by Dean Traylor

Created on: August 17, 2009   Last Updated: August 04, 2010

One has to respect the proponents who are pushing for Bible courses in public schools. Unlike those trying to insert the theologically-based intelligent design into the nation's public schools as a genuine scientific theory, the Bible course proponents are upfront about what they want: to bring Christianity into the public school system. However, despite their noble intentions, a course of this nature has no place in the classroom.

There are many problems with this course. For one thing, it violates the First Amendment's doctrine of Separation of Church and State. The intention of this doctrine was that one religious belief cannot be imposed on groups of people in a public setting by government officials. Public schools are the domain of the government, and the teachers and administrators are, in a sense, public servants.

Some proponents will argue that this Bible course can be voluntary; students will not be forced to take part in it. Still, as two court ruling have suggested, this violates the first amendment. Abington School District v. Schempp (1963) challenged a Pennsylvania law which imposed that at least ten verses from the Holy Bible shall be read, without comment, at the opening of each public school day. Murry v. Curlett (1963) challenged a Baltimore statute that provided for the "reading, without comment, of a chapter of the Holy Bible and/or of the Lord's Prayer" before the start of each class. The two state laws provided the students the right not to participate, granted they got a written permission slip from their parents. Still, when these two laws were tried in a federal district court, they were ruled to be unconstitutional for it still imposed a religious doctrine upon the students.

The problem with having this course goes beyond the legality of it. In many respects, a Bible course would impose a belief system on a public that has many different religious or secular beliefs. Having a class like this on campus can send the wrong message to students who may not believe the same religious doctrine. This course would promote Christianity. And, many of the proponents are not shy from saying so. This would leave a lot of students in a position in which something is forced upon them.

Also, if such a class was actually approved to be taught on campus, there would probably be a backlash from students who may want similar exposure for their religious beliefs. In order to even things out, a district may consider having courses in the Quran, Torah, and

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