by Joe Palvado

Created on: September 09, 2008

Of course the Bible should be allowed on teacher's desks. Furthermore, it should be freely provided to students who choose to investigate its content.

The Bible is actually a compilation of many books. Some of these small books within the book contain invaluable insights into an ancient culture dating back about 4,000 years. It is a splendid repository of ancient history. Besides its value in terms of shear archeological significance, the Bible also serves as a wonderful compendium of poetry. Some 150 poems or psalms were composed by a Semitic people. Philosophy and theology find their roots in the Bible. Three of the world's dominant religions trace their ancestral roots to personalities found within the pages of the Bible. The Bible has for decades been a best seller. Is it appropriate to allow a teacher to exhibit the world's best selling book on his or her desk? The fundamental precepts of law are contained in the Bible, tenants that articulate appropriate modes of individual and societal behaviors such as prohibitions against homicide, immorality, theft, etc. While there are myriads of reasons to substantiate its inclusion in the classroom, all of which make perfect sense to the sensible human being, an uncommon and ugly spirit dominates contemporary opinion.

1963 quite possibly signaled the moral decline of America much to the detriment of American school children. A compelling argument could be made that the Supreme Court's decision (Abington Township School District vs. Schempp) in which they declared the Bible unconstitutional with respect to its use in public school systems was a defining moment in American history. Never mind that precedents dating to 1811 were categorically thrown out by the 1963 court. Never mind that in 1811 the high court prophetically stated " Whatever strikes at the root of Christianity tends manifestly to the dissolution of civil government".

Since 1963, as coincidence would have it, divorce rates have exploded, cohabitation has risen dramatically, previously unheard of school homicides now occur with horrible regularity, pornography proliferates, sexually transmitted diseases have escalated to pandemic proportions, scholastic aptitude test scores have declined substantially since the mid 60s and America's economy teeters near collapse. Perhaps all of these dire scenarios were as much a result of technological upheaval. Perhaps rapid migration from an agrarian to an industrial and then to an information based economy aided in the morass of plain old sin. Perhaps a sickening preoccupation with sex and violence in entertainment have led to our collective corruption. Whatever one chooses to believe in this pluralistic, relativistic era, a Bible on a teacher's desk most assuredly has not, does not contribute to the malaise.

American school children, their parents and their teachers are the poorer because of a persistent misinterpretation of The Bill of Rights. The decision to remove the Bible from the classroom is nothing less than sinister. For the love of God, put the Bible on the desk.

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