What do you folks think about this...
I have mixed feelings on it; part of me is against it, because I'm a always a little nervous when secularists teach anything about the Bible; it opens the door for all kinds of strange teaching. On the other hand, they are doing it legally, and maybe we should say good for Tennessee. If the parent's tax dollars are being used to spread the homosexual agenda and evolution, then maybe students deserve to learn the truth along with the lies in the public schools. Either way, I'm sure the ACLU and the atheists are furious, and that alone gives me a warm feeling inside...

Tenn. education board approves guidelines on
teaching Bible in public high schools

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (CP) – 3 days ago
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The state Board of Education has approved guidelines on how to teach the Bible in public high schools despite concern the curriculum could be challenged in court.

Legislation approved in 2008 authorized a course for a "non-sectarian, non-religious academic study of the Bible" in public schools. State officials said they tried to develop principles that are safe from legal challenge, but some say a state-approved Bible course could violate the separation of church and state.

The course will teach students about the content of the Bible and its historical context. It is an elective, meaning high schools can choose whether to offer it to students as a social studies credit, and students can decide whether to take it. More here:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadi ... Z7VpbT70Cw

TN tells high schools how to teach the Bible

Starting next fall, Tennessee high schools that want to teach students about Noah, Moses and the Prodigal Son will have a state-approved road map to do so.

Thursday, the Tennessee Board of Education approved guidelines on how to teach the Bible in public high schools. The curriculum is in response to 2008 legislation, which authorized the state to create a course for a "nonsectarian, nonreligious academic study of the Bible."

...The guidelines do not recommend a textbook and require that teachers make literature from other religions available to students. The course covers biblical readings, how historical figures such as President Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. used the Bible, and the timeline of biblical events, among other topics... Ables said state officials looked to other states with Bible courses, including Texas, Alabama and Georgia, when developing curriculum and determining what legal pitfalls to avoid.

Bible courses in Knox County have been popular with students and problem-free, Ables said, but she doesn't expect to see a huge increase of schools in Tennessee that will offer the course.

In the Nashville area, Rutherford County schools said there are no plans to teach the Bible, while other districts did not respond to questions by deadline. Wilson County was the first in the area to offer such a class in 2007. More here:
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100 ... -the-Bible

Follow up on the Tennessee story;
I'm not sure how this fits with the original report by the Associated Press, but they are now saying that the ACLU has won a Federal lawsuit against a school board in Tennessee regarding the Bible. Among other things, the settlement prohibits the distribution of Bibles during the school day and bars school officials from citing “the Bible or other sacred texts as authority for historical or scientific fact.” More details here:
http://www.thedailytimes.com/article/20 ... /100309980

However, Gregory Horton, who cast the only no vote, said the settlement went too far. He argued it forces people to give up rights that no one should have to surrender, according to the Ashland City Times.

"Reading this 'settlement,' I would think that we would have need to paint the windows of the buses black to prevent the children riding from seeing the churches that cover this county for fear that they might be evilly influenced," he said.
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2010/Marc ... U-Lawsuit/