Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed legislation April 20 authorizing public high schools in the state to offer courses in the history and literature of the Bible, provided the courses are taught “in an objective and non-devotional manner with no attempt made to indoctrinate students.”
Georgia becomes the first state to offer elective Bible classes on a statewide basis, education experts believe, though numerous school districts throughout the country have chosen independently to teach such courses.
Perdue, a Republican who attends First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Ga., also signed a measure permitting the display of the Ten Commandments at courthouses in the state.
“Gov. Perdue signed these bills into law today because the Bible is one of the original textbooks in the history of human existence,” Heather Hedrick, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “It’s an acknowledgment of the importance of these two documents as historical documents.”
Local school systems will determine whether to teach the Bible classes, and the state’s department of education has until February to write the curriculum. The Bible itself will be the primary textbook, according to the legislation.
Senate Democrats first introduced a bill authorizing Bible classes, saying that understanding the Bible and its teachings is crucial to understanding politics, history, literature and art, but Republicans took advantage of their House and Senate majorities and gave their version of the bill, which passed the Senate 45-2 and the House 151-7 in March.
Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams said the curriculum will help students understand the Bible’s many cultural influences. “The Bible is just so much a part of our culture that I think it should be taught, but not to indoctrinate,” he said. – BP