Religion course at school disputed.

The ACLU is looking into the constitutionality of a class approved in Craig County.
By Cody Lowe

The Craig County School Board is facing yet another challenge in what has been a tumultuous spring.

After spending two months in the process of firing its superintendent and facing an investigation of finances by the federal Department of Education, now the board is being questioned about its approval of a religion course for high school students.

The Virginia affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union has asked for more information about a Bible curriculum approved during a May 6 board meeting.

The ACLU believes the class is similar to one it successfully challenged in Texas last year.

The board approved the Bible course with four affirmative votes and one abstention.

Potts Creek board member Dawna McDowell objected that the course "content is different than what we hoped for," according to an article earlier this month in the New Castle Record.

"If we're going to institute a course, we need to be very careful not to cross the line, and I mean very careful," McDowell said, according to the newspaper. Attempts to reach McDowell on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/162891

If they're looking to do a bit on world religions, that fits comfortably into a World History class, and if they're looking to do something on the development of Wester Christianity and the Reformation, that fits very well into a European history class - and if they've got the money to teach the Bible class, they've got the money to add one of those, I'm thinking.

There isn't any evidence that this class is teaching religion rather than history or literature.

I'm an atheist. Always have been. I'm a teacher in a public school. I sometimes teach stories from The Bible. They are absolutely crucial in understanding certain elements of western history and literature, but they can be discussed without pushing the "God" issue.

If I could ever actually score an elective class, I would love to teach Bible as Lit.