Kentucky is on the verge of getting sued over its public school Bible courses, and West Virginia may soon pass a bill requiring public schools to offer the same classes, so naturally, Iowa wants to get in on the action.
Yesterday, a dozen Iowa legislators filed HF 2031, which, similar to the WV bill, would allow public schools to teach classes on the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament in order for students to learn (among other things) of their influence on “law, history, government, literature, art, music, customs, morals, values, and culture.”
Unlike the WV bill, these courses wouldn’t be mandatory. But that doesn’t make them a good idea. As we’ve seen in other states, when these classes are taught to students, they all too often shift from an objective look at an influential holy book to a biased course peddling indoctrination and treating Christian mythology as actual history.
Iowa is another state where Republicans have complete control of the government, which means this bill has a solid chance of passing. But it shouldn’t happen without a fight. So if you live in the state, contact your representatives and tell them to leave the mythology to churches. These classes don’t belong in public schools because they don’t work. Other courses revolving around literature, music, art, etc. can already discuss references to the Bible when needed.
A separate class is unnecessary and just creates more problems than it solves.
(Image via Shutterstock. Thanks to Justin for the link)
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