Well… yeah… many naturalists who helped developed the early understand of modern science understood it in that manner…
Except that in the modern doctrine, they absolutely refuse to accept the actual findings of scientists, if it contradicts certain teachings that they claim are from the bible. Many are now embracing the idea of the earth only being 6000 some-odd years old, that dinosaurs and people co-existed, etc, etc. They aren’t interested in “describing” god’s creation, they are interested in pushing an ideological narrative that contradicts many scientifically grounded understandings of the world. THAT is what they are pushing here. If you think that they’re not, then… pay better attention to WHAT they are DOING, not what they say, maybe.
sigh Can we not do the whole “well, actually” today? I know all that… it was a joke… I’m very fucking aware that there is a whole set of educational views that these people hold and that they are seeking to impose on ALL our children.
Up until recently writers would assume that anybody who was literate enough to read their works had also read the Bible and Shakespeare. They could name characters Samson, Romeo, Lot or Hamlet and know their readers would have certain expectations.
So an argument that the Bible belongs in a Grade 12 Advanced English class might make sense to me. “every classroom in the state”, OTOH…
Pretty much everything he said to justify this is false.
You could make the point religion helped shaped early America, from the Puritans, to the Quakers, to the Bible being used to excuse slavery. But you don’t really need to know what’s in the Bible specifically, and more how these various sects practiced religion. (Like the section we did on The Crucible in English).
Vote these theological goons out - and then fire the appointed ones.
Many districts already offer a class called “The Bible As Literature” for just such a purpose. I took that class in 11th grade. Guess who protests that class? The same Evangelical chucklefucks who drove this Oklahoma law.
ETA:
Julie Jacquette, a character in a Nero Wolfe novel, tells him she will not swear on the bible because, “The men in it are awful, and so are most of the women. We’ll shake.”
That’s gonna make algebra class a little weird. Can you turn Proverbs into word problems? “If a concubine’s lovers emissions are that of horses, and a horse emits .15 liters, how many liters will they receive after a threesome?”
depends on the author of course. in english language works, you’d be at least as likely to encounter greek myths as you would biblical ones, if not more. plenty of arabic and eastern stories too. and norse. ( oh boy, this list could get long. )
sure the bible is special in western lit, but it’s not the only special thing in western lit
I tried writing some kind of snark about lesson plans but had to edit if before I could even finish the sentence.
I’m fine with putting a bible in every classroom as long as the church of satan gets to write the lesson planswe burn this entire timeline to the fucking ground seriously what the hell is even happening anymore?
Of course, they’re not interested in the bible as a literary object, but as a means of keeping people inline. the fact that they’re talking about “every class” shows that…
And of course, the whole idea that educated people would be familiar with Shakespeare and the bible leaves out a whole lot of educated people who weren’t straight white men for a very long time. It was a highly anglo-saxon worldview that ignored the rest of humanity. There is a good reason we’re moving away from the whole “western civ” model of social studies in education. It’s highly biased and warps our sense of our shared world.
Wow - I hope they also focus on all the hundreds of contradictions in the bible.
You know - for a book written by God it really needs a Continuity Consultant.
