The Bible needs no stealth

There’s this thing called “Intelligent Design.” Intelligent Design (ID) is the assertion that the universe exhibits characteristics of resulting from an intelligent cause or agent, not an unguided process such as evolution. (Look at Lex’s Jan 14 “Too many coincidences.”) Now, people are using ID as a subterfuge to get the Bible back into the public schools. First, it’s interesting to note that public schools were first founded to teach the Bible. The Bible used to be the only text in public schools and all lessons were grounded in that text. So, we’ve come full circle, now the Bible is about the only text not allowed in a public school. Columbine murders Harris and Klebold, as matter of free speech, could shout passages from Mein Kampf, while decked out in their now famous black trench coats. But a student openly carrying a Bible in school is still likely to be descended upon by uninformed school officials spouting nonsense about the Constitution’s nonexistent “separation of church and state” clause. The Bible “thumper” is likely as not to be expelled as some sort of dangerous religious nut.

So now a group of people are trying to sneak God back into the schoolhouse under a cloak called Intelligent Design. It seems to me you get this kind of idiocy, both throwing God out of and then trying to sneak Him back into the schoolhouse, when local school boards cede their authority over those schools to state and federal politicians and courts. There are great arguments for teaching the Bible in school that do not require stealth.

- It is the greatest, most popular, widely read book in recorded history.
- It is the foundation for western law.
- Its influence has shaped the history of the world.
- Its stories are depicted in the works of the masters of all ages.
- It is the most referenced document in the history of the world.
- It is the most quoted – in and out of context – document in the history of the world.
- It has refused to go away for 2,000 years and is not likely to in the next 2,000.

How can a school interested in educating young people ignore this book? People who want the Bible back in the schoolhouse don’t need to play this dopey ID game. They should forcefully argue for openly bringing it back based on its place in history. They should argue that we don’t ban certifiable garbage from the school library, why are we banning the Bible. Last and most important, they should argue that it is their school not the state’s, the fed’s or the court’s.