AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) — During a Texas State Board of Education hearing on Monday (June 22), supporters of a proposal to require Texas public school students to read Bible stories argued doing so would acknowledge that the nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values.
Rabbis and Jewish leaders at the hearing, however, criticized the biblical passages chosen by the education board as heavy on Christianity and dismissive of Judaism. Grounding support of the measures in “Judeo-Christian” values is a “fig leaf at inclusion,” one said.
The State Board of Education kicked off a week of meetings Monday by hearing from more than 400 experts, teachers and concerned citizens on two proposals — one that would overhaul the state’s social studies curriculum, and another that would create a required reading list for K-12 public schoolchildren. Both proposals include biblical references, passages and stories. A final vote is expected by Friday.
Many of the speakers who praised the proposed reading list said it was important to teach children about Judeo-Christian heritage and values.
“Don’t lie about where we came from as Americans,” witness Richard Green said. “It was the Judeo-Christian value system that produced the greatest, most powerful, the wealthiest, most free, the most benevolent nation in the history of the world.”
Larry Holland with the conservative grassroots group Citizens for Education Reform endorsed the reading list because it was aligned with “a nation founded on the principles of Judeo-Christian heritage. …