There are plenty of people, mainly self-described civil libertarians, who believe that the Bible and the classroom should be mutually exclusive. As with most every movement out there, American Secularism has its continuum about just how to enforce such a position. Mainstream secularists simply do not want the Bible taught in public schools and offer to no opposition to having other venues like private school or popular media as a means of teaching Biblical literacy. To the left of that position one find's less moderate Secularists, who feel that the Bible should not be taught anywhere save the confines of a Sunday School class or church sermon.

Finally there are the militant Secularists, who do not want the Bible to be taught at all, not even in sermons or in the home. To aid in their endeavors, Secularists rely on deeming Biblical literacy education "Sectarian" and contrary to the First Amendment. They very much want the American population as well as the world at large to believe that only religious fundamentalists and the religious right want the Bible forced upon a captive impressionable audience. Makes one wonder if any of these folk read Time Magazine, which is a media source that only the most blindly partisan Secularist would dub an echo-chamber for the likes of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.

Below are some beautiful passages from the cover story for the April 2nd, AD 2007 issue of Time. For matters of proper accountability the full bibliography is listed beneath the excerpts and each excerpt is cited. Enjoy what an educated American from without the Christian Coalition is saying:

"Miss Kendrick came ready, with props. Today's topic was the Gospel of Matthew. 'You can divide all the Beatitudes into two parts...The "Blessed are the whatevers," like "the meek," and then the reward they will get. So I've made some puzzle pieces here.'"(Van Biema, p.40)

"And you've got to find the person who has the other half...O.K., find the person that matches yours. I'll take the roll."(Van Biema, p.40)

"By which she meant an official attendence roll. Because the day was Thursday, not Sunday. And the location was not Oakwood Baptist Church, a mile down Texas State Highway 46, but New Braunfels High School, a public school that began offering a Bible-literacy class last fall."(Van Biema, p.40)

"The class has 'gotten a lot of positive feedback,' she adds. 'It's going to really rise in popularity.' The same might be said about public-school courses on the Bible nationwide. There aren't that many. But they're rising in popularity. Last year Georgia became the first state in memory to offer funds for high school electives on the Old and New Testaments using the Bible as the core text."(Van Biema, p.42)

"Similar funding was discussed in several other legislatures, although the initiatives did not become law. Meanwhile, two privately produced curriculums crafted specifically to pass church-state muster are competing for use in individual schools nationwide. Combined, they are employed in 460 districts in at least 37 states."(Van Biema, p.42)

"These new curriculums plus polls suggesting that over 60% of Americans favor secular teaching about the Bible suggest that a Miss Kendrick may soon be talking about Matthew in a school near you."(Van Biema, p.42)

"...skeptics ask whether it is safe to bring back the source of all that sectarianism. But a new...coalition insists it is essential to do so. It argues that teaching the Bible in schools--as an object of study, not God's recieved word--is eminently constitutional. The Bible so pervades Western culture, it says, that it's hard to call anyone educated who hasn't at least given thought to its key passages."(Van Biema, p.42)

"Simply put, 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."(Van Biema, p.43)

"If literature doesn't interest you, you also need the Bible to make sense of the ideas and rhetoric that have helped drive U.S. history."(Van Biema, p.43)

"The Bible provided the argot--and theological underpinnings--of women's suffrage and prison-reform movements."(Van Biema, p.44)

"Some secularists are worried about who will teach the literacy classes. Joe Conn and Rob Boston of the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State have expressed a concern about how teachers willing to give the Bible secular treatment would be found, particularly in states where vast majorities are evangelical."(Van Biema, p.45)

"Sure, there will be bumps along the way. But 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." (Van Biema, p.46)

Source: "The Case for Teaching the Bible", David Van Biema, Time, Vol. 169, No. 14, April 12th, AD 2007.