Western civilization owes much of its success to Christian principles and institutions, and schools should teach students about these influences as part of a rigorous social studies curriculum.
The real reason the Bible is not generally accepted is because the perception is that it's connected mainly to religion and theology. In order to bring back the relevancy of biblical teachings and concepts we have to revive courses such as 'Western Civilization' and 'Civics' in academia and mainstream elementary education.
I keep reiterating this: we are based on JudeoChristian civilization. Leaving out the Judeo part is simply wrong. Everyone should read both the Torah (Old Testament) and the New Testament. They’re very interesting! It’s part of a basic education.
I completely agree. It has to be Judeo-Christian. Western Civilization ethics and legal system come from the Judaic tradition. Leaving this out leaves out the foundation of all.
Karen, I couldn't agree more. Also, a curriculum that respects our secular society needs to be arrived at by consensus. Tom Holland is partisan, and a bad example. To extract those Biblical notions that actually permeated our American documents and life regardless of credo is crucial. It's not a bad idea to study the Founding Fathers themselves, the French Revolution and the Enlightenment to get at American foundations. Yes, the Fathers were Christians, but some like Jefferson were sceptical in many ways. The Bibles, Hebrew and Christian, are slippery slopes, with infinite self contradicting scholarship.
Careful with religion. It's subjective and there's much ignorance and bias in it, besides passions that don't correspond to the objective appreciation of governance and civic ideals.
Teaching about the Bible, the Quran, The Book of Mormon, etc.is different from teaching kids the Bible. A lot of knowledge about values can be found in any number of spiritual literature writings. If you teach them about a large variety of beliefs, kids will have multiple resources and the ‘right’ or wrong, good or bad can be discussed with their parents or guardians.
The real reason the Bible is not generally accepted is because the perception is that it's connected mainly to religion and theology. In order to bring back the relevancy of biblical teachings and concepts we have to revive courses such as 'Western Civilization' and 'Civics' in academia and mainstream elementary education.
I keep reiterating this: we are based on JudeoChristian civilization. Leaving out the Judeo part is simply wrong. Everyone should read both the Torah (Old Testament) and the New Testament. They’re very interesting! It’s part of a basic education.
I completely agree. It has to be Judeo-Christian. Western Civilization ethics and legal system come from the Judaic tradition. Leaving this out leaves out the foundation of all.
Karen, I couldn't agree more. Also, a curriculum that respects our secular society needs to be arrived at by consensus. Tom Holland is partisan, and a bad example. To extract those Biblical notions that actually permeated our American documents and life regardless of credo is crucial. It's not a bad idea to study the Founding Fathers themselves, the French Revolution and the Enlightenment to get at American foundations. Yes, the Fathers were Christians, but some like Jefferson were sceptical in many ways. The Bibles, Hebrew and Christian, are slippery slopes, with infinite self contradicting scholarship.
Careful with religion. It's subjective and there's much ignorance and bias in it, besides passions that don't correspond to the objective appreciation of governance and civic ideals.
Teaching about the Bible, the Quran, The Book of Mormon, etc.is different from teaching kids the Bible. A lot of knowledge about values can be found in any number of spiritual literature writings. If you teach them about a large variety of beliefs, kids will have multiple resources and the ‘right’ or wrong, good or bad can be discussed with their parents or guardians.