Speculative Stephen

https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/30/texas-public-schools-religion-curriculum/

Texas wants to increase Christian religious instruction in the classroom. I am a committed Christian and I believe this is a bad idea.

Part of the problem is that I read the Bible differently than many Christians, particularly those who are driving these political moves. I do not believe in the inerrancy of the Bible or in sola scriptura. I do not believe the Bible is or should be taught as a history text.

Even if I were more in line with protestant biblical belief, public school teachers do not have the time or training to teach the Bible well to a variety of Christians, let alone to the Muslims, Hindus, Jews, atheists, and other belief systems across this diverse state. I fear such attempts will do more harm than good, as poor biblical instruction will not convince and look foolish to non-believers.

The Bible is important in American culture. It should be taught as literature, along with other religious texts. But religious instruction does not belong in the public school classroom.

Here is a link to comment on the proposed curriculum:

https://texasresourcereview.org/public-comments

This is what I submitted:

“Please leave religious instruction to parents. As a committed Christian, I recognize that many school teachers read the Bible differently than I do. While I believe it is important for the Bible to be taught as literature in schools, I do not want public school teachers instructing my children on their understanding of the religious significance of the Bible.

“In addition, I am concerned that non-Christian material is not as well represented. I believe America is and should be a collection of the best traditions from around the world. We should learn from and be welcoming of all religious and cultural traditions. Restricting our education to primarily biblical and western sources both limits what we can learn as a state and does not reflect the breadth of our diverse communities.

“If Texas wants to be the best state in the country, we must welcome all students and teach from all the great traditions present in our wonderful state.”