For years, some conservatives have argued that constitutional restrictions on sectarian prayers in public schools, or on religion-based alternatives to standard science instruction, represent an anti-religious and militantly secularist philosophy aimed at undermining the role of faith in national life.
Now, in two Southern states, Democratic legislators are promoting an idea that reconciles constitutional protections with the sound public aim of making sure school children understand this country's religious heritage. Alabama House Majority Leader Ken Guin (supported by House Speaker Seth Hammett) and Georgia, State Senator Kasim Reed (in conjunction with fellow senators Tim Golden, Doug Stoner, and J.B. Powell) have sponsored legislation authorizing public high schools to teach an elective academic study of the Bible and its influence on art, literature, music, culture, and politics. Their bill, recently highlighted in the New York Times and USA Today, provides a framework for teaching the Bible literacy skills that are so crucial to deep understanding of Western culture.
"The history of our country," says Reed, "was significantly influenced and intertwined with the Bible. Having a high-quality course enhances teaching and learning, especially the study of literature and history."
The Bible Literacy Project, a non partisan, ecumenical group that encourages academic study of the bible, commissioned a Gallup survey of teachers and students on the importance of Bible literacy to education. They found that the best English teachers from a variety of school settings, no matter what their personal religious beliefs were, agreed that knowledge of the Bible "confers a distinct educational advantage on students." Many of the teachers Gallup interviewed volunteered works of literature they regularly teach, but that their students have trouble mastering without basic Biblical literacy, including: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Heart of Darkness, The Grapes of Wrath ("The whole idea of the title of it," said one teacher), and Song of Solomon. Even though they placed so much importance on knowledge of the Bible and found most of their students lacking that skill, most teachers reported that little or no Bible literacy was being taught at their schools
.
"Shakespeare has over 1,300 references to the Bible. If someone doesn't understand the Biblical references, they are going to have trouble understanding the text," Guin told the Associated Press.
Guin and Reed, who first discussed Guin's efforts to promote an elective Bible literacy class at a DLC conference this winter, propose the use of a new text, The Bible and Its Influence, to give teachers and school districts clear guidelines for a nonsectarian, nonreligious academic examination of the Bible in literature, art, and history. The Bible and Its Influence exposes students to many different interpretations of Biblical passages and acknowledges the positive and negative uses of the Bible throughout history -- from the civil rights and labor movements to anti-Semitism and segregation. The textbook has been carefully reviewed and approved by a broad range of religious and educational organizations, including the National Association of Evangelicals, the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League of B'Nai B'rith, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National School Boards Association.
Last week, Alabama House Republicans executed a procedural maneuver to avoid a vote on Guin's bill. Guin has said he plans to speak to members who voted against the bill and reintroduce the legislation in due course.. In the Georgia Senate, Republicans passed a different Bible literacy bill that Reed said did not go far enough to address constitutional concerns. Reed and his allies will work to change the final legislation.
Guin and Reed's proposed course is both good policy and good politics. The legislation offered in Alabama and Georgia not only improves high school education, but provides Democrats with the opportunity to talk to voters about their faith and values.
"We are not going to give away the South anymore because we are unwilling to talk about our faith," Reed told the New York Times.
