On Twitter Monday, President Trump praised the idea of public schools offering Bible literacy classes. But before Christians jump to celebrate Bible literacy in public education, they should pause to consider the complexities and problems involved.
Iowa's bill, House File 2031, does not require that high school kids must take a Bible class (that's a relief) but it would simply, according to the Des Moines Register, "direct the state Department of Education to prepare material and teacher training for a high school elective course that focuses on the Hebrew Scriptures and the Bible's New Testament. It would be a social studies class." Dean Fisher, the state representative who introduced the bill with other Republicans, said, "Basically, I want to give students the opportunity to study the Bible from the perspective of its impact on history and culture."
Even though the bill only proposes this as an elective and not a requirement, it's not the government's place to do this, for many reasons. While many liberals might argue it's a violation of the separation of church and state and the much-loved Establishment Clause, I don't think that's a strong enough argument. Teaching a class on the Bible is no more the establishment of religion than teaching kids P.E. is raising a generation of Michael Jordans. But it's still not something the state should be mandating through legislation because the taxpayer-funded public sphere is simply not the right arena.
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