So a friend of mine just informed me that her son, in public school, has been assigned to read THE BIBLE. The loophole being used is that it is ‘ancient literature’ and they will be comparing it to modern writing.
Am I wrong in thinking this is still illegal?
If he can’t choose another example, and is not willing to read this piece of… literature… how is this different from forcing him to pray in school?
More importantly, how can he avoid it, if he so desires?
I will add that this is in Boston Mass. North High School in particular, Worcester Mass. 12th grade AP english. Mods, feel free to delete that if it’s too specific.
I don’t mind the idea of studying it on its on merits… but I have the sneaky suspicion that this will end up being less of an open discussion about the literature itself, and more of a ‘be christians’ type thing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
…except for the whole no church in schools thing that I thought was important.
Too bitchy? Not ‘general questions’ enough? Sorry… I try.
Can you be more specific? What other literature is being read in this class? How much of the Bible is being read? Really, we need to see the complete list of readings for the class to understand what context the Bible is being read in.
In my very limited experience of this topic - I would say reading the entire Bible (or the majority?) is a bit excessive.
We read a limited selection from the Bible (Good Samatarian) as part of my Junior English Course in High School - that I don’t have any problem with. But like I said, the whole thing is pushing it.
I personally agree with you - someone has a hidden agenda.
In my experience, AP and advanced course teachers often select a lot of their own content due to the nature of the course, independantly the “regular” english courses. The school administration may or may not know about this particular assignment. It might be worth following up on that.
The bible can’t be assigned for religious teaching in public school. However, it can be assigned as literature or as history, for example. (and in fact, I think, in my 12th grade AP English class, we read the creation story from the book of Genesis as preparation for a piece of literature we were going to read). I know Steinbeck, for example, uses religious themes in some of his work. In East of Eden, for example, he draws on the biblical story of Cain and Abel. Steinbeck also uses biblical symbolism in The Grapes of Wrath.
I suppose he could go to his teacher and explain that he’s uncomfortable reading the bible, if it really bothers him that much, and they might be able to work out an alternate assignment. Or alternately, he could just do the assignment, treating the bible as a piece of literature, and understanding that he’s not required to believe the truth of what he’s reading.
If the class truly is treating The Bible as a work of literature, I don’t really see the harm. It might even be beneficial if the teacher goes into the parallels between it and other religious texts of the time and older Mesopotamian stories.
The kid’s parent can easily get him out of it. Just tell the parent to write to the principal and/or teacher and say “I won’t allow my kid to read this book.” They will comply.
But really, the Bible IS an ancient text. It’s a really big book with lots of stories in it. And big words. Perfect for an AP lit class. t’s also got alot of historical geography and sociology in it. Also many of the stories can relate to modern times simply in terms of “why do people act the way they do?”
Also, since the class is AP I really doubt the students will let the discussion turn into a “be Christian” type deal. I imagine there will be tons of great discussion, including lots of debate. You don’t become a Christian just by reading the Bible - you have to BELIEVE it and FOLLOW it. Otherwise, it really is a very very interesting text.
That said I think reading the Bible in a literature course is a good idea. No kid should finish high school without being exposed to the Bible, it one the greatest works of literature.
We got the Greek myths in elementary school, as stories, and again as explanations of the constellations, ie Orion. What would have been a problem would be the teacher trying to get us to fear Zeus.
The first two links are to the North High School in Worcestor, Mass.
The AP (advanced placement) English class is an elective course for students intent on college. The parents/students are told beforehand what will be taught in the class and why.
This school is highly motivated to excellence according to their test scores and performance charts. AP classes are not required to graduate nor are they necessary for college enrollment. When the student and parents agree the student is eligible for AP classes (not all are) they also agree to a course of study. They can also leave the AP class and return to regular classes if they find themselves unable to continue, for various reasons.
As far as the bible as literature segment is concerned, I was ready to climb somebody’s ass at first. After examining the situation and listening to the reasons for studying the Bible in a non-religious context. I will curb my hostility and agree that the students are intelligent enough to handle it. See the last link for an explanation of why it is important for an intelligent person to have an understanding of the Bible from an objective point of view.
I don’t want to seem one-sided here, (taking up for the school too much). So, I’ll say this…The school does seem a bit …hmm what the right word?
WASPish…not one black teacher in the whole school, only three minorities period. Out of nearly 100 teachers! I think that’s more of a problem than the Bible as literature.
This is going back some years (shhhh!!), but we had the Bible as Literature as an elective. It was strictly a literature course that connected the Bible with modern literature. I must admit that the bible kids were very upset since they expected a bible study group. I guess they didn’t read the course description very carefully.
As long as they’re not attempting to convert students, I don’t see where there’d be a problem. The Bible influences Western literature just a little bit, so some background in it is remarkably handy. And, if your friend’s son is religious in a non-Christian way, it pays to “know thine enemy” and have some ammo for the inevitable religious arguments. Besides, there’s some good stuff in there. The Old Testament is full of wars, violence, killing, and so on.
I agree that it’s not really a problem if it’s used as one example among others of ancient literature, or if it’s used to study parallels in more modern literature. However, I wonder if it is really necessary. Would the producers of the AP tests ask questions about literature that require knowledge of the bible? I’m not sure, but I doubt it. Writers of standardized tests have to be very careful nowadays about giving their tests a “bias” or a “prejudice” for or against any particular group. If the bible is not suggested reading by The College Board, then I would question its use in the classroom if other religious literature is not also studied to provide balance.
I had to read the Bible in class in high school. Oddly enough I was disappointed that we didn’t go into more philosophical/theological discussions. My teacher wasn’t particularly religious, but she thought it was important to read the Bible because “it’s quoted more often than Shakespeare”. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but if it is, it’s a pretty good argument for making it part of a literature class.
Tangent from what I’ve gathered it’s not that the colleges are making references to the the Bible inasmuch that the classics required to be read in literature classes DO make references and are in a large part biblical in nature.
Without knowledge of the historical and figurative aspects of these references, many works of literature become somewhat meaningless.
This is an AP level course, designed to prepare students for very high-level studies. Regardless of what a student may personally believe, any American student who isn’t familiar with the Bible is going to come off as very ignorant in college-level English studies. Remember how much of American literature is influenced by the Bible. It’s as basic as Greek and Roman myth as something you really need to know to understand what you read.
Frankly, I think it’s a shame that the separation of church and state laws, which do not in any way prevent students from getting an appropriate education in the Bible as literature, has scared so many teachers out of teaching the Bible and convinced so many parents and students that they shouldn’t read it.
Just try reading Moby-Dick without knowing the Bible. Go ahead, try it. I dare you.
Throughout most of the history of the United States, and before that colonial times, the Bible, and other books which had strong biblical connotations such as McGuffey readers and Websters dictionaries and spelling books, were the most common text books in public schools.
We seem to have done ok as a country during that time period in my opinion. We produced great leaders, a great nation, and a high standard of living, with that biblical influence. Why should it be illegal now?
Many of you claim that a biblical influence has resulting effects. If it was illegal in the 1700’s and 1800’s, how would the development of the United States have been different if our leaders had not been exposed to biblical principles?
If Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Pershing, etc had not used a bible in school, then how would things have turned out differently?
Exactly what “influences” are you trying to stop by making it illegal to use the bible in schools now?
I don’t see the problem, for the reasons several others have mentioned. Frankly, I wish I’d had more in-depth exposure to the Bible in school, especially the New Testament. Having been raised as a Reform Jewish agnostic, I know I was missing out on a lot of angles of other literature I read in school (and afterward, for that matter; just try majoring in Spanish, taking classes in Peninsular and Latin American literature, without understanding the tenets of Catholicism and all the historical and social issues that stemmed from it!) because of my almost nonexistent Bible knowledge. Really, history and literature can’t be understood in a vacuum.
Every high school English class should read at least parts of the Bible, not as religious indoctrination, but as literary and sociohistorical background. I wouldn’t mind seeing a reader that included applicable chunks of the Bible with books that were based on it or alluded to it (heavily annotated, of course, but then I’m a literature geek). The best-designed class I ever took was a team-taught Humanities class my freshman year of high school; it was a coordinated History and English class in two consecutive periods, such that while we were studying, say, the Renaissance in History, we would be reading the literature and studying the art and music of the period in English class. It provided far superior background and context than any class I’ve had since; I wish we’d had something like it at the college level.
