Texas makes Bible passages required reading for millions of public school students
(www.theguardian.com)
As someone who supports reading the bible by choice (whether you’re religious or not, it’s a really interesting canon), what they’re mandating is like requiring students to read specific passages from Animal Farm or Hamlet.
In what way does a few out of context passages from a book that’s part of an assembled collection of works central to one religion, that’s then grouped with a collection of letters from a secondary religion, teach students anything except dogma overlaid over the passages without appropriate context?
I mean, they could have at least selected things like the beattitudes or the parable of the Good Samaritan or the book of Philemon if they wanted something Christian; instead they picked out of context passages from works from the Jewish canon. And I doubt they’re teaching why Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh in the first place, OR the end of the story that sums up its point.