Kirsten Clark

@kirstenlmclark

If two Kentucky lawmakers get their way, the crucifixion of Jesus, the trials of Job and the Ten Commandments could land on high school syllabuses.

A bill introduced early this month, penned by Republican Reps. DJ Johnson of Owensboro and Wesley Morgan of Richmond, would create state regulations for public high schools wanting to offer elective social studies courses on Hebrew scriptures and the Bible. Doing so would familiarize students with biblical characters and narratives that are “prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture,” the bill reads.

Under the bill, HB128, all school districts would be expected to maintain “religious neutrality” and accommodate “diverse religious views.”

“Whether you believe that it’s the word of God or you think it’s complete fiction, you can’t deny the impact it’s had on our culture,” Johnson said of the Bible. Students deserve access to a class devoted to its study, he said.

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To be sure, public schools in Kentucky are already free to study the Bible and other religious texts, provided instruction is strictly academic and isn't a "ruse to promote religious beliefs," according to the Kentucky Department of Education. In fact, some schools have offered Bible literacy classes in the past as an English elective, department spokeswoman Nancy Rodriguez said in an email. But Johnson said the regulations would allow everyone at the state and local levels to be on the same page.

Jim Potash, president of the Kentucky Secular Society, which supports the separation of church and state, said in theory, it'd be fine for schools to offer a class that delves into the contents of the Bible for academic purposes. But given that Gov. Matt Bevin recently declared 2017 the "Year of the Bible," he said, he worries about how such a bill would actually play out.

“I don’t think it really would be just teaching about religion," Potash said. "I think I’d have to worry about them actually preaching religion.”

Potash said he would prefer to see schools teach about the Bible in the context of a comparative course, in which students learned about other religious texts, such as the Quran. The bill does not mention the study of other religious texts.

Johnson said he doesn't foresee this bill causing problems, as long as First Amendment-compliant curriculum and proper training are available. "I believe in the professionalism of teachers," he said.

Mark Chancey, a professor at Southern Methodist University who has studied the issues raised by Bible courses in public schools, said these courses can be valuable for students but can also prove problematic for educators. It's easy for even experienced and well-meaning teachers to "misstep" if proper training and curriculum are absent, he said.

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"We want to take (the texts) seriously as sources from that time period without treating them uncritically as straightforward history," Chancey said. "That’s a delicate dance because the minute teachers begin treating the Bible as straightforward, completely unproblematic history, they’ve slipped into making theological claims.”

Lawmakers across the country have made a push to encourage the creation of Bible literacy courses in recent years. Since 2000, more than a third of states have tried to pass some sort of legislation supporting Bible courses, and six states have been successful, Chancey said. Last year's national Republican Party platform also called for more laws like these.

It's difficult to know how many public schools across the country offer Bible courses because there are no reliable statistics available, and nobody is keeping track, Chancey said, but he estimates that the number of courses taught nationwide each year, from kindergarten through 12th grade, is somewhere "in the low hundreds."

Kentucky lawmakers have tried to push similar bills in the past, including last year, when the bill breezed through the Republican-controlled Senate but died in the Democratic-controlled House.

The General Assembly reconvenes Feb. 7.

Teaching – not preaching – the Bible in public schools

Schools can teach about the Bible, as long as instruction does not violate the Establishment clause of the First Amendment, which prevents public schools from establishing a particular religion.

If a public school chooses to offer study of the Bible, it should be in the context of a literature course, not a devotional study, according to the Society of Biblical Literature.

Here's the difference.

Bible literacy courses:

focus on academic study of the Bible, using comparative literature, historical study and other methods to determine what the text may have meant in its original context

delve into the Bible as a work penned by multiple authors, written over a long period of time

have goals similar to any literature course – including familiarizing students with themes, characters and narratives of the Bible, as well as its impact on history and culture

Devotional study:

accepts that the text is divinely authored or divinely inspired

aims to help the reader determine how to live according to religious principles

Reporter Kirsten Clark can be reached at 502-582-4144. Follow The Courier-Journal's Education Team on Facebook at Facebook.com/SchooledCJ.

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