Texas could become the first state to require Bible readings in public schools, but religious scholars who reviewed the proposed list have questioned its academic merit.
Several Bible scholars who reviewed the proposed readings at the request of the Houston Chronicle criticized the list for its exclusion of other religious scriptures, use of translations that they say have been discredited, and a selection of texts that some say are used only in religious settings rather than academic ones.
I’m all for more people reading the Christian Bible, it’s the best way to turn people Atheist.
Fellow atheist here. It’s not so much the text, it’s the critical thinking that you do when you read it, and the self-knowledge needed to keep yourself rational. It’s the fanatics’ belief in their own infallibility (the sin of Pride) that makes them such obnoxious, pushy assholes. Also their failure to engage with the fact that the source texts are a mess of copying errors, paraphrases, lacunae, interpolations, mistranslations, compounded over generations of hand-copying. Ancient and medieval document management was a dog’s breakfast.
I’m all for more people reading the Christian Bible, it’s the best way to turn people Atheist.
As someone who went to a Christian school for years, there’s a lot of cherry picking lines from the Bible to read.
And that’s exactly what they will do in these schools as well.
That’s why the article clarified that instead of reading the Bible, they will read specific passages often taken out of context.
Fellow atheist here. It’s not so much the text, it’s the critical thinking that you do when you read it, and the self-knowledge needed to keep yourself rational. It’s the fanatics’ belief in their own infallibility (the sin of Pride) that makes them such obnoxious, pushy assholes. Also their failure to engage with the fact that the source texts are a mess of copying errors, paraphrases, lacunae, interpolations, mistranslations, compounded over generations of hand-copying. Ancient and medieval document management was a dog’s breakfast.