The Bible should be taught in public schools (and it has nothing to do with religion)

by ggeurs

A while back, our President tweeted  supporting teaching the Bible in public schools. And just like most other tweets President Trump generates, unnecessary vitriol ensued. Some of President Trump’s comments, as well as those of some who disagree with him on the matter make it seem that they do not realize it is legal to teach the Bible as an elective in public schools (see for example page 152 of Indiana’s Department of Education’s Course Descriptions list).

Regardless of the specifics of the legality, this is one thing on which I agree with President Trump: the Bible should be taught in our public schools. But maybe not for the reasons some would think.

1. The Bible is an historically significant book to the United States. Many of our Founding Fathers -deists, theists, and atheists alike- owned copies of the Bible. Our Presidents have quoted it in speeches. Groups of people immigrated to this continent because of it. The Bible was used as a central text in the early iterations of public and community schools. If the Bible played such a significant role in influencing this country’s foundation, why would we not consider the validity of it for for not other reason than to give students a chance to explore why and how those who helped found our country were influenced by this same book?
2. To build on its historical import, the language of the Bible permeates the English language. Consider the following phrases:  sacrificial lamb, Damascus Road experience, David and Goliath struggle, scapegoat, to see the light, Armageddon (we had a movie called this, even!), and forbidden fruit, just to name a few. Why shouldn’t students who hear these phrases have the opportunity to learn and comprehend their origin?
3. The Bible is a versatile text for teaching literacy. With it, one can teach genre, form, archetypes, symbolism, imagery, hero quest, allegory, personification, narrative arc, literary critique, etc.

Some have argued that to teach Biblical literature is to teach religion. I know individuals who have taught Biblical literature courses in the public school, and none of the students who weren’t already Christians did not decide to convert because of the class. If this were a valid concern, then shouldn’t we be worried about teachers reading Hansel and Gretel to young children as a way to teach them cannibalism?

Others would argue that if the Bible is taught, then schools should also offer to teach the Koran. I would agree, if one could demonstrate how it significantly shaped the United States’s language, culture, and history from its inception. Otherwise, I struggle to find logic in the argument of teaching Book A necessitates teaching Book B. That would be like insisting that if a film literature course uses the movie Citizen Kane, that same course should also use a movie like Anchorman because they are both movies. While Anchorman has done a lot for changing the comedy drama, it doesn’t hold the same level of gravitas as a film like Citizen Kane.

The Bible should not be a compulsory course which all students need to graduate, such as government. But I do think it needs to be an available option for each of them. The Bible is a book of historical and cultural import in our country and society. Maybe it is time that we as a country collectively acknowledged this fact and started studying the Bible to figure out why.