AMERICAN ATHEISTS ACTION ALERThttp://www.atheists.orgApril 26, 2008 TENNESSEE BILL CALLS FOR STATE-WIDEBIBLE INSTRUCTION CLASSESAction needed now to stop more public funding of religious propaganda!Bills in the Tennessee state Senate and House would create “non-sectarian” high school Bible instruction courses under the guise of teaching history and literature.Senate Bill 4104 is slated for a vote this week. The measure is sponsored by State Sen. Roy Herron (D-Dresden), with a mirror bill in the House introduced by Rep. Mark Maddox (DE-Dresden). According to the Jackson Sun newspaper, “If it becomes law, the legislation would make the Bible course a state-approved elective, and school boards would no longer have to apply for a specific course through the Department of Education.”Fifteen counties in Tennessee already use public money to operate similar instruction units which employ a variety of disingenuous labels such as “Bible History” or “The Bible as Literature.” Sen. Herron wants more school districts to adopt the classes, saying “There are school systems all over the state that are afraid to offer a course about the Bible because they’re afraid of being sued.”Despite claims that these courses are about “history” or “literature,” though, Bible instruction is often used to conceal a sectarian (Christian) religious agenda. One supporter of the bill told WTVF news, “If people went back to the Bible, we’d have morals back in America.”This legislation does not provide the kind of oversight necessary to prevent proselytizing. It also uses tax money to create an instructional unit focusing on a religious text with roots in Judeo-Christianity, while ignoring other religions, or purely secular philosophies and writings. Critics also charge that measures like this “smuggle” fundamentalist Christianity into the public schools. TENNESSEE LEGISLATORS NEED TO HEARFROM US NOW!* Letter, e-mails, faxes and phone calls are need now to stop this unconstitutional attempt to promote religion in our public schools. Visit the web site of the Tennessee Legislature at http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/ .* Tell lawmakers that Americans should not be compelled to subsidize religious instruction with tax money. School budgets are being slashed because of the current economic climate. Money for important areas like science instruction is being reduced. * Despite claims made by supporters of this legislation, there are no effective controls in place to guarantee that these courses are “objective” and do not open the door to sectarian religious proselytizing. The course focuses on Judeo-Christianity while ignoring the history and literature of other faith-traditions, and alternative secular philosophies as well.* Make your letters and E-mails brief, polite and to the point. (AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists, Freethinkers and other nonbelievers; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.)
Generations of ServiceMurderer Dies in PrisonSomething OldSomething NewSo Help Me Nobody -- Court affirmationsSix Myths about MMOHSeparation of Church and State, A RebuttalSchool Prayer FAQsSchool Prayer Decision (Madalyn Murray O'Hair)Spirits, Souls, and ClonesSponsor the ShowSusan B. AnthonyTestimony to US Civil Rights CommissionTexas State PageThe 10C's V. NeutralityThe Atheist: Madalyn's BiographyThe Battle is JoinedThe Battle of PhiladelphiaRushdie Missing from Book FairRock of Ages and the Age of RocksRobert OwenMythicist PrizeNativity - The origins of the Birth of JesusNazareth, Faith, and the Dark OptionNo More Ham -- A look at several Black Atheist LeadersNoahs Flood -- DebateOdd InquiriesOn WeddingsOther Gods that Look a LOT Like JesusPledge of AllegiancePledge of Allegiance - Dave's LetterPre-Christian Christmas Stories with Other GodsRaising Children Without GodRed Herring Rushdie IRed Herring Rushdie IIReligion Tax Office OpenedRoadside CrossesRobert G. Ingersoll The Black Atheists of The Harlem RenaissanceThe Cons of Charitable ChoiceTo Bash or Not to BashTom Cruise Pushes for FBI Funding for ScientologyTop Ten Atheist MythsVolunteers NeededWas Jesus a Jew?Was Jesus InventedWatch the Words!Wedding VowsWhat is the object of life? by Grant AllenWhat is Wrong with a Few Harmless Prayers?What to ask Preachers and MissionariesWhere Jesus Never WalkedWhite House Expands Faith-Based InitiativesWho are the freethinkers?Why I am an Infidel: Luther BurbankWhy is Religiosity so Hard to CureWhy the Truth About Nazareth is ImportantTill Death Do Us Part?Thomas Alva Edison: An Introduction by Frank Zindler Thomas Alva Edison: 1911 Columbian InterviewThe Creator BillThe DisappearanceThe Enlightenment, Freemasonry, and The IlluminatiThe Final Taboo: Electing AtheistsThe Good Old DaysThe Hon. Atheist Governor: Culbert L. Olson.The Inconsistency of TheismThe Kiwi QuestionThe Logic of Death by George J. Holyoake The Myth of Nazareth, Does it Really Matter?The Question of Atheists HospitalsThe Roots of AtheismThe School Prayer DecisionThe Science of CreationismThe Wild World of CreationismTheopolitics of the Rushdie CaseThomas Alva Edison 1910 NYT InterviewWinning an Unwinnable DebateChristianity, Its Nature and Influence on Civilisation by Charles Watts Christians in UniformCircuit Court Rules for "Aphorisms"Congress Rushes to preserve Clergy Tax BreaksContradictions in the BibleConvencion en espanolConvention 2010 ScheduleCourt Probing Parsonage TaxCowardice of the WestCreation Science and the FACT of EvolutionCreationism: Reversing ScienceCreator Bill TextDave's Favorite Biblical InconsistenciesDebate: Is Creationism Science (Zindler / Gish)Did Jesus Exist?Edwin C. Walker: American AtheistErnestine Rose: A Troublesome FemaleCharles WattsCase is Solved12 Further Fictions from the NTA Declaration of Mental Independence, by Robert Owen Abner KneelandAgainst the 10 Commandments in PublicAgnosticism: The Basis for AtheismAims and PrinciplesAlabamaAmerican Atheists Legal PhilosophyAn Atheist's Guide to MohammedanismAtheism by O'HairAtheism: Madalyn Murray O'Hair 1962 speechAtheist Director Wins Creche CaseAtheist MusiciansAtheist StationAtheist WeddingsBiblical ContradictionsBigotry Worst Against AtheistsEthics Without GodsFCC Religion HoaxMoslem Violence in BrittainInterview: Douglas AdamsJames Lick Jesus MythKeep Politics Out Of The Pulpit or Lose Tax-Exempt Status: Opinion Kentucky Homeland Security LawsuitKersey GravesLessons from The Satanic VersesmaMA Church Dismayed over DisplayMaculate Deception: The "Science" of CreationsimMangasar Magurditch Mangasarian Mary Faker Eddy -- Christian ScienceMOMormonismInaccurate Founding Father QuotesHurricane Katrina Boosts FBIGod on OUR MoneyFree WillFrom the Mouths of CreationistsFundamentalismFunerals - Dying an AtheistGeorge J. Holyoake - The last man in England tried for Atheism George J. Holyoake by Madalyn Murray O'HairGod in OUR PledgeGrant Allen How Jesus Got a LifeHang the Commandments -- All 30 of ThemHubert Henry Harrison: The Black Socrates aboutlawatheismFaith of the Founding Fathersreligionpoliticsyouth & familymilitarymediaLibraryeventsStoreJoin & Supportorphans
An elective is not forced. You don’t have to exaggerate to get attention. When you do it lowers your credibility.
I agree with writerdd.
However, it is stupid for schools to focus on a single religion. Either teach a number of them, or let the kids learn it on their own. If the kids really care about it, they will.
Damn, I was hoping for “The Koran as Literature”. The Bible has a talking donkey and the Koran has a flying horse. Teach the controversy! Comparing and contrasting is a higher-ordered thinking skill.
….Too much por5ography, peeping toms, rape and sexual torture in the Bible. Sick stuff. This would raise the bar to allow other female-demeaning por5ographic materials in the schools…OH MY!
Yes! This is the kind of thing I have been saying for months! When we [i.e., non-theists of various stripes] sound hysterical or dogmatic then we look *just like* the opposition!
But then, calmed and reasoned doesn’t sell newspapers, or blogs, I suppose.
As an elective? No problem.
Mandated? Problem.
If this law does not have a valid secular purpose, it is unconstitutional. Period.
I do not see the secular purpose.
Teach mandatory comparative religion and let kids see how silly the whole lot is.
I think any well-read person should know the Bible if it is taught as mythology,legend,and folklore. Most of us Atheists know the Bible in order to know what we’re against. The Bible,if taught in schools should be taught in high school– the Bible is unfit for elementary and middle school children. Will the Bible be taught as myth,legend,and folklore in Tennessee? Or are they trying to sneak fundamentalist Christianity into the schools? I know I don’t trust my own North Carolina to teach the Bible correctly in schools. I agree with alexatheist: teach comparative religion and let young people see how silly the whole lot is.
Tennessee = hick infested state
“teach comparative religion and let young people see how silly the whole lot is.”
There’s a limited amount of classroom time. Teaching comparative religion would be a good way to waste it. It’s no different from teaching comparative magic.
I went to high school in a wealthy Chicago suburb. In four years no student and no teacher ever once mentioned anything about sky fairies or religions. We were there to get an education. We were not there to learn about religious stupidity.
Bob,
I must respectfully disagree that teaching comparative religion in public school is a waste of time. Like it or not, religion has been one of the foremost forces in shaping history and as a whole Americans are woefully illiterate when it comes to religion. Compulsory religion education in the UK results in an educated populace which has the knowledge to understand the role that religion has on our world and allows students to understand faith from a intellectual view.
If this isn’t taught to all students at least offer comparative religion as an elective.
Quite frankly, I do not believe that the Bible can be taught as literature unless it is taught by an atheist. Otherwise, there will be a biased teacher pushing xianity whether he/she intends to or not.
Further, it’s a wast of time, elective or not. We have churches on every corner. Let xians push their belief on those willing to walk through their doors, but keep it out of PUBLIC schools.
I agree with Seeker
When will those jerks ever learn, dammit!? Religion is dumb! Biblical literature, even moreso.
QF’s Blog: http://irrationaltheorist.blogspot.com/
I agree with kosher dilemma
☺ = Grin
From Itchy
Yep. If a student’s notebook was found with writings similar to the smut and violence found in the buybull that student would be reported to the authorities.
Teaching the bible in the classroom provides no educational value…..it provides only additional credibility that it does not deserve because it is fiction that is full of intolerance, sexism, bigotry and violence….
The Bable needs to be pushed back to churches and the privacy of ones own home…it needs to get out of our schools, police force, military and public offices….
suck it bible
Beware the Believers.
This is amazingly funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaGgpGLxLQw
Let me teach it! Those students would soon know the bible is just mythology. It’s actually a great opportunity for subversion!
Jeff
alex
That video is hilarious! Thank you!!!!
Texas is going through this right now and everyone(fundies included) has come right out and admitted the curriculum is going to be a challenge because there is next to zero teachers qualified to teach the bible objectively.
An elective is still costing tax payer money. An elective to teach how the bible is very unhistorical and unscientific should also be offered as an elective.
Karen,
I especially loved the pimped out Dan Dennett and Eugenie Scott in her bikini. This totally takes the piss out of ignorant creationists.
“Yeah he’s the Dick to the Doc to the PhD, he’s smarter than you he’s got a science degree! He?s the Dick to the Doc to the PhD, he?s still smarter than you he studied biology!”
he?s smarter than you he?s got a science degree!
“
Wow…the bible used as a history book? Reminds me of Jefferson using the Bible in the Washington DC schools in 1798…
And here we have a call to arms…
What hypocrisy…
Still absolutely no mention or call to arms over the Muslim Charter school…
Ellen should have marched into that school instead of show boating in Alabama…of course, it would take some courage to challenge the Muslims…
Comment from: Charlie
Now that’s funny…
I guess intolerance is a one way street, just like the “myth”…
4-F phreedy is back… with his bizarro rants…
No facts at all…
I wonder how he feels about Expelled getting trounced at the box office…
What’s wrong with teaching the Bible as literature? With so many biblical references in western culture in general, it would be a good idea.
Just so long as it is monitered to make sure it does not turn into a sunday school devotional bible study…and I imagine the danger of something like this happening is pretty high.
Because it is as much a literary work as most cookbooks. Have you read that illiterate trash?
The bible is disgusting and vulgar. If people read it, they’ll realize that, and expect for the few emotional m@stubators who get a kick out of torturing innocents in floods and are “persecuted” for being lying @ssholes, they’ll stop believing in it. Nobody can be as heartless as god is to Job.