How is it that more people are not outraged about the
goings on in Texas? I mean for Pete's sake I leave for a weekend of sun, alcohol and floating the Guadalupe and when I get back, I find my wonderful state hijacked even further by
right-wing evangelical crazy people.
The National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools says its course "is concerned with education rather than indoctrination of students."
"The central approach of the class is simply to study the Bible as a foundation document of society, and that approach is altogether appropriate in a comprehensive program of secular education," it says.
If they really are
concerned with education I'll eat my favorite UT shirt. If education is so important, the class would also teach the serious flaws and would not presume that the mythology is based in science:
The critics say it ignores evolution in favor of creationism and gives credence to dubious assertions that the Constitution is based on the Scriptures, and that "documented research through NASA" backs the biblical account of the sun standing still.
Of course these have no basis in REALITY which NASA and many scientists have
proven.
In general, trying to prove events that are said to have occurred in the Bible, using scientific principles, doesn't work. Most scientists draw a clear distinction between things that are taken on faith, and those that are testable and therefore falsifiable. Science deals with the later, and religion with the former.
In short - these people are bat shit crazy and I don't want them teaching children ANYTHING much less the Bible as an historical document. Roddy McCorley has a
great diary on the bible-as-literature.
As far as religion goes, I was raised Catholic, and I attended a Catholic high school wich required a religion class every year. Now, there's no cure for Catholicsm like a Catholic school; however, I made the choice to attend for academic purposes and as boring and somewhat one-sided as they were a Catholic high school is the apporpriate place to teach a class on the bible - NOT a public, tax payer funded, hopefully religiously diverse high school. There are numerous articles in the MSM media, DMN, NYT and MSN - both referenced above, about this story and they do a pretty decent job of stating the oppositions side:
"There's an awful lot of people in this town convinced that they're going to get Jesus taught in the classroom, a tool for evangelism. And that concerns people like me," said David Newman, an English professor at Odessa College who opposes the new Bible course. He is Jewish.
Yes, people are concerned; however, once something like this passes, it takes a Supreme Court decision to overturn. And while I think that many lawsuits will come out of this asinine school board decision, it really brings home how a small group of extremists can push their agenda onto a national stage with a minimum of effort. If one county in Texas, not the reddest state in the nation, can make such a drastic change to the seperation of church and state virtually unchallenged with little outcry, what's to stop other counties and states from following along?
I refuse to live in the United States of Jesus Christ and more of us need to speak up and be firm in our secular convictions.