Teaching the Bible in Public Schools?

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Washington, May 4 – On this Sunday’s “State of Belief,” The Interfaith Alliance Foundation’s show on Air America Radio, Rev. Welton Gaddy comes to you from the Lone Star State of Texas. Welton is joined in the studio by a Southern Methodist University professor to talk about proposals for teaching the Bible in public schools and a Baptist minister who shares his views on religion in Texas.
 
Welton talks with Mark Chancey, professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Southern Methodist University, the leading scholar, researcher, and critic of most plans to bring the Bible into our public classrooms.
 
“People on the religious right are trying to Americanize the Bible and Christianize America,” Chancey says. “Some Democratic legislators are trying to siphon off votes from conservative constituents and some Republicans are trying to shore up their base upon evangelicals.
 
“The Bible curriculum I reviewed is very much an attempt to put the views of conservative Protestants into public schools,” Chancey says.
 
Also, Rev. Ray Vickrey, pastor of Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas, talks with Welton about the future of progressive religion in Texas and its fundamentalist past.

Interfaith Alliance is a network of people of diverse faiths and beliefs from across the country working together to build a resilient democracy and fulfill America’s promise of religious freedom and civil rights not just for some, but for all. We mobilize powerful coalitions to challenge Christian nationalism and religious extremism, while fostering a better understanding of the healthy boundaries between religion and government. We advocate at all levels of government for an equitable and just America where the freedoms of belief and religious practice are protected, and where all persons are treated with dignity and have the opportunity to thrive. For more information visit interfaithalliance.org.