The Texas education board has approved a statewide reading list that will, for the first time, make certain Biblical passages required reading for pupils in state public schools, within the context of a wider more standard collection of books. But it revives the debate over efforts in the US to increase the role of religion in the classroom.
According to the Guardian, the Republican-controlled Texas state board of education gave final approval to the plan during a vote a week or so ago. on Friday. It follows in the footsteps of their decision last year, to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom.
And yet it seems an odd choice of passages. Unless the Guardian article has omitted certain more likely passages, it appears that the reading list will contain excerpts from the Book of Jonah and the Book of Psalms in seventh grade, while excerpts from Lamentations and Genesis, will also become part of the curriculum.
The list has sparked some criticism, as it breaches the constitutional separation of church and state, lacks diversity and gives preference to Christianity over other faiths. How do we feel about this? Do we feel requiring school students to read the Bible is a good thing? And is it right to limit it to the Judeo-Christian tradition, when ethnic and religious make up of our school populations is so much more mixed today than previously. And yet, according to the Guardian, the supporters of this move argue that Judeo-Christian traditions played a central role in the founding of the US and should therefore feature in public school teaching.
Read the article in the Guardian, here.