Friday, September 26, 2008

To Quote or Not to Quote

My goodness! It is now acceptable to say the word Bible inside a public school. Why, it’s even acceptable to study a book about it. Time’s article explains how the church/state issue isn’t impacted when discussing a book’s cultural impact over hundreds of years.

Omitting the Bible denied students the ability to learn about “Apple of his eye” (Deu 32:10, Zec 2:8); “Multitude of sins” (James 5:20; 1 Peter 4:8).

Where else do you learn about a widow’s mite (actually, two of them) than Mark 12:42 or Luke 21:2? Or about rendering unto Caesar than Matt 22:21?

The film industry was deeply impacted by the Bible. Each year television plays “The Ten Commandments” with a Moses-like Charlton Heston. How can you discuss “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” without mentioning the Bible?

Until the last decade, we grew up with Christmas in schools. Now it’s a Winter Celebration – how can we learn about that change without the Bible?

Why shouldn’t we teach students the reason our country was colonized was just as much religious persecution as it was for adventure and expansion? When my granddaughter was in high school, she was taught that colonists left because religious people persecuted them – but not so much about the colonists’ wish to worship God after their arrival. They were not pursuing freedom FROM religion, but freedom OF religion.

Somewhere along the line we still misuse the preposition there.

It is not necessary to teach theology when teaching the Bible as literature or as history. It is not necessary to explain denominations, either. Should those questions arise, send the child to their parents or the encyclopedia. Wouldn’t that be the case in any other subject if a child wanted to move into off-subject discussions?

How can our education system ignore the book that remains the best selling book in America?

I’m looking forward to hearing results from the reintroduction. And, do I have an ulterior motive? Of course. I believe what is written in this book, and one of its verses is sufficient: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11 KJV)

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