Mandatory Bible Study in Public Schools?

I went to Jewish schools from pre-school through 12th grade, and every day I was in school I got Bible stories shoved down my throat. I can name all of the seven nations that were living in Israel before we got there, I can list the thirteen minor prophets, and I can give an extended treatise on various interpretations of the Akedah. And I have to say, even during the moments I’m least excited about Judaism, I’m really pleased to be knowledgeable about the Bible. It comes up a lot in literature, history, current events… I even did some studying up on the New Testament just so I could keep up with The Da Vinci Code and whatnot. All of this helps explain why I think the mandatory Bible study in public schools proposed in this Boston Globe article is not half bad. Of course the separation between church and state is huge and important and a high priority of mine, but I also think that people need to know more about religion, and about the Bible. I’m not calling for the secular world to suddenly respect and appreciate anyone who considers herself religious, but if everyone has a passing knowledge of the Bible at least they can have an informed debate. There’s always going to be crazy people like the New Jersey teacher accused of preaching to his class, saying of Jesus, “He did everything in his power to make sure that you could go to heaven, so much so that he took your sins on his own body, suffered your pains for you, and he’s saying, ‘Please, accept me, believe.’ If you reject that, you belong in hell.” I’m not advocating that crap, obviously. I just think the Bible is an important piece of literature that should be considered fundamental academic study. And before you start telling me that teenagers don’t want to read the Bible because it’s boring and whatnot I present to you my favorite unknown Bible stories: 1. Judah and Tamar, Genesis 38 My namesake dresses up like a prostitute and sleeps with her father in law. 2. Pick a girl, any girl… Members of the tribe of Benjamin watch a bunch of girls dance and then “each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife.” Judges 21:23 3 and 4. Twice in the Bible you get hoards of village-people demanding that a man hosting a traveler let them in to have their way with said guest. And in both cases the guy says, “Hey, no, take my daughter(s) instead.” In one case the father chops his daughter up into twelve pieces the next morning when her dead body is dropped on her doorstop. Genesis 19 and Judges 19 5. King David is old and sick so he naturally calls for a young virgin girl to keep him warm at night. Then we’re told explicitly that she stayed a virgin. Her job was basically to be a hot water bottle. Kings I 1. Rereading that I just had more fun than I did in all 600,000 pages of David Copperfield. Can we please ditch Dickens and start writing some mediocre AP English essays about King David now?