Texas board of education approves public school curriculum that includes Bible passages

AUSTIN, Texas (LifeSiteNews) — The Texas State Board of Education narrowly voted on Friday for a state-authored public school curriculum that uses Biblical passages.

Eight of the 15 board members voted to give Texas school districts the option to include Bluebonnet Learning (BL), while offering districts that adopt BL an incentive of $60 per student. The curriculum references religions other than Christianity to a lesser degree, and it does not teach Christianity outright, referring to Jesus merely as a “man.” It has nevertheless sparked controversy for referencing Christian Biblical passages and teachings.

For example, the curriculum “prompts teachers to relay the story of The Good Samaritan — a parable about loving everyone, including your enemies — to kindergarteners as an example of what it means to follow the Golden Rule,” the Texas Tribune reported. It adds that the parable “was told by a man named Jesus” as part of His Sermon on the Mount, during which He said, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.”

Three Republican board members reportedly opposed BL for reasons unrelated to its Biblical material, while all four Democrats on the board voted against the curriculum, largely for fear that it would “impose” Christianity on students. Rebecca Bell-Metereau thinks the curriculum’s references of religions other than Christianity were not made in a “meaningful way,” according to the Tribune.

Houston Democrat Staci Childs believes that if the curriculum was brought to court, it would be found to violate the Establishment Clause as a state endorsement of Christianity.

Parents’ views on the curriculum are varied. One mother defended the curriculum, according to the New York Times, saying the Incarnation of Jesus Christ “is and always will be the hinge of all of history,” something that remains true even among the secular world, which uses a calendar year counted from the time of Christ’s Incarnation.

“How would the canceling of such fundamental facts serve the education of our children or contribute to shape them morally?” she added.

Joseph Backholm, Family Research Council’s senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement, pointed out in a statement to The Washington Stand that “The classroom will never be values neutral.” 

“We’ve seen the aggressive way some classrooms have pushed the Sexual Revolution, which is essentially just a different religion. [So,] the fact that the curriculum includes biblical stories doesn’t mean it’s teaching Christianity, just that they aren’t pretending there is something dangerous about biblical stories anymore,” he said. 

He also noted that “the history of America is largely Christian” and that “It’s not possible to have a clear understanding of American history without understanding the role faith played in the lives and beliefs of our founders.” 

“This is just one of the many ways that biblical knowledge is [simply] part of a basic education. If you learn American history, you’ll learn about the Bible,” said Backholm.

FRC’s Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow of Education Studies, highlighted to TWS what she criticized as hypocrisy often found in those who oppose any mention of the Bible in school. 

“The folks who are concerned about ‘teaching Christianity’ in classrooms have likely never batted an eye over mindfulness lessons or practice for children, Greek and Roman mythology, and other types of religious content in schools,” said Kilgannon.