Monday, April 30, 2007
PA School Considers Bible Course
Stefan Wentling, a teacher at North Lebanon High School in Fredricksburg, hopes to teach a course titled "The Bible in History and Literature," there next year.
The school board, voted 9-0 to give the course tentative approval earlier this month. Final approval is expected May 9.
"What we're going to do is study the Bible academically," says Northern Lebanon School District Superintendent Don Bell.
One of the best courses Red State Rabble ever took in graduate school used the Old Testament as one of several texts from ancient Israel, Greece, and Rome. We think there's nothing wrong with studying the Bible as long as that study doesn't slip into -- as it so often does -- the proselytizing of students by members of right-wing Christian sects.
And that's a danger here.
According to The Patriot News, Wentling says his interest in the Bible goes back to his childhood.
"It's part of my beliefs," he says. "That's something I'm going to have to be conscious of when I teach this as an academic subject."
The ACLU is monitoring the class.
The school board, voted 9-0 to give the course tentative approval earlier this month. Final approval is expected May 9.
"What we're going to do is study the Bible academically," says Northern Lebanon School District Superintendent Don Bell.
One of the best courses Red State Rabble ever took in graduate school used the Old Testament as one of several texts from ancient Israel, Greece, and Rome. We think there's nothing wrong with studying the Bible as long as that study doesn't slip into -- as it so often does -- the proselytizing of students by members of right-wing Christian sects.
And that's a danger here.
According to The Patriot News, Wentling says his interest in the Bible goes back to his childhood.
"It's part of my beliefs," he says. "That's something I'm going to have to be conscious of when I teach this as an academic subject."
The ACLU is monitoring the class.
