cross-posted from: https://discuss.online/post/42004497
It’s also likely to backfire on the religious right. They better hope that the kids skip the assigned reading, much less actual discussion and debate about it in class. As many an ex-evangelical can tell you, direct exposure to what the Bible actually says is often the first step to walking away from Christian fundamentalism altogether.
There’s a reason conservative Christians prefer quoting solitary Bible verses out of context: Not only does this allow them to twist the meaning for their own personal or political ends, but it also makes it much easier to avoid the critical thinking that engaging with longer passages can provoke. On my YouTube show “Standing Room Only,” the scholar and former evangelical Brad Onishi pointed to 2 Chronicles 7:20, a passage Christian nationalists often deploy to argue that America is meant to be a Christian nation by relying on the verse’s violent implications of God promising to “pluck” the unbelievers “up by the roots out of my land.” The larger context reveals that this story is about the ancient king Solomon, and it has nothing to do with the modern nation-state, much less one on a continent unknown to the writers of the Bible.
And of course we’re mandating bible classes instead of critical thinking classes.
Reading the Bible is the best way to become an atheist.
Still, this should not be a mandated thing. That is inhumane, cruel, against god and against freedom.
Let them learn about the kindness that Jesus preached. Except to the money changers using temples as places to make money. Hmm.
This is cope. The unconstitutional mandate is still a bad thing and needs to be stopped.
The best book to read in order to stop believing is … The Bible. Have at it and enjoy!
Bible stories in the classroom sounds great, if teachers can use A/V aids like this:
The Goon Bible Project - Book of Job
Kids will love it.
Onishi and his co-host, with their “Straight White American Jesus” podcast, have been hitting it out of the park lately. Last week there was an episode about the Job story where their analysis made the God character come off as a real dick, and also showed how the Satan character is misunderstood badly - in the Job story he kind of works for God as part of his administration and they cooperate on certain projects such as the Job one. Also last week was an analysis of the Garden of Eden story and on the concept of Original Sin. It seems that the poor snake is not some kind of embodiment of the Satan character at all, at least according to the Bible.
Just listened to the Job episode. Excellent. Thanks for the recommendation.
