by Stephen Popple

Created on: May 05, 2008   Last Updated: February 21, 2011

Many of our laws and traditions have their origins in the Bible so of course public schools should teach students about the Bible. However, such courses must necessarily take the form of critical and comparative studies that seek to encourage children to question the text of the Bible and to make comparisons with other mainstream religions.

The most important concept that we can teach our children is to question accepted wisdom and to make their own choices in the world, With this in mind the Bible should be viewed as an important, even formative text in the development of Western culture, but it should not in any way be presented as a truth. This is in the same way that scientific theories should not be presented as truth, but rather as substantial theories that can be regarded as our best understanding of the world around us until such time as a better theory comes to light.

In a world in which each person should be free to construct their own reality, children should be provided with the opportunity to develop their own understanding about religion and faith. To achieve this, religious studies should be taught in schools as part of a program of wider social and cultural studies that present information rationally and without bias. The idea that any particular religion is the 'right' one or constitutes 'the truth' is at the heart of many of today's conflicts.

In democratic countries such as Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom it is the role of the public education systems to provide curriculum that are also democratic with regards to courses offered and the information presented within those courses. In a democratic society where all religions are tolerated, children should be provided with the tools to critically evaluate religion and culture and to make their own informed decisions based on accurate and comparative knowledge developed through appropriate pedagogical tools.

This argument revolves not around whether the Bible should be taught in public schools but rather how it should be taught. If parents would prefer their children to be educated in the Bible to exclusion of all other religious works and sources then specifically Christian school are available. However, in public schools it is the duty of the education system to uphold and promote the social norms of the country in which they exist. With this in mind, in democratic counties, at least, it is the responsibility of public schools to represent, without bias, the religious as well as cultural diversity that is present within that country and to facilitate the learning of children to allow them to make their own informed decisions and to control their own future.

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