Bible thumping schoolboys
pounding leviticus
and beating out the meter of the fried chicken wing

It worked once, didn't it?
Look at Lee Pappy O'!
So fiddle me up some preacher and let school yards ring!

Democrats in 2 Southern States Push Bills on Bible Study

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 — Democrats in Georgia and Alabama, borrowing an idea usually advanced by conservative Republicans, are promoting Bible classes in the public schools. Their Republican opponents are in turn denouncing them as "pharisees," a favorite term of liberals for politicians who exploit religion.

::::more below the fold::: also posted at Our Word:::::

Democrats in both states have introduced bills authorizing school districts to teach courses modeled after a new textbook, "The Bible and Its Influence." It was produced by the nonpartisan, ecumenical Bible Literacy Project and provides an assessment of the Bible's impact on history, literature and art that is academic and detached, if largely laudatory.

The Democrats who introduced the bills said they hoped to compete with Republicans for conservative Christian voters. "Rather than sitting back on our heels and then being knocked in our face, we are going to respond in a thoughtful way," said Kasim Reed, a Georgia state senator from Atlanta and one of the sponsors of the bill. "We are not going to give away the South anymore because we are unwilling to talk about our faith."

In Georgia, the proposal marked a new course for the Democratic Party. The state's Democrats, including some sponsors of the bill, opposed a Republican proposal a few years ago to authorize the teaching of a different Bible course, which used a translation of the Scriptures as its text, calling it an inappropriate endorsement of religion. The sponsors say they are introducing their Bible measure now partly to pre-empt a potential Republican proposal seeking to display the Ten Commandments in schools.

So, what is it about this week? Are the Democrats trying to make my head explode? Well they're succeeding really well so far. It's just one unending nightmare watching the slow moving trainwreck that's today's Democratic party.

Here's some advertising for the book just to give you an idea about what Dick and Jane are in for.

Scholars Agree: New Breakthrough Public School Bible Textbook Bridges the Cultural Divide

Book cracks top 100 on Amazon.com 4 days after national release

“Bible textbook could circumvent culture war.�
Knight Ridder Newspapers, Sept. 21, 2005

“Teaching the Bible in public schools just got easier.� WORLD Magazine, Sept. 23, 2005

“The First Amendment Center’s Charles Haynes [said] he’s had nothing he could recommend – ‘Nothing, that is, until now.’�
Associated Press, Sept. 22, 2005

Eminent scholars have agreed on a new solution for academic study of the Bible in public schools. Five years in the making, a new high school textbook, The Bible and Its Influence, was released in late September by the Bible Literacy Project (www.bibleliteracy.org). It is the first designed to meet constitutional standards for public school use and be subjected to extensive review by scholars. It is also the first to provide comprehensive coverage of the Bible’s influence on literature, art, music, and rhetoric, and is designed to be an elective option in English or Social Studies programs for 9th to 12th grades. (Reproducible book cover at www.bibleliteracy.org/art/). The textbook is designed to accompany direct reading from the Bible, using a translation of the student’s choice.

:::snip:::

Textbook reviewers included Dr. Leland Ryken, the Clyde S. Kilby Professor of English at Wheaton College, IL, who called the new textbook “an undisputed triumph in scholarship and presentation. The achievement is breathtaking.� Dr. Ryken, renowned author of more than 20 books about the Bible, said of this new textbook, “I learned something new on virtually every page.�

Marc Stern, general counsel for the American Jewish Congress and textbook contributor, said The Bible and Its Influence “will serve as an excellent and even-handed introduction to the Bible. Without question, it can serve as the basis for a constitutional course about the Bible in the nation’s public schools. It is therefore a signal achievement.�

Dr. Charles C. Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, said that for years he has been approached for advice on what instructional materials to use for public high school study of the Bible. “Until today – until the release of The Bible and Its Influence,� Haynes replied, “I have had no good answer. Simply put, there was nothing out there – no Bible textbook, no curriculum guide, no secondary resource – that I would recommend for use in a public school. Nothing, that is, until now.�

Sounds better than the circus and a Saturday afternoon matinee circa 1928 all rolled into one, doesn't it? And hey, lets look on the bright side. At least the Democrats found something they excel at.

Selling books!