At first glance, you might think the wrong magazine had landed on the rack in the grocery store check-out line next to Newsweek and People magazine. The cover features a picture of a black-and-yellow CliffsNotes version of the Bible. What is this, you think—the annual Easter-season bashing of Christians?
But then you read the title of this cover story: “Why We Should Teach the Bible in Public School.”
Even more amazing, this is Time magazine’s cover story. And the story reveals how popular Bible literacy classes have become—and why almost no one is complaining about them.
According to Time, the number of public schools offering classes on the Bible is rising rapidly. Two Bible curricula are now being studied in 460 school districts in thirty-seven states. Thousands of other districts have expressed interest in them.
Which leads to a question: How on earth are public schools getting away with teaching the Bible?
The answer is making sure, as the Supreme Court put it years ago, that if the Bible is taught, it must be “presented objectively as part of a secular program of education.”
It's a step in the right direction. The constitution doesn't say that we can't have religion in schools, only that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" (1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).
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