Non Devotional Bible Study Moves Beyond Texas
by Tony Dokoupil
October 17, 2010
 The
average American can’t answer basic questions about
world religion, according to a recent Pew Research
Center survey, which prompted renewed calls for
religious study in public schools. In many states,
however, that education already exists. The overall
numbers are still small, with about 10 percent of
schools featuring academic courses in religion, usually
focused on the Bible. But the last five years have seen
the first major expansion in decades. More than 40
states have districts that teach academic Bible study;
five of them have passed laws to encourage it, offering,
in some cases, curricula guidelines or public funds.
Perhaps the biggest reason for this expansion (and its
seeming lack of controversy) is The Bible and Its
Influence, a 2005 textbook by the Bible Literacy
Project. Only devotional Bible study is prohibited in
public schools, but secular alternatives have run afoul
of civil libertarians. This textbook, by contrast, took
pre-publication input from across the political and
religious spectrum, which has helped it avoid legal
jeopardy, despite being the first of its kind in 30
years. Texas has more than 100 schools using it,
including districts with more than 20,000 students
apiece. Now the project is offering it for free in the
holdout states—a move that, for the first time in
generations, could bring the Bible back to classrooms
nationwide.
Source URL:
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/17/a-push-to-bring-bible-studies-to-all-50-states.html
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