Saturday, January 31, 1998

Even ACLU approves of one Bible study curriculum

By YONAT SHIMRON / Raleigh News & Observer

RALEIGH, N.C. -- In his Bible class at Leesville High School in Wake County, N.C., Paul Dinkenor recently asked his students to write essays on different Christian denominations and sects.

One student wrote about the Pennsylvania Amish. Another about Christian Scientists. And yet another about Baptists. After the students gave their presentations, Dinkenor told the class that people often disparage one sect or another. "The point I would make is that nobody has the right to throw stones," he said.

"There are so many different streams in Christianity. It's whatever works for you."

Wake County is proud of its World Religions and Bible in History classes, and experts in the field say they have a right to be.

Wake's curriculum, developed four years ago by three social studies teachers, has won praise in professional school journals such as Education Week and Teacher Magazine, and in newspapers from here to Texas. In writing its curriculum, the county took advice from college professors, religious leaders and lawyers to craft scholarly and inclusive courses.

"The Wake County curriculum, on its face, is extremely well done," said Deborah Ross, the executive director of the ACLU. "It teaches about religion and it teaches about religion's impact in different ways."

The Bible curriculum notes the importance of Scriptures to the world's three monotheistic faiths: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It notes the lyrical prose of Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd," the biblical allusions in Herman Melville's "Moby Dick," and various musical and artistic influences, from Handel's oratorio "Messiah" to Renaissance oil paintings of the Madonna and Child.

The curriculum uses the Oxford Annotated Bible -- the scholars' choice -- and requires students to explore multiple translations. It recommends visits to a Jewish synagogue, a Catholic church and a Protestant church. Its three-page reference list includes a wide range of books dealing with such subjects as Byzantine iconography and the Mormon church.

"We understood from the outset, we would have students in there searching for their own faith," said Vinetta Bell, a teacher at Enloe High School in Raleigh who helped write the curriculum. "We wanted to make sure that the curriculum was written in such a way that a teacher would heed the constitutional requirement to teach about religion in an academic way."

That message seems to be getting through. Adam Kaus, a senior at Leesville, said he took both the Bible and World Religions classes so he could learn in a neutral setting. "I've been prejudiced to other religions," said Kaus, a Catholic. "I just agree with what I've been taught since I was born. You don't learn that way. What's good about this class is it's not biased."

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)