# Duncan, OK school teacher handing out bibles **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 8, 2015, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116 "2015-04-08T13:09:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/21 "2015-04-08T20:24:34Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > It’s never happened to me, and I’m over 50. The only time I’ve ever been handed a Bible is right after I’ve said, “Hey, could you hand me that Bible?” And it’s not like I hide in the bushes every time the Bible-hander-outters come around; I’ve faced plenty of harassment from Bible-thumpers and had plenty of civil conversations with decent Christians. As for giving kids books, I feel perfectly situated to give kids books that match their interests and reading level and do so on many occasions. There are a few exceptions: -Politics -Religion -Stuff that might earn an R rating in a movie. Even then, I’m okay with some of it. I’m reading my students **The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle** , a rip-roaring adventure story (seriously, if you have kids under the age of 12, find a copy of this book!) set on a merchant ship sailing from 19th century England. It’s full of murder and religion and class politics, and while I read it, I don’t shy away from any of these topics. But that’s very different from giving kids a book that’s the sacred text of a particular religion, and frankly anyone who doesn’t see the difference is probably lying. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/22 "2015-04-08T20:30:07Z")
Next thing you know, they’ll be putting them in motel rooms. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/23 "2015-04-08T20:39:39Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > So then you’d be OK with Pornography handed out to 3rd graders? What in the world does this have to do with pornography? ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/24 "2015-04-08T20:42:10Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > What in the world does this have to do with pornography? you seemed to indicate censorship was not acceptable under any circumstances… “censorship is censorship” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/25 "2015-04-08T20:46:26Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I was agreeing with him, not “yapping”. Never mind! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/26 "2015-04-08T22:08:49Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > So then you’d be OK with Pornography handed out to 3rd graders? That’s a super-slippery slope. First of all, Porno can be illegal, so sayth SCOTUS. Next, the Bible is important historical literature, I took a upper level Univ class about quotes from the Bible. The KJV was a textbook for that class. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/27 "2015-04-08T22:13:32Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > If a teacher is only handing out Bibles I’d consider that proselytizing. What do you think would happen if she started handing out Korans? People would celebrate diversity? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/28 "2015-04-08T22:17:09Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > :: [hands **Telemark** a Bible](http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Main_Page) :: That is not the word of God but a poor translation. Let me [help you](http://www.bricktestament.com/the_law/) with that. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/29 "2015-04-08T22:34:21Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > This is every bit as narrow minded and bigoted as wanting to ban Harry Potter or Huckleberry Finn from schools. Censorship is censorship. Bibles do have their place in a public elementary school. And that place is the school library. Where I hope you will also find Harry Potter and Huckleberry Finn ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/30 "2015-04-08T22:45:17Z")
> [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](#): > > That is not the word of God but a poor translation. Let me [help you](http://www.bricktestament.com/the_law/) with that. [The Gospel according to LOLcat.](http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Genesis_1) ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/31 "2015-04-09T14:13:41Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > well fortunaetly for the rest of america your opinion doesnt matter > [@TriPolar](#): > > If a teacher is only handing out Bibles I’d consider that proselytizing. What do you think would happen if she started handing out Korans? So the teacher should just say “I can’t make available in the classroom a Bible/Koran/Torah/etc., but you can go to the school library and check out one of the copies there.” I see, makes perfect sense. Never let a good outrage be tempered by logic. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/32 "2015-04-09T14:59:18Z")
[quote=“DrDeth, post:26, topic:717116”] That’s a super-slippery slope. First of all, Porno can be illegal, so sayth SCOTUS. \*\*Some can be, but something like Playboy isn’t illegal. So if a teacher is handing out Playboy and is stopped, is that censorship? > [@](#): > > Next, the Bible is important historical literature, I took a upper level Univ class about quotes from the Bible. The KJV was a textbook for that class. so it’s only censorship if a teacher is stopped from handing out “literature”? The test for censorship then turns quickly into a subjective assessment of the book in question. That’s quite different from the “censorship is censorship” position originally set forth. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/33 "2015-04-09T15:04:43Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > What in the world does this have to do with pornography? Fine. The bible isn’t pornography. It’s _erotica_. Happy? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/34 "2015-04-09T15:47:43Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > 3rd-graders? I’m not sure what possible scholastic intent there could have been, because the Bible is definitely not written at a 3rd-grade level. Are you sure? It always struck me as fairly simplistic text, once parsed. We’re not talking _Principia Mathematica_ or _Wealth of Nations_, here. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/35 "2015-04-09T16:09:11Z")
I genuinely thought the thread title was missing a comma and was about some guy called Duncan who’s a good-but-not-great schoolteacher and was handing out Bibles. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/36 "2015-04-09T16:13:01Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Are you sure? It always struck me as fairly simplistic text, once parsed. We’re not talking _Principia Mathematica_ or _Wealth of Nations_, here. Yeah, I can see that : > [@](#): > > Joseph & Children > > I wore my coat, with golden lining > Bright colours shining, wonderful and new > And in the east, the dawn was breaking > And the world was waking > Any dream will do Me, being an OK resident, I was just terrified what else might be revealed in the story. Thankfully, she was just dispersing bibles and not blowing the kids or something. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/37 "2015-04-09T17:36:42Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Are you sure? It always struck me as fairly simplistic text, once parsed. We’re not talking _Principia Mathematica_ or _Wealth of Nations_, here. Here’s some sample text from a level Q book, the level we expect third graders to read and comprehend by the end of the year: > [@](#): > > Scientists have only just begun to explore the deepst parts of the ocean. At one time, scientists thought no life existed at the bottom of the sea. They knew that the deep sea was dark and cold. They knew that the water pressure was very strong. However, about 100 years ago scientists began dragging heavy nets across the sea floor. They found crabs, worms, and some strange-looking fish. Here’s the story of Jonah from the New International Version: > [@](#): > > The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” > > 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. > > 4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. > > But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.” > > 7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” > > 9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” > > 10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) That’s one of the easier sections of the Bible, and it contains words like _calamity, perish_, and _terrified_. It’s significantly more difficult. Reading is about a lot more than text level, of course, but even if it were appropriate, I wouldn’t assign a whole class a story of this level for independent reading. High reading third graders, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/38 "2015-04-09T17:43:39Z")
Okay, so it would take a fairly bright third-grader. I’m not sure the _concepts_ in the passage are hard to grasp, but I have no children and it’s been a long time since I was eight. What’s a _hard_ passage in the bible, in that the concepts are difficult to grasp? Hopefully one that isn’t so just for being nonsensical. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/39 "2015-04-09T17:47:51Z")
The King James Version or the Douay-Rheims Bible would be even worse! Those were the versions pictured in the video at the OP’s link, but I got the impression that that was because the editors of the video thought, “Hey, let’s see if we can find a picture of a Bible that we can splice in!” rather than that they were picturing the actual Bibles that had been distributed by the teacher in question. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116/40 "2015-04-09T18:01:40Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Okay, so it would take a fairly bright third-grader. I’m not sure the _concepts_ in the passage are hard to grasp, but I have no children and it’s been a long time since I was eight. > > What’s a _hard_ passage in the bible, in that the concepts are difficult to grasp? Hopefully one that isn’t so just for being nonsensical. I could see this being a very difficiult sentence to parse for a third grader. > [@](#): > > Then were the king’s scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language." Esther 8:9 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duncan-ok-school-teacher-handing-out-bibles/717116.md?page=3)