HOLLYWOOD, FL – A movement has arisen to bring the Bible back into public schools. The Bible contains historical accounts, letters, poetry, genealogy, and reflections on divine thought. One of the Bible’s outstanding features, however, is teachings on moral precepts.
Public schools removed teaching of Judeo-Christian faith-based ideology by the 1960s, when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that promotion of faith-based ideology was prohibited by the Constitution of the United States.
To what extent that ruling has contributed to the increase in crime, corruption, poverty, and single-parent families in America may be argued. What is beyond refutation, however, is that public schools, while eradicating promotion of Judeo-Christian faith-based ideology, have continued to permit promotion of numerous other types of faith-based ideology, which is unlawful.
That continued promotion of faith-based ideology in public schools is unlawful because the SCOTUS said so (quite apart from whether the Constitution actually supports that opinion). But in addition, promotion of faith-based ideology, other than the Judeo-Christian kind, is also unlawful because it discriminates against certain faith-based ideologies in favor of others.
For example, while promotion of Judeo-Christian faith-based ideology has been suppressed for decades, public schools engage in promotion of the acceptance by small children of various sexual practices on the alleged basis that they are normal, which is a subjective evaluation that contradicts mainstream Judeo-Christian norms, and the belief systems of many parents, and which is itself based on the faith of the individuals who promote them, who disagree with and reject biblical teachings.
There are several other kinds of faith-based ideologies, the promotion of which takes place unlawfully in public schools. Islam, for example, is widely promoted, a clear violation of the SCOTUS ruling, which evidence shows has taken place in Broward Schools. This is clearly a practice that discriminates against the entire Judeo-Christian community. And since the sacred texts of Islam call for a wide variety of extreme violence, profound perversion, and deranged Fascism, it is also unlawful to indoctrinate children in its tenets and norms.
Moreover, promotion of certain kinds of faith-based ideologies in public schools is unlawful because it tends to encourage minors to engage in and develop delinquent, corrupt, antisocial, criminal behaviors. In some jurisdictions the law refers to such promotion/intentional indoctrination as contributing to the degradation of the morals of minors.
But even if morality is to some extent a subjective matter relative to the individual, or a matter of opinion, when it comes to children, those in the employment of the state or local school systems at no time enjoy the power to indoctrinate children in their own preferred faith-based morality. The SCOTUS settled that question more than a half century ago.
Public schools should educate children in the skills they need to lead productive lives, as well as provide orientation on living as a responsible person in a civil society. Having prohibited the promotion of Judeo-Christian faith-based morals in public schools created a vacuum in the education of children that has been filled by influences that do not encourage children to be responsible people in a civil society, but rather encourage highly problematic behaviors that contribute to society becoming less peaceful, less cohesive, and less prosperous.
Children need that kind of orientation. Society needs responsible members. Moral behavior is an asset to everyone. But would reintroducing the Bible into the public school curriculum be the answer to resolving that need?
The Bible is held by millions to be inspired scripture that God influenced men to write down for the instruction of mankind. Among the community of believers, there exists a wide array of interpretations of scripture. There exists a lot of discrepancy and controversy regarding certain biblical teachings, even between those who claim that the Bible is God’s word.
Take, for example, the issue of homosexuality. A lot of disagreement and controversy exists within the many diverse religions claiming to be Christian with regard to the subject of homosexuality. About half of America’s church organizations embrace it as normal and acceptable to God. That being the case, whose brand of biblical truth would be taught in public schools, given that the Judeo-Christian community does not agree among itself on this and other moral, social, and political issues.
One might say that the solution to that conflictive condition is simply to agree with what the Bible says on every issue. But since that kind of agreement is largely absent from the Judeo-Christian community, the point is moot. Ultimately, the conflict on these issues would be introduced into the classroom, where the “biblical truth” being there promoted would depend upon the point of view of the teacher. And while disagreement on these issues is so common, it is quite likely that biblical teaching in the classroom would have to end up being of the controversial kind, which would not provide a sound education.
Children absolutely do require a sound moral orientation. Lack of that too often results in them reaching the point where they commit acts that lead to their incarceration. And when committed to prison, often enough someone visits them there, who hands them a Bible and talks to them about God’s standards of morality.
Children need a sound education, including a firm basis in moral behavior. No one can lead a worthy, productive life without that. But how is society to agree on the education it should provide its children?
And if the Bible is brought back into schools, how will the intentional or accidental distortion of it be avoided, so that children are not manipulated to think that what they are being taught is good, while it is reprehensible?
or a specific category with our 
Comments are closed.