A little while back, some rotten ol' liberal analyzed the NCBCPS curriculum and found that:
In both the curriculum and other NCBCPS materials, teachers are urged not to impose religious beliefs upon their students. In my professional judgment as a biblical scholar, however, this curriculum on the whole is a sectarian document, and I cannot recommend it for usage in a public school setting. It attempts to persuade students to adopt views that are held primarily within certain conservative Protestant circles but not within the scholarly community, and it presents Christian faith claims as history:Okay, fine, so the reviewer of the curriculum was Dr. Mark A. Chancey, who teaches biblical studies in the Department of Religious Studies in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Not exactly a typical liberal, so maybe we ought to pay attention to his assessment. Just maybe...Furthermore, much of the course appears designed to persuade students and teachers that America is a distinctively Christian nation — an agenda publicly embraced by many of the members of NCBCPS’s Board of Advisors and endorsers.
- The Bible is explicitly characterized as inspired by God.
- Discussions of science are based on the claims of biblical creationists.
- Jesus is presented as fulfilling “Old Testament” prophecy.
- Archaeological findings are cited as support for claims of the Bible’s complete historical accuracy.
Then again, Chuck Norris is on the Board of Directors, and D. James Kennedy is on the Board of Advisors with the NCBCPS. What more needs to be said? That's pretty much all we needed to know to realize how objective this curriculum would be, and that it's a tool for mass proselytizing in the public school system, at taxpayer expense.
Beautiful. The NCBCPS has fired back a response (.doc, click HERE for .pdf) to the Texas Freedom Network, my favorite line is,In recent years, many prominent educators have urged U.S. public schools to teach the Bible as part of literature or culture classes, contending that students need to understand the book's influence on literature, history and current events. More schools are starting to offer such classes, in some cases with a push from their state legislatures. Georgia last year passed a law providing money to encourage high schools to offer Bible electives. This month, the Texas House of Representatives almost unanimously approved a bill, now in the state Senate, that would offer training to teachers leading classes on the Old and New Testaments.
But the spread of Bible instruction is raising questions about the separation of church and state. That is particularly true in school districts that have adopted the National Council program, one of two competing national curricula now available.
The curriculum sold by the Greensboro, N.C.-based National Council concentrates on the Bible's role as literature and as an influence on American history. Founder Elizabeth Ridenour says that nearly 400 districts have adopted the National Council curriculum since 1992. (WSJ)
"The NCBCPS curriculum has never been legally challenged." (paragraph 5)Maybe then, but not anymore, praise the lard! :-)
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