Texas religious conservatives are about to catch the car... then what?

This was coincidence, but brother Joe mentioned during a quick call the other day that one of the things he remembered most clearly from being in my class at Regina was the "Bible as Literature" unit within junior year English class.

Then yesterday I read a compelling post in The Atlantic that argued for inclusion of reading Bible passages/stories as part of a well-rounded education. That was prompted by a Texas board of education choice to require selected readings in grades 4-12 in the state's public schools.

There are at least two unlikely things to consider between those two facts. One is that Catholic school is relatively Bible-free, it turns out. I don't recall ever being required to read the Bible in my own Catholic high school years, for instance. The passages read on Sundays during mass were rigidly prescribed by the powers that be and priests rarely attempted to modernize Scripture for the masses. Ritual was way more important than whatever exhortations a priest might offer.

For the Atlantic, the supposedly ultra-liberal publication, to come down even in the same ballpark as the religious conservatives of Texas seems a bit surprising. 

After all, we live in the age of knee jerk reactions and "give no quarter" arguments. If a religious conservative likes something, a modern progressive is expected to adopt an opposite position.

I honestly don't remember much about that Bible unit in 1979. I do remember that it was pretty easy to get copies of the Bible for everyone in a time when we didn't have much money for new texts. In fact, they may have been free. I also remember a vague sense of fun in taking young minds into the actual Good Book and talking about it much as we would a novel. I know most of my students had never opened a Bible until that unit.

It's a fine collection of classic stories and is often so strange and remote from our current lives that we can feel comfortable cracking some jokes or pointing out scientific errors. When I moved to City High, a public school, there was a trimester-length course called Bible as Literature, and I don't recall any brouhaha over its inclusion in the curriculum. The "as Literature" seemed descriptive enough for most of the public.

In today's Texas politics, requiring students to read the Sermon on the Mount or the Book of Job may seem like a victory for Christian true believers. But my prediction is that such a victory is likely to produce chaos, lawsuits, and unintended consequences. 

Imagine a second-year ELA teacher having units containing Biblical passages dropped into their curriculum and suddenly engaging in philsophical debate and discussion about meaning and spirituality with a room full of juniors. My guess is that parents will very quickly begin objecting to almost anything that is said. 

After all, the Sermon on the Mount extols all sorts of virtues and the virtuous who are out of favor in modern times. Kids won't be reading something about "Blessed are the billionaires" -- more likely they might discuss the difficulty of a rich man entering the Kingdom of Heaven (I know, different parable). 

My sense is that most modern politicians haven't read very deeply in the Bible and I am equally sure that even top scholars will argue for all sorts of interpretations. That young teacher doesn't stand a chance.

But ignoring the looming chaos: My long-held view that for a person to be able to fully engage in the thought and tradition of the Western World (where we live, after all), that person needs to be familiar with at least basic Bible stories and passages. And with Shakespeare. 

It's not that the Bible or Shakespeare are inherently superior in insights or language use or morality, but that they have been so influential for so long. I might argue something similar about the need for an educated American to have a passing knowledge of baseball, BTW. We use phrases and analogies from that once mighty game all the time. 

There are plenty of additional important books and poems and stories that a Texas student would do well to be aware of and understand. I would never argue that all a person needs is one big book and a collection of plays to be educated. 

But this Texas curriculum change is more likely to get kids thinking deeply about the immoral and downright evil Trump administration than turn kids into religious zealots.

Also worth considering it that once we require a kid to read something, that assignment becomes part of "school work." Just something else to get through. But maybe, just maybe, some of the material will stick with some kids. And maybe a very few will want to learn more and do their own reading, even without the threat of a pop quiz.

Fill in the blank: "Blessed are the ___________, for they will be called children of God."

And don't say "cheesemakers." But if you are watching Monty Python's "Life of Brian," knowing the answer adds to the fun. And don't we all want to be in on the joke?