Here is What Public School Students Learn in Elective Bible Courses
Recently, we have written about how Arkansas law lets public schools offer elective, academic courses on the Bible — and how enrollment in these courses has grown this year.
In 2013 Arkansas passed Act 1440 letting public schools offer elective, academic courses that study “the Bible and its influence on literature, art, music, culture, and politics.”
The law says the course must be objective and nonsectarian, and it must meet the same academic standards as other elective courses offered in public schools. Anyone wishing to teach the course must be licensed to teach in the State of Arkansas. In 2019, the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 1016 making technical clarifications to Act 1440 of 2013.
The Arkansas Department of Education’s academic framework provides an outline for these classes and what students learn from them.
Under the framework, the academic study of the Bible is a one-semester English elective course.
Students learn about the Bible and its influence on literature, art, music, and culture.
As part of the course, students demonstrate “an understanding of narratives, poetry, and epistles contained in the Bible and how these biblical genres have influenced literature, art, and music.”
Students are also expected to:
- Recognize the variety of literary devices in biblical text;
- Identify major characters of the Bible;
- Identify themes expressed in the Bible, making comparisons with modern society today;
- Analyze poetry and songs of the Bible, making comparisons with modern poetry and music;
- Compare different translations of the Bible;
- Analyze the influence of the Bible on art and literary works;
- Examine the influence of the Bible on historical and modern day political and social movements;
- Analyze the Bible’s influence on the creation of American institutions and law.
The academic framework also notes that the Bible courses must be taught objectively.
This year lawmakers passed Act 400, the Religious Rights at Public School Act by Sen. Mark Johnson (R — Little Rock) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R — Heber Springs). This good law affirms public school students’ and teachers’ religious liberties, and it highlights the freedom that schools have to offer academic courses on the Bible under state law.
It’s good that Arkansas’ students have the opportunity to enroll in academic courses on the Bible. After all, no single book has been more influential on our civilization.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
Planned Parenthood Offers Teens Cross-Sex Hormones at First Visit
Phone call recordings by Live Action show Planned Parenthood facilities in multiple states are willing to prescribe cross-sex hormones to teens — sometimes at their first appointment.
Live Action reports,
Staff at seven of the 33 facilities contacted confirmed they would prescribe cross-sex hormones at the first appointment, even virtually. A video highlighting the undercover calls shows that at the Planned Parenthood in Mankato, Minnesota, staff were willing to prescribe hormones to the patient at the end of a single virtual visit. . . .
At five of the facilities, staff said the 16-year-old girl did not need proof of having undergone therapy, mental health clearance, or prior documentation as part of a mental health assessment before Planned Parenthood would prescribe cross-sex hormones.
Besides being the nation’s leading abortionist, Planned Parenthood has also become a major provider of gender-transition drugs and surgeries. Planned Parenthood’s facilities in Arkansas both advertise “gender-affirming care services” on their websites, offered in-person or via telemedicine.
While Planned Parenthood continues to promote sex-change procedures, medical experts are sounding the alarm about how dangerous these procedures can be — especially for children.
Public health officials in the U.S. and the U.K. have released stunning rebukes of the so-called “gender affirming care” Planned Parenthood and others offer.
Last year The British Medical Journal wrote that ”the advocacy and clinical practice for medical treatment of gender dysphoria [through puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery] had moved ahead of the evidence—a recipe for harm.”
These procedures can leave children sterilized and scarred for life, and doctors don’t know the long-term consequences they may have for children. That is why to date about half the states in the U.S. have passed laws protecting children from sex-change surgeries.
In 2021, Arkansas lawmakers overwhelmingly passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act.
The SAFE Act is a good law that prevents doctors in Arkansas from performing sex-change surgeries on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
Unfortunately, the SAFE Act is tied up in court, and a federal judge in Little Rock has blocked the state from enforcing it for now. However, we believe our courts ultimately will recognize that the SAFE Act is a good law and uphold it as constitutional.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.