Everyone is welcome to submit and/or respond to all articles covering the teaching of the Bible in Public Schools.

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Bob Basso, author of "Common Sense,"
plays the role of Thomas Paine.

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That's interesting.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYscnFpEyA

YouTube.com
Wake Up America!
Video: 6:35 mins
5,459,467 Views As Of July 9, 2009

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Taxation Without Representation

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Send A TeaBag To Your Empolyees In The Government

For Addresses, Go To:
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and
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and
President Barak Obama
The White House
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Idaho Press-Tribue
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Main Page

Area man wants Bible taught in schools

Education: Retired teacher says curriculum would be academic study, not religious; opponents disagree.

By Mike Butts
mbutts@idahopress.com

TREASURE VALLEY -- A Southwest Idaho man wants to allow public schools to teach about the Bible. But opponents say study of the Bible would be hard to separate from teaching religion.

Chuck Seldon, 77, has collected at least 20 signatures on a ballot initiative for the next general election. The initiative aims to get around a provision of the Idaho Consitution and "allow that elective Bible course curricula, taught as an academic study rather than devotional material, may be offered in the public school systems."

"The people of Idaho are not going to put up with the fact that their Constitution does not allow them to do it," Seldon said about teaching the Bible in schools. "It's a book and can be taught without getting involved with devotional or religious rhetoric."

Among those who have signed the initiative so far, Seldon said he's collected some Idaho lawmakers' support, including Rep. Robert Schaefer, R Nampa.

"I don't see that as trying to inflict any specific religion on anybody," Schaefer said. "It's mostly direction from the prime supervisor to tell us how to get by better in life."

"There might be some people that object that don't have a good relationship or rapport with the one who set everything up in the beginning," Schaefer added.

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Response To Article Above?

Idaho Press-Tribune
Opinion Page 6
Friday, April 3, 2009

Our View
Bible in school initiative unneeded

Idaho Press-Tribune

Summary: Districts already have authority to implement academic courses on Bible; anything more than that violates Constitution.

Chuck Seldon, a 77-year-old Southwest Idaho resident, is gathering signatures to get a ballot initiative for the next general election that would "allow that elective Bible course curricula, taught as an academic study rather than devotional material, may be offered in the public school systems."

Simply put, he doesn't need to. It's something that can be done already.

There is nothing in Idaho law that prevents public school districts from approving courses which use the Bible as literature or history, as long as those courses don't cross the line into doctrine. That sounds exactly like what Seldon is asking for, does it not?

And it's something hundreds of school districts across the country have already done. According to the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, 475 American school districts in 38 states have approved Bible curricula.

If local residents want to have an elective course that teaches the Bible from a historical context, they can from a lobbying group and petition their local school board. Ditto if they want a more encompassing "history of the world's religins" type of class. But given our economic doldrums and the cost it would take to create such courses, financial prudence would dictate otherwise, for the time being.

If parents want their children to have an education that does get into doctrine, they have options. They can enroll the kids in private Christian schools or home school them. If cost or work schedules make those options impossible, they can always teach their kids about the Bible on evenings and weekends at home, and at Sunday School on Sunday mornings.

If they're concerned tht something their children would hear in a public school would conflict with or undermine their faith, they can probably make arrangements with the school to have the child removed from the room during those lessons. Some parents do this with sex-education classes, for example.

The Idaho Constitution states "no sectarian or religious tenets or doctrines shall ever be taught in public schools." That's the way it should be in a pluralistic society. Seldon's proposal is either unnecessary or it's a back-door attempt to circumvent the Constitution. Either way, it should be shot down.

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Our view is based on the majority opinions of the Idaho Press Tribune editorial board. Members of the board are Publisher Rick V. Weaver, Managing Editor Vickie Holomak, Assistant Managing Editor David Woolsey and community members Chad Ross and Jerry-Todd Miller, all of Nampa; Opinion Editor Phil Bridges, advertising representative Melissa Valencia and community members Brian Bishop, Joe Moffa and Sharon Hubler, all of Caldwell.

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Response To Article Above?

A Response to the View Opinion in the Press Tribune opposing voluntary Bible classes in public schools.

The opening paragraph is correct. The second assumption is incorrect. Idaho law does not allow a complete study of the Bible. Teachers presently are only allowed to choose sections that have been approved by education leaders who do not want interference with their lifestyles. For example: the first line of the first book of the Bible is not allowed. Check it out.

I encourage them to check out our Web site where they will find that what we are recommending is completely in line with our Founding Fathers and the majority of our presidents, starting with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Gen. Eisenhower, F.D.R., Ronald Reagan, both Presidents Bush and President Obama. I believe President Obama has some understanding of the “shining city on a hill” concept that President Reagan talked about and “basic human rights” which he talked about in his G20 speeches recently in Europe. All of us need a much deeper understanding of the Bible, the greatest book ever written. Proof of that is the fact that it has outsold every other book ever written.

The second best -selling book is “The Purpose Driven Life,” by Rick Warren, which is based on the Bible. I also recommend “The 5000 Year Leap,” by W. Cleon Skousen , also a Bible-based book.

After the members of the board and managing editor of the Press Tribune have done their home work, have been open-minded journalists, checked out the above listed books, and have checked my Web site www.ourgodlyamericanheritage.com, I will be glad to sit down with them in an atmosphere of mutual respect and talk to them about my project and why it is so important for us at this time in our history.

I believe this is a critical time for us for four reasons.

1. Our broken schools. Our public schools are failing. I left the public schools in 1970 along with five other public school teachers, because the public schools were going in the wrong direction.



2. Broken government. Our government is failing. According to Newt Gingrich “The System is Broken.” Read some of his books in the public library.



3. Broken capitalism. By now everyone realizes that greed has caused our industries, banks and Wall St. to fail.



4. Broken homes. Over 50% of our children are from broken homes. So, isn’t it time we go back to square one, look at what is happening and re-evaluate our goals and values?

I want to thank the Press-Tribune for both articles, one getting the Word out and the other giving me a chance to explain why. If anyone has questions or wants to volunteer to help with the project, call 830-6165. I look forward to talking to you.

Dr. Charles Seldon

Response To Article Above?

The 'Our Godly American Heritage' Web site has been moved to: www.ourgodlyamericanheritage.com

Recently Dr. Seldon was invited by Calvary Church to present materials concerning the project. Over 2000 signatures have been collected in several churches and he encourages all churches to consider joining the project. He can be reached by phone at (208) 830-6165 (Boise).

Check out the following web sites about the importance of “The Bible and It’s Influence” and our Godly American Heritage: www.bibleliteracy.org or www.wallbuilders.com

Watch for continuing reports on GETTING THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL.

Wednesday, March 29, 2007
Time For Bible To Be Returned To Public Education
By Bryan Fischer, Executive Director - Idaho Values Alliance, Boise
www.idahovaluesalliance.com

The cover story on the April 2, 2007 edition of Time magazine is about the demonstrable need to return the study of the Bible to America's public schools. When a magazine that tilts as far to the left as Time recognizes the problems caused by biblical illiteracy, perhaps it's time everyone in America, including educators in Idaho, did something about it.

Idaho's 114 school districts already can offer the literary study of the Bible as an elective, but to my knowledge, none do so. Georgia last year became the first state in the union to offer funding for high school electives on the Old and New Testaments using the Bible as the core text. There is no reason Idaho can't become the second.

There are currently two curricula available for use in public schools, one developed by a graduate of Chuck Colson's Wilberforce mentoring program. Currently 460 school districts in 37 states are using one curriculum or the other. Polling data indicates that over 60% of Americans favor teaching about the Bible in public education settings.

The chair of Boston University's religion department has written a new book, "Religious Literacy," that makes the case for Bible-literacy courses. Beginning in the 1970s, he points out, "religion rushed into the public square. What purpose could it possibly serve for citizens to be ignorant of all that?"

It's a simple fact that a working knowledge of the Bible is necessary for anyone to be a full-fledged, well-rounded, thoroughly-educated American. The writer points out that there are some 1,300 allusions to Scripture in the Shakespearean canon, and numerous references even in Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" to the passion of Christ.

Biblical ignorance makes many key elements of American history impossible to understand. For instance, the phrase "the shining city on the hill," first uttered by a Puritan leader and re-popularized by Ronald Reagan is actually drawn from the teaching of Jesus as found in the gospel of Matthew.

Martin Luther King, Jr. deliberately emulated the Old Testament prophet Amos when he spoke of "Justice rolling down like waters" in his "I Have a Dream" speech.

As Time's religion editor points out, "The Bible is the most influential book ever written. Not only is the Bible the best-selling book of all time, it is the best-selling book of the year every year."

Even the American Jewish Congress supports Bible classes in public schools. "Take creationism," says a representative. "Unless you are literate in the first two chapters of Genesis, you have no idea what people are fighting about."

Yet even though nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the Bible holds the answers to "all or most of life's basic questions," pollster George Gallup has labeled the U.S. a "nation of biblical illiterates." Only half of American adults know the name of even one of the four gospels, and most cannot name the first book in the Bible.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no constitutional impediment to the literary and historical study of the Bible in the public system of education. In a pivotal 1948 Supreme Court Case, Justice Robert Jackson said, in a concurring opinion, "One can hardly respect the system of education that would leave the student wholly ignorant of the currents of religious thought that move the world." To put all references to God off limits in the classroom, he went on, would leave public education "in shreds."

In 1963, the majority opinion of the Court in another case explicitly declared, "Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible or of religion, when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education, may not be effected consistently with the First Amendment."

Even the general counsel for the American Jewish Congress agrees: "It is beyond question that it is possible to teach a course about the Bible that is constitutional."

The author of the Time story concludes, "In the end, what is required in teaching about the Bible in our public schools is patriotism: a belief that we live in a nation that understands the wisdom of its Constitution clearly enough to allow the most important book in its history to remain vibrantly accessible for everyone."

Reference: The Case for Teaching The Bible | TIME
http://www.time.com:80/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1601845,00.html

Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Returning The Study Of The Bible To Public Schools
By Bryan Fischer, Executive Director - Idaho Values Alliance, Boise
www.idahovaluesalliance.com

In a one-woman argument for returning the study of the Bible to public schools - as a necessary part of any thorough education - Barbara Walters admitted on the TV talk show, "The View," that she herself lives in virtually total ignorance of the Bible. The portion of one show was dedicated to a recently published article in which a professor at Boston University contends that we must, in the name of cultural, historical, and literary literacy, return the study of the Bible to public school classrooms. This professor points out, for instance, that there are over 1,300 allusions to the Bible in Shakespeare alone, all of which are incomprehensible to anyone unfamiliar with the dominant themes of the Scripture. Said Walters tellingly, "I know nothing about the Bible, and I think most people don't." (The Bible: Rosie O'Donnell Studies It, Barbara Knows Nothing, Joy Says Teach It As Fiction | NewsBusters.org – reference: http://newsbusters.org/node/11659)

March, 2007
By Dr. Chuck Seldon, Boise

I have Good news for Bible believing Americans! God is still on the throne and we win in the end.

I listen to many great leaders in our country, who, first of all, know our American history, second, they learn from it, then they study world history and compare it to Bible History, Literature and Art. They are all basically saying the same thing. America must wake up to its spiritual heritage, and many of these same spiritual leaders are also saying that they are beginning to see the sparks of a third or fourth Great Awakening in our country. That is Good news!

Rev. Craft spoke here in Boise back in April on Morality and Freedom “America’s dynamic duo,” and he asked the question “Does morality really matter?” Media and special interest groups often tell us two lies they want us to believe.

Lie #1: “We must preserve separation of Church and State.”
Lie #2: “Morality and performance in office are separate matters.”

Our Founding Fathers had a great deal to say on these issues.


PHOTO (left): Independence Hall (Philadephia, Pennsylvania), where the Declaration of Independence was authored.

In Independence Hall where our Founding Fathers first declared an ndependent nation and later created a Republic, John Adams said, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

It was interesting to watch and listen to C-Span about a month ago. Our Ex-President Clinton was speaking to a large group of reporters and Democrats in Washington, D.C. He pointed his finger at them and said, “If you don’t think morals are important to the American people, you better think again!” Possibly, just maybe, he learned something in office. There is hope for him and for our country.

I just returned from Texas where I visited my grandchildren and family. While I was there, I checked into the progress of “Putting the Bible back into the Public Schools” project and they are making great progress! They are up from fifty school districts to fifty five that are teaching the Bible in public schools as History, Literature or Art. Praise the Lord.

For more information, call me at (208) 830-6165 or E-mail Tammy Seydel at heritagehouse@qwest.net
Reference web sites for history of our Godly American Heritage:

WallBuilders
National Council On Biblical Curriculum in Public Schools
Bible Literacy Project

Other Links
New TV Special Connects Darwin to Hitler

Our Godly American Heritage Update - The Bible in Public Schools.
For more information, call Dr. Chuck Seldon in Boise at (208) 830-6165.

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