Texas Schools Implement Carefully Crafted Law By Teaching Bible As 100% Fact

So, back in 2007, the Texas legislature passed a law mandating that all public schools in the state include instruction on “the Hebrew Scriptures” and the New Testament and their impact on literature and history. Don’t worry, supporters of the law said, we aren’t going to be teaching religious doctrine, this law is all about teaching the cultural importance of the Bible. And in fact the law was written to comply with court cases governing how the Bible can legally be taught in schools. The law states its purpose is to

teach 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

See? All nice and secular-like! We just want kids to be able to understand the allusions in Shakespeare, supporters said. You want kids to understand Shakespeare, dontcha?
Oh, and while the law included guidelines aimed at keeping the new Bible classes constitutional, the legislature didn’t allocate funds for curriculum development or for teacher training, leaving districts and teachers to make it up as they went along. Which may be why the Texas Freedom Network published a report last week finding that many Texas schools’ Bible classes are teaching that the Bible is literally true, that the Earth is 6000 years old, and that the Rapture is imminent. Oops. READ MORE »