Bible class in public high schools? Sure, says Arizona House [View all]

[n2doc]

By Ashley Powers
February 22, 2012, 2:23 p.m.
The Arizona Legislature has never been shy about weighing in on hot-button issues. (Exhibit A: SB 1070, the state's illegal immigration law.) The latest such move: a vote to allow public and charter schools to teach students about the Bible.

The Arizona House this week voted to allow high schools to offer a class called “The Bible and Its Influence on Western Culture,” which would focus on how the Old and New Testaments have influenced everything from law to literature. According to the Arizona Republic, five states already provide similar classes: Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina and Oklahoma.

The Arizona bill's opponents don’t dispute that the Bible is a ripe topic for academic study. But some lawmakers predict a constitutional challenge, particularly because the course would not cover other religious texts. In fact, the Arizona House voted down an amendment that would have allowed schools to explore the Book of Mormon’s role in Western culture.

Opponents also raised questions about how teachers would present Biblical stories. As parables? Myths? Literal truth?
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http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-arizona-bible-20120222,0,1459123.story

The real challenge would be, what happens to the teacher who spends the entire class showing how the Bible came from a bunch of different sources, was rewritten to suit a Roman Emperor, and many of its stories came from predecessor Pagan myths? I'll bet they would get run out of town on a rail....