Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to So I gather you hate Jesus?

You know that's an enormous leap, right?
Mary Anne — (archived)

One does not have to hate anything to be nervous about religion getting mixed up with government institutions.

That said, if it were done properly (a big if), to have students study the Bible as a work of literature, that is to say, objectively without faith, would be an eye-opening experience for them. It really is a cornerstone of our culture, from the point of view of the arts. So many things can't be understood without the references contained in it.

The instant people began debating doctrine, or bearing witness, the class is over, though. Then it becomes a class in religion.

I guess the acid test would be this: if the class is objective and critical (in the complete sense of that word) enough to be considered blasphemous by the people who think this is a back way into teaching religion in schools, then it would be a good literature class.

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