblical content, characters, poetry, and narratives that are prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture, including literature, art, music, mores, oratory, and public policy; permit students to use various translations of the Bible for the course; amend KRS 158.197 to permit a school council to offer an elective social studies course on the Hebrew Scriptures, Old Testament of the Bible, the New Testament, or a combination of the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament of the Bible.
The same link that gives us the text of the bill indicates what we’ve already learned from the Courier-Journal — that on 03 February, the Senate’s Education committee reported the bill favorably. Now it goes to the Rules committee.
We note that the bible classes would be elective. We have no idea if this kind of state-sponsored and taxpayer financed education is constitutional in Kentucky, but we found this provision in the Kentucky Constitution:
Bill of Rights, Section 5: No preference shall ever be given by law to any religious sect, society or denomination; nor to any particular creed, mode of worship or system of ecclesiastical polity; nor shall any person be compelled to attend any place of worship, to contribute to the erection or maintenance of any such place, or to the salary or support of any minister of religion; nor shall any man be compelled to send his child to any school to which he may be conscientiously opposed; and the civil rights, privileges or capacities of no person shall be taken away, or in anywise diminished or enlarged, on account of his belief or disbelief of any religious tenet, dogma or teaching. No human authority shall, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience.
It strikes us that a law which authorizes teaching the bible in public school, and which mentions no scripture of any other religion, does indeed give preference to a religious system, but that’s up to the Kentucky legislature and the judges of that state. We’ll be watching to see how things work out.
Copyright © 2011. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.
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The Sensuous Curmudgeon 
I know it’s done in NC.
I taught for one year ten years ago at a rural school near Charlotte, NC and they had bible classes. I recall hearing the classes were privately funded, but I don’t remember for sure or if my information was accurate.
Looks like they still do it: http://www2.cabarrus.k12.nc.us/education/club/clubinfo.php?sectiondetailid=84728&
“Bible as literature” is not, to my knowledge, constitutionally problematic.
students knowledge of biblical content, characters, poetry, and narratives that are prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture, including literature, art, music, mores, oratory, and public policy…
If that is really what they are going to teach, there’s no “establishment” to it. Up until the last century art and literature were rife with Biblical allusions. There’s nothing wrong with studying the Bible’s role in Western civilization. You can’t just have Socrates and Plato and then mysteriously skip everything else until we get to Voltaire.
Given the violent disagreements, even within Protestantism, over small divergences in Biblical interpretation, I doubt that even in Kentucky will this class be taught so as to run afoul of the Establishment clause. All you need is a Seventh-Day Adventist teacher in a classroom full of Baptist kids, you can imagine the uproar.
I’ve heard about these sorts of classes cropping up. (I guess in other states – I wasn’t aware the practise was outlawed anywhere). I’ve never heard of any public H.S. being able to sustain such an elective over more than a couple of years. Requests for these classes generally come from a small minority of parents, and when their kids take the class or graduate, the number of requests/potential students who can take it dries up. The general interest just isn’t large enough to sustain such classes.
Which tells you a lot right there.
I don’t know how academic the classes in NC really are. I know the students thought it was an easy elective. I think there was some proseletizing in there (I tried to stay away–too busy and no interest then. These days I’d be all over it.)
Even in Kentucky, about 50% of residents belong to no church. Of the religious half, half of them are Baptists (24% of the total). 10% of residents are Catholic and 5% Methodist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky
I think in this matter the religious denominations will effectively police each other until such time as everyone loses interest, as eric predicts.
We may not like such classes, but they are not uncommon around the country where they are elective, taught in social studies and not in science. All I have seen on such courses is that they are constitutional, especially when taught as ‘literature.’ I think that it is more important now to oppose those bills that attempt to put religion into science courses in public schools, something we can win – at least in Federal Courts. Fighting Bible courses taught as ‘literature,’ is a lost cause for now. Of course, we know that many such courses will be taught by religious proselytizers – such can be opposed by local action, but not .likely to work as legal challenges.
As I pointed out in an earlier thread (I believe on this board), Kentucky outlawed the teaching of evolution until 1993. That year the law was amended to remove that stipulation, but then allowed the teaching of creationism in science courses, apparently the only state to have such a specific law. The law still exists, despite the fact that many in Kentucky are unaware of the provision. I gave a talk to an academic audience of biology faculty and students at Western Kentucky University a couple of months ago and, when I aksed how many knew about this law, only about 4-5 hands went up.
Kentucky has no ‘citizens for science’ organization like many states and their evolution list serve is more or less moribund. Hopefully, there are some in that state that will start organizing to oppose creationism in science courses.
Back in the 1980’s there was an active committee, part of the movement that led to the establishment of NCSE, but alas, nothing there in recent years.
vhutchison says:
I agree. If it’s not being taught as scientific theory I can’t get too worked up. I don’t really care what goes on in social studies. That whole field is a wasteland, really. But I would prefer a comparative religion class that exposed the kids to more than the bible. That would be educational.
Bible as literature…at what grade level? Was it there somewhere and I missed it?
I have never understood why parents would want to turn religious instruction over to public schools, and that would include any “Bible as literature” class in lower grades. Hey! Don’t they realize they might end up with someone like me teaching their children? “Class, the story of Jonah being swallowed by a big fish is a metaphor about being faced with a terrible dilemma.”
OTOH, it’s better than teaching some oddball theology passing itself off as science. Yes, I am judgmental.
Ellie: Bible as literature…at what grade level? Was it there somewhere and I missed it?
High school. You probably didn’t miss anything. These courses are like Arabic or Chinese language courses, or Psychology. They occur sporadically, wherever there is sufficient interest that the school can actually put 25 kids in a classroom for it.
eric says: “You probably didn’t miss anything.”
I donno about that. The Song of Songs is quite erotic. I wonder if they get around to that in such classes?
SC says: “I donno about that. The Song of Songs is quite erotic. I wonder if they get around to that in such classes?”
Only erotic if you’ve never seen the cartoon. I thought I saved it somewhere…oh, I did. Hope it’s OK to post the link.
http://www.acts17-11.com/snip_song.html
That’s good, Ellie.
I would be willing to bet that, just like here in Texas, the sponsors of this bill don’t give a rat’s ass about the Bible as “literature.” The coursework that was suggested for the Odessa, Texas school district was panned to the point of being radioactive by reviewers. Yes, David Barton was one of the contributors to the syllabus.
Perhaps they could focus on legislation that would require a 2.2 lb KJV Bible to replace the kilogram in physics class.
It would be nice if the course included some elementary Hebrew and a close examination of the Documentary Hypothesis. I’d be happy to put my kid in that class.
Texas has had a similar law for at least 4 years. The thing is, it is an elective. The law also states that it must be taught in a non-denominational manner.
I was the only non-fundamentalist Baptist Christian at my school and the only one who has actually read more than one religious text, so I volunteered to teach the class.
Of course, no one signed up. All the students took band or had to take TAKS prep courses. There wasn’t any money for books. And there wasn’t time on any teacher’s schedule for it.
As far as I know, it’s never been taught in any of the 7-8 school districts that I’m familiar with.
I imagine that they would abstain.
OBAMA FULFILLING THE BIBLE
[Goofy, off-topic rant deleted.]
I too considered public school bible class, until the hives I got from thinking that way drove me to drink.
Kids nowadays don’t have a clue about conducting a proper animal sacrifice. Make Leviticus 1 a lab class. Boys only, the girls need to be learning to be obedient.