For more than three-quarters of a century, thousands of students in Hamilton County's public schools have had their education and lives enriched by their voluntary participation in the Bible in the Schools study program.
The classes have been provided by financial gifts from interested parties, with no public funds involved. No one is required to take part. Participation is completely by free individual choice of students and parents. The program has been tested in U.S. District Court and found to be in concert with the Constitution of the United States.
It's not inexpensive to have teachers paid privately. But the funds are provided by individuals, churches and others. It is highly commendable that 10 churches on Signal Mountain are seeking this year to provide $150,000 to support elective Bible history courses in Signal Mountain Middle/High School -- and in Howard School of Academics and Technology.
The participating churches include Community Baptist, Mount Carmel Baptist, Signal Crest United Methodist, Signal Mountain Baptist, Signal Mountain Bible, Signal Mountain Church of Christ, Signal Mountain Church of God, Signal Mountain Presbyterian, Signal Mountain United Methodist and Wayside Presbyterian.
Their efforts surely will enrich the education and lives of many students who choose to take part. No one is really educated without knowledge of the Bible and its constructive influence throughout thousands of years of history.
We commend these churches and these schools, along with the many other local schools, churches and individual supporters who offer this educational and life enrichment program to our schoolchildren in this community.
That may be your opinion. Others with a greater perspective see the christian bible as the material expression of the greatest tragedy to befall humankind.
So the local Holy Joe's want to implement "Bible History" classes in our public schools. On Sundays they call the Bible, "The Word of God". What about Monday through Friday? In reality, it's a book written by many humans over many years based on Hearsay. Public school curricula should be Rational AND Secular. Maybe the local Fortune Tellers should a offer a voluntary course on Astrology.
Unfortunately for the two above commentators, history has proven them oh so wrong. Children have been taught the Bible and prayer in school and in their homes for centuries. (Our greatest President, Abe Lincoln was schooled at home and with the Bible). Hundreds of millions of people over the ages and even today, apply its messages to their daily lives and know how their lives have been changed for the better.
Contrast that with these facts: since the Bible, prayer and reference to The Lord God of Israel, our Creator, has been removed from our schools, institutions and public places (ongoing since the sixties); our society is full of predators, sexual violence, abuse of (esp.) women and children, children killing children AND their teachers in schools, very little respect shown to parents, teachers and the vulnerable in our society. Communism alone has killed over 100 million souls in the last 100 years. More than all the wars of that century. Never before in our history have we seen this much violence. So much for the godless way of life.
We laugh at those espousing the "rational and secular" society. Try living, as we have for many years in the miserable failures (states and other countries) that have practiced those same Liberal/Left "rational" policies.
I wonder if librul and una61 have seen the Ben Stein movie: "No Intelligence Allowed." Modern science has no answers to how we got here. "We evolved" you say... from what? Time, chance and matter are the trinity these people bow down to and protect with all the religious fervor of any missionary. We already allow our kids to sit in classes that indoctrinate them in Darwin. And by the way, Christian taxpayers are paying for MOST of it. But when Christians who jump through all the legal hoops and pay for (without a penny of their oppositions precious tax money) an ELECTIVE class so kids can study from a book that has historically shaped and informed our national constructs of government, justice system, and culture... we are told by these antibiblical missionaries that we are wrong. That's pretty amazing.
"Greater" perspective... let me think about that. Who would that be? It certainly is a different perspective, perhaps even a growing perspective to see the Bible as the "greatest" tragedy to befall humankind. I suppose that all of us who happen to see the Bible as beneficial or even a magnificent work of literature, much less an inspired book to guide our lives in the ways of our Creator, have a lessor perspective than those enlightened ones who see it as "the greatest tragedy to befall humankind." The tragedy here is that we don't all follow the greatest commandments of the Bible: Love God and love one another.
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