Special privileges for Bible classes
Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee the bill’s author, said that if 15 or more students express interest in the Bible as Literature course, districts must offer it.
“A lot of schools don’t know they can have the course, and this bill notifies them that the Supreme Court ruled school districts can offer it,” Chisum said. “School districts should know they can offer the course because it better prepares students for college literature and history classes.”
So why do students have this right for only one class? Why shouldn’t they be able to petition for calculus, Greek, Shakespeare, or microbiology? Surely they help better prepare students for college work as well? Why is the public school system giving special preference to a specific course?
Because the law requires a school district to offer the Bible as literature course if 15 or more students express interest, what if 15 or more students express interest in the Koran or any other religious text?
“The bill applies to the Bible as a text that has historical and literary value,” Chisum said. “It can’t go off into other religious philosophies because then it would be teaching religion, when the course is meant to teach literature. Koran is a religious philosophy, not of historical or literary value, which is what the Bible is being taught for.”
If nothing else, students should be able to petition for the Koran as history or literary value because of Chisum’s inane statement. He doesn’t think the Koran has anything to do with the history of the middle east, you know the area where we are now engaged in two wars? The Koran might have something to do with a recent assassination in Pakistan? I remember there being some sort of deal with the Koran and a book called the “Satanic Versus” or a movie called “The Kite Flier.”
If students can’t petition for any other class that would better prepare them for college then why make an exception for this one? By only allowing students to petition for this class, Chisum has undermined the very legitimate, educational basis for teaching the Bible as literature.
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