June 29, 2017

Kentucky public schools to start teaching religion

Huffington Post - Public schools in Kentucky can soon begin teaching Bible literacy courses thanks to a new bill that goes into effect Friday.

The bill grants schools the ability to establish elective social studies courses on the Hebrew scriptures and New Testament of the Bible.

“The idea that we would not want this to be an option for people in school, that would be crazy,” Bevin said during the ceremony. “I don’t know why every state would not embrace this, why we as a nation would not embrace this.”

The bill will “require that the course provide to students knowledge of biblical content, characters, poetry, and narratives that are prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture, including literature, art, music, mores, oratory, and public policy.”

Kentucky joins a number of states, including Arizona and Georgia, that have passed bills in recent years allowing public schools to teach elective Bible classes. A 1963 Supreme Court ruling deemed such instruction to be constitutional as long as it isn’t devotional and is “presented objectively as part of a secular program of education.”

Kate Miller, advocacy director for the ACLU of Kentucky, delivered a testimony to legislators before the bill’s passage warning that the courses’ legality “will hinge on how they are implemented.”

The bill “in and of itself, does not violate the First Amendment’s Establishment clause,” she said in her testimony, shared with HuffPost. But she noted that individual school districts will be responsible for ensuring that teachers “comply with constitutional requirements.”

2 comments:

Capt America said...

Devoid of historical context, such studies are nothing but indoctrination. Stupid SC decision.

Anonymous said...

These unfortunate Kentucky students would be better served if they were taught Grimm's Fairy Tales and The Arabian Nights.