Teaching the Bible in Public Schools, a Cirriculum Discussion Guide

There's been a lot of talk recently about certain states wanting to introduce the Bible into school cirriculums.  I grew up in Oklahoma, and the state superintendent of schools has decreed that Bibles (originally the New King James Bible, endorsed by none other than the current President-Election and also including the Constitution and Declaration of Independence) be placed in classrooms and instruction be offered about said Bibles.  This has caused a lot of angst amongst those in our increasingly post-Christendom world because of the demand for separation of church and state; it's also brought angst amongst even many Christians because what happens if little Timmy is told by his atheist teacher that everything in the Bible is just a pious fairy tale?  

I've never taught in schools and have no idea how to organize a cirriculum program, but as one who has two graduate degrees in religion as well as almost 30 years of church ministry, I thought I'd take a shot in putting together a discussion guide for schools about various topics on a middle-to-high school level.  It's not all-inclusive, of course, but there's a few Biblical items that demand discussion and I'm certain wouldn't cause any problem for my more conservative friends.  

Wealth and Prosperity.  

-Jesus of Nazareth tells a rich man to sell all he has and give to the poor (cf. Mark 10:21, Luke 18:22, Matthew 19:21).  Questions for class discussion: If we think of ourselves as a Christian nation, how best do we enact this as government policy?  What is the proper upper wage to begin mandatory enforcement of this Biblical rule? 

Foreigners

-The laws of the Old Testament continually speak of the need to love the sojourners (foreigners).  They must not be oppressed (Exodus 22:21), they must be loved (Deuteronomy 10:19), and as workers they must be fairly treated (Deuteronomy 24:14).  Questions for class discussion: How do we properly respond to political leaders who call all sojourners amongst us 'vermin', demand their deportation, and spread rumors about how they eat common house pets?  

Divorce

-Marriage and divorce are common social problems today, and were known by Jesus and his disciples.  Jesus was very strict about divoce, going so far as to say that to divorce a spouse and remarry is adultery (cf. Mark 10:11-12).  Questions for class discussion: What should we do with political leaders who have broken these commands?  Would it be possible to remove them from public office, especially if they have broken these commands multiple times?  

Sexual Assault (for high school honors classes only!)

-Deuteronomy 22:25-29 speaks to two instances of sexual assault; one outcome has the rapist put to death, while the other has the rapist responsible for the financial and social well-being of his victim the rest of his life.  Questions for class discussion: Given that many of our national leaders have been proven in court or in ethics investigations to be pedophiles, guilty of sexual assault, or simply horrible past behavior, how best should we follow clear Biblical teaching about them?  Should we kill them publicly as an example of our righteousness?  Or should it be more privately done to reduce their families' guilt?  Give clear reasoning for your answer.  

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I have no doubt that the God-honoring, Bible thumping conservatives in our country will be all in favor of my cirriculum, so once it begins being implemented I'll work on the other topics.  But for now this should keep everyone busy...

Angry White Male Studies

Story of the day: the University of Kansas has decided to offer a course called 'Angry White Male Studies'.  And predictably, people are ticked off.  My dear congressman Ron Estes, a stuffed shirt white male if ever there was one, took to twitter to complain about how this is divisive. 

On the one hand, I get the point...change the title of this class to 'Angry Black Female Studies' and the thought police would go nuts.  Change the title of this class to 'Angry Gay Latino Studies' and there would be a riot on the campus.  But angry white males?  Yeah, let's go after them and laugh at them.  So I get it...white male privilege is low-hanging fruit, the last bastion of outrage for many of a certain ideological persuasion. 

But isn't the fact that old white guys like Ron Estes get ticked off about this the point of the class?  These are the people who have lived in power and privilege for, I suppose, forever.  These are the people who had a solid 200 year run being president of this fine nation and then for eight years screamed how they were going to 'TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK'.  And these make up much of the 38% of people today who continue to accept without question the unacceptable from our nimrod president and his nimrod advisors.  They live in power and feel powerless.  They have much of the wealth (often built on the backs of others) and scream how unfair life is.  They moan about 'entitlements' that the government provides but are the most entitled of all. 

My guess is that the University of Kansas is eventually going to back down, but it's going to eventually be a good story for the professor (a white male, BTW) who proposed this class.  I suspect a book deal and a few segments on MSNBC and a new job at an eastern university is on the horizon. 

The College Admission Scandal

So some rich people have been caught doing some bad, bad things.  Everybody is outraged.  How dare they try to make an unfair playing field for their children to enter into certain institutions of higher learning. 

Seriously?  Have we not been paying attention to America for the past 200 years?  We are a nation not of meritocracy, and never have been.  Instead, we are a nation who have promoted the children of the rich and the powerful above all else.  While we may say we don't like this, we don't really want the system to change...because what happens when we are in the same situation? 

Let's say my son, who is really good in math in elementary school, had the option of two teachers next year.  One is OKAY.  The other teacher may be one of the best in the business.  Would I slip the middle school principal a $50 to ensure that he got in with the good teacher?  I'd like to think of myself as a good, moral person...but I might. 

As parents we feel an overwhelming parental obligation to provide the best possible starting place for our kids.  Whether it's getting them into good preschools, or working hard to ensure they have the money to go to a good college, or ensuring that our nimrod children get security clearances from the White House even as they still pursue their own interests....this is what we who are parents do for our children.  For all the outrage that has gone into this current story, I'm guessing deep down many of us are looking at Lori Laughlin, Felicity Huffman, and these other parents with a little bit of sympathy.  They got caught doing something illegal, to be sure...but many of us do things all the time that are little better. 

I suppose that this story has touched a nerve that might be a tipping point about how we view the rich and the powerful.  But most likely this story will soon fade away.  We'll return to the high crimes and misdemeanors of the President, we'll obsess about which starlet is sleeping with which co-star, and we'll soon be transfixed on what nation is getting ready to go to war against another nation. 

Until we go to true lottery system in which every possibility about advantage is considered (and even then, bribes will still ensure that some kids bypass the system), these kinds of things will continue to be what our nation and our culture are about.  Privilege has its price, and that price is gladly paid everyday. Maybe you can't cross certain lines, but the children of the wealthy and the powerful will always have their advantages, righteous or not. 

On Christian Universities...

Very interesting article in the January 2018 Christian Chronicle about how less of 'our' universities have students that self-identify with Churches of Christ.  Here is my letter in response...

https://christianchronicle.org/christian-universities-feeling-the-pinch-as-churches-of-christ-shrink/

To The Christian Chronicle:

I read with great interest your January article about the decline at Church of Christ affiliated universities of students who self-identify as members of Churches of Christ.  I appreciate this article and the reporting that went into it, but I have a few comments and questions.

First, I do feel more should have been mentioned about the actual financial costs of Christian colleges and universities.  I would like to have seen in a chart or within the article what are some of the costs of these universities. I was fortunate to graduate from Harding with both a bachelors and a masters in the early 1990s, and fortunately through scholarships and parental help incurred little debt.  But I had many friends who spent almost two decades paying off their student loans.  I would suspect that in recent years the problem has only gotten worse.  As a parent of two children who will be attending college within a few years, I am already discouraged by the reports I am hearing of how much these colleges cost.  We have worked hard to save money for college, but likely have only saved enough for them to attend for a year or two.  Here are my questions:  Why have these colleges gotten so expensive?  Have they moved so far from their humble origins that they are now inaccessible to the ‘have-nots’?  Have they so invested in collegiate sports, luxurious buildings, and other ‘necessities’ that they have forgotten their purpose in the kingdom?  Where is the critical analysis of past decisions and future plans that university administrations have made that have kept some of ‘our’ people away?  And is this part of a larger national trend in which the rich are not affected by the exploding costs of college, while the more low-income and middle-class are being priced out of the opportunities that previous generations took for granted?  Is the growing gap between rich and poor within our country to blame, in that it has made our institutional leaders unaware of how difficult it is for some to afford higher education?

Second, I find it interesting that many in a movement that has called for our religious neighbors to become ‘Christians only’ see that when this actually happens it is a cause for alarm.   We should be giving praise to God that some are identifying only as 'Christian!'  Though I am thankful that this was not overtly stated in the article, I do know many who will read the article with concern that ‘we’ are losing our identity.  All around us churches that are growing usually have a non-denominational aspect to them and seek the name of Christian and wear it proudly.  Do they always understand Scripture exactly as Churches of Christ historically have?  No.  But rather than see this as an opportunity to have conversations with those who might look at Scripture and faith with fresh eyes, many feel threatened because they are not ‘of us’.  Have we in Churches of Christ become so stagnant in our pursuit of restoration that any kind of correction we might encounter or other form being ‘Christians only’ might take is considered dangerous?

Third, if more of ‘our’ students are choosing not to attend ‘our’ schools, what effect is this having on campus ministries affiliated with Churches of Christ?  Is there a marked increase in their number?  Are more churches seeking to find ways to support outreach onto state or other private university campuses?  Having been both a student at a Christian university and a campus minister at a state university, I found that genuine Christian faith and growth was not necessarily dependent upon being within the ‘bubble’ of a Christian university.  Indeed, I knew many of my fellow students at Harding who had grown up in church but had little to no interest in matters of faith; I can vividly remember how many would complain about daily chapel and how few actually attended Sunday services.  Conversely, in campus work on a state university campus I also found a genuine Christian hunger on the part of many who could not or chose not to attend Christian schools.  Campus ministries and outreaches, if we consider the implications of your story, will have an increasingly vital part to play in the future of the church...so how will we support them?

Finally, one must also consider a growing reluctance for some churches to promote Christian universities, seeing that it might not be in their best interest long-term.  While some have always been suspicious of the ‘progressive’ elements that seem inherent to a college education, I wonder if practically churches outside the Bible belt or even within smaller, isolated towns have felt burned by sending students to Christian universities.  Why?  Because after they finish their education, how many of these students return home to be a blessing to the church in the small town or to a place outside the traditional strongholds of our fellowship? Having spent most of my adult life now in smaller towns outside or on the edge of the ‘Bible Belt’, I have seen what happens when students go away to college...rarely do they come back.  Many stay and seek jobs and families in the areas around Oklahoma City, Dallas, Nashville, Little Rock, and Atlanta and join large churches, rather than returning home where they could serve churches and communities that desperately need the insights and education that they learned.  Yes, this is part of a national trend, and many students would do the same having attended non-Christian universities...but at least for those far from Christian schools, this would mean they stayed closer to home.  Several times I have wondered how genuinely our Christian universities have promoted the idea of ‘home-mission’ to their students...how many chapel programs encourage them to return back to where they came from and make a difference?  How many of them encourage them to move to a place where the church is not strong or numerous and do the hard work of building it up?  For many churches who have watched with hope their young people go away but disappointingly learned that they were not  returning, there is a feeling that perhaps Christian colleges are not worth it for them.

Again, thank you for this article, and for all the good you do.  May God continue to bless your work.

For Christ and the Church,

David Blankenship
Mulvane, Kansas