Reed Cartwright has a follow up post on the Texas Freedom Network study about elective Bible courses at use in Texas and around the country. He goes into more detail than I did, particularly about creationism and how such Bible courses often endorse the most absurd creationist views. Several of the programs they studied scrape the bottom of the creationist barrell and present Carl Baugh and Kent Hovind, the keystone cops of creationism. I can't believe more suits haven't been filed over this stuff. It's clearly unconstitutional to teach in public schools.
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I suspect the reason why more people haven't filed suit over this is that it's equally clearly a baited line. They're just waiting for someone to sue, then they can start complaining that the Evil Atheists aren't satisfied with merely removing pseudoscience from science classrooms but instead want it to be removed even from elective courses. "When will it stop?" they'll cry.
It's extremely irritating that, simply by behaving awfully by default, creationists get the sympathy vote when they merely behave rather badly. Still, that's a fact of life that we have to work round rather than ignore.
The idea of a "bible" course in public schools is simply ludicrous - I don't care if it's an elective. It is still tax dollars going to support a particular faith. Reading this makes me consider whether some high school teachers are mature enough to teach even, comparative religion. I can just hear one now; "all right class, now that we've gotten through that satanic drivel, lets talk about the "true" religion."
I think the main religion in TX is called "Football"...
I agree with Treban.
Corkscrew, I see your point. But this issue goes far beyond teaching pseudoscience. This is clearly a case of government employees conducting religious instruction of a particular doctrine to a possibly unwilling, but surely captive congregation.
If this doesn't violate the Lemon Test, than nothing does.
...Carl Baugh and Kent Hovind, the keystone cops of creationism...
You laugh, but Carl Baugh has a fossilized sandal-print with a trilobite in it, just like the Bible says he should. Don't our children deserve to know the truth???
You mean Carl Baugh *claims* to have a fossilized sandal-print with a trilobite in it. He also claims to have earned Ph.D's in theology as well as advanvced degrees in several fields of science, yet there is no evidence that Baugh has any earned degrees whatsoever.