After the Pledge and a prayer, Ryan Walters opened the State Board of Education meeting on June 27 with a stern warning. The Board was set to consider taking a license away from a teacher who is accused of teaching "inappropriate" materials that the state has outlawed.
How about teachers teaching about how Lot's daughters got him drunk and raped him. Or about how King David sent a soldier to the front lines in hopes that he would be killed and he could sleep with his wife (he didn't wait for the man to be killed; that's just what kings do, I guess). And how about the Hebrew general who ended up sacrificing his beloved daughter because he promised Yahweh, if he were victorious, he would offer up the first thing he encountered when he got home. Oops.
Such wonderful stories are to be found in the Bible, most of which I am sure Ser Waters is completely unaware of (also the parents of children in those classes).
There is a union tactic of "working to the rule" which could be employed here. Do exactly what you are told, but no more. Have you ever met Delilah? Salome? Lotsa good stuff there. Kings executing prisoners because they are pleased with their daughter and well, she asked. (Rule of Law? The king is the law. End of lesson.)
I’m all for treating the Bible as an historical document and examining it as any other historical document. Learning who actually wrote each book and when. The various groups that met and decided which writings were to be included and which were excluded. The impacts of serial translations on what words were chosen and changed for each version. Learning which narratives were intended to be historical/literal and which allegorical.
Application of historical reality might dim some of the mystical aura of the book and allow students to seek out its truths while recognizing that it is not THE truth or all truth.
How about teachers teaching about how Lot's daughters got him drunk and raped him. Or about how King David sent a soldier to the front lines in hopes that he would be killed and he could sleep with his wife (he didn't wait for the man to be killed; that's just what kings do, I guess). And how about the Hebrew general who ended up sacrificing his beloved daughter because he promised Yahweh, if he were victorious, he would offer up the first thing he encountered when he got home. Oops.
Such wonderful stories are to be found in the Bible, most of which I am sure Ser Waters is completely unaware of (also the parents of children in those classes).
There is a union tactic of "working to the rule" which could be employed here. Do exactly what you are told, but no more. Have you ever met Delilah? Salome? Lotsa good stuff there. Kings executing prisoners because they are pleased with their daughter and well, she asked. (Rule of Law? The king is the law. End of lesson.)
Ezekiel 16 is a hoot too. Definitely include that one.
I’m all for treating the Bible as an historical document and examining it as any other historical document. Learning who actually wrote each book and when. The various groups that met and decided which writings were to be included and which were excluded. The impacts of serial translations on what words were chosen and changed for each version. Learning which narratives were intended to be historical/literal and which allegorical.
Application of historical reality might dim some of the mystical aura of the book and allow students to seek out its truths while recognizing that it is not THE truth or all truth.