Pardon the BloggEruption

So Texas Rep. Warren Chisum has introduced a bill to mandate that Texas schools to offer elective courses on the history and literature of the Bible. The initial reactions are pretty standard fare, with cries about the separation of church and state, etc. Since Georgia brought Bible study back into the public schoolhouse last year, I'd expect to see a lot more of this over the next decade.

I find the First Amendment arguments against this a bit specious (though SCOTUS might not), but my main concerns are echoed by Mark Chancey:

But Mark Chancey, an associate professor in religious studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said Judaism fares poorly in such courses. Students, he said, are taught how to read the Bible from a Christian perspective.

"'Christian' here means Protestant, by the way. Roman Catholic interpretations are almost invisible in most courses," he said.

What I would much prefer to see is for 9th grade English courses to focus on the foundations of Western literature, including some portions of the Bible. So very much of Western literature alludes and is based off of Biblical texts that those students who don't have a solid background of knowledge are losing out. The same can be said for Greco-Roman myth & history, some Arthurian legend, and the primary works of Shakespeare. Certainly that's a lot of material, but I'd much rather students focus on those things than much of the modernistic schlock and pointless grammar instruction that makes up the majority freshman lit in high school.

As for what portions of the Bible to include ... I'd pick Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, and maybe Isaiah from the Old Testament. From the New, I'd choose the Gospel of Matthew, Acts of the Apostles, and then maybe 1 Corinthians. The Revelation of St. John would be useful, too, but it's almost unteachable without utterly pissing off everyone in sight. You could certainly let students choose their own translations, I think, as you'd be focusing primarily on the stories and "message," not the words, verses, and theological implications.