Religion in public schools?

The On Faith forum for Newsweek and The Washington Post is asking their panelists about the Texas Board of Education deciding how to characterize religion's influence on American history as the K-12 curriculum is revised. As the second largest public school textbook buyer, a lot of eyes are watching their choice On Faith states that several consultants have recommended "emphasizing the roles of the Bible, Christianity and civic virtue of religion." They ask,

As America's children go back to school, how would you advise the Texas board? How should religion be taught in public schools?

Columnist Chuck Colson writes,

Professor George P. Landow, from my alma mater, the very liberal Brown University, said, "[Without the Bible] it's like using a dictionary with one-third of the words removed." Professor Ulrich Knoepflmacher at Princeton said that the lack of "Bible knowledge is almost crippling in students' ability to be sophisticated readers."

American Baptist pastor Willis Elliott observes the irony that religion has made a comeback in Russian schools, but not American ones. While Rabbi Brad Hirschfield writes seeking a middle ground,

Most Americans are somewhere in the middle on this issue, as we are on most of the so-called hot button issues. We know, even if we are believers, that there is a difference between teaching about the history of religion in America and preaching the Gospel to a captive audience of children in our nation's classrooms. Most people would like to see the former and reject the latter. But they need leaders who will advocate for that sane middle ground which neither turns teachers into preachers nor ignores the role of religion in general or Christianity in particular, as crucial to our shared history.

I think that the rabbi is right in his middle ground approach. I also agree with Colson that learning the language and stories of the Bible make any one in the West better able to understand the ongoing conversation in literature and philosophy that springs from the Bible.

To bridge that gap, I advocate for private schools to fill that void. I am a product of a private Christian school and King of Peace is working to create a private school that builds on the proven success of our preschool. This gives parents, who choose to do so, a quality education that unapologetically includes a religious dimension. Public schools must limit their treatment of any faith to the approach Hirschfield describes. But private schools can provide a high quality of education, which includes familiarity with the Bible in a way not possible in public education. That's my take. What's yours?

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, President
King of Peace Episcopal Day School