It's a ridiculous debate, makes no sense economically and even the state senate's top Republican doesn't believe Bibles have an educational role to play
I would hope they'd like no Bible at all in public school classrooms and save them for their own. Despite the OKC archdiocese trying to push through the public St. Isidore of Seville charter school, I believe a majority of Oklahoma Catholics still believe in the separation of Church and state.
Our Country (USA) was founded on Judeo-Christian principles…that’s why you see “In God We Trust” on our currency, “One Nation under God” in our Pledge of Allegiance, and “So help me God” with you are sworn in during court trials, etc. If you and/or your family doesn’t personally believe in God doesn’t change any of that. Our justice system reflects the Ten Commandments…”Thou shalt not kill”…our justice system calls it murder; “Thou shalt not steal”…our justice system calls it theft, etc, etc. Teaching these things via our Education System should make sense to everyone.
That’s my point, our country was founded on one religion, Judeo-Christian. Not liking it, or not believing it, doesn’t change the historical significance of it. And Separation of Church and State was not intended to keep the church out of the state…it was intended to keep the state out of the church.
First of all, "Judeo-Christian" is actually two religions, Judaism (Jewish) and Christian, so there's that. Second, there's the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …,"
To bring the Bible in as part of any curriculum is "respecting the establishment of religion," so you can't do that. And keeping the Bible out of the classroom does NOT prohibit the free exercise thereof, leaving you no leg to stand on, and YES, it was intended to keep the church out of the state. Do you why many of the original Pilgrims came over in the first place, to get away from the Church of England (Anglicanism there, Episcopalianism here), a Christian denomination that broke away from Catholicism. Also, the founders, by enlarge, were not Christians, but Deists. Look it up.
Finally, the whole thrust of your argument appears to be that, because Western values/American values are derivative of Judeo-Christian influence, the Bible therefore belongs in public school classrooms. But that doesn't stand up legally, or constitutionally for one minute. To be influenced by something is still not to claim it. We're all Americans, but to be an American is not to be a Christian, but to have the right to choose how to identify yourself religiously, or to reject religion entirely, or to grab on to chunks of many different faiths or to grab on to none at all. That's the essence of the First Amendment, which is The Constitution, which is law. To stand there and say America was founded on Judeo-Christian values, which can be argued about, is still not to say American is a Christian nation (or a Jewish nation).
You want Bibles in classrooms? That's why there are private schools.
Do the Catholics realize they want Luther’s bible in schools instead of the Pope’s bible?
I would hope they'd like no Bible at all in public school classrooms and save them for their own. Despite the OKC archdiocese trying to push through the public St. Isidore of Seville charter school, I believe a majority of Oklahoma Catholics still believe in the separation of Church and state.
Our Country (USA) was founded on Judeo-Christian principles…that’s why you see “In God We Trust” on our currency, “One Nation under God” in our Pledge of Allegiance, and “So help me God” with you are sworn in during court trials, etc. If you and/or your family doesn’t personally believe in God doesn’t change any of that. Our justice system reflects the Ten Commandments…”Thou shalt not kill”…our justice system calls it murder; “Thou shalt not steal”…our justice system calls it theft, etc, etc. Teaching these things via our Education System should make sense to everyone.
So teach them, but a holy book that serves only one religion is not required, not to mention it flies in the face of the First Amendment.
That’s my point, our country was founded on one religion, Judeo-Christian. Not liking it, or not believing it, doesn’t change the historical significance of it. And Separation of Church and State was not intended to keep the church out of the state…it was intended to keep the state out of the church.
First of all, "Judeo-Christian" is actually two religions, Judaism (Jewish) and Christian, so there's that. Second, there's the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …,"
To bring the Bible in as part of any curriculum is "respecting the establishment of religion," so you can't do that. And keeping the Bible out of the classroom does NOT prohibit the free exercise thereof, leaving you no leg to stand on, and YES, it was intended to keep the church out of the state. Do you why many of the original Pilgrims came over in the first place, to get away from the Church of England (Anglicanism there, Episcopalianism here), a Christian denomination that broke away from Catholicism. Also, the founders, by enlarge, were not Christians, but Deists. Look it up.
Finally, the whole thrust of your argument appears to be that, because Western values/American values are derivative of Judeo-Christian influence, the Bible therefore belongs in public school classrooms. But that doesn't stand up legally, or constitutionally for one minute. To be influenced by something is still not to claim it. We're all Americans, but to be an American is not to be a Christian, but to have the right to choose how to identify yourself religiously, or to reject religion entirely, or to grab on to chunks of many different faiths or to grab on to none at all. That's the essence of the First Amendment, which is The Constitution, which is law. To stand there and say America was founded on Judeo-Christian values, which can be argued about, is still not to say American is a Christian nation (or a Jewish nation).
You want Bibles in classrooms? That's why there are private schools.