From the Orlando Sentinel:
Maitland-based Liberty Counsel filed a lawsuit Thursday to overturn a ban on Bible distribution on public school campuses in Collier County. According to the Liberty Counsel, the Collier County School Board allowed World Changers to distribute free Bibles to students during off-school hours on Religious Freedom Day, but now the school officials claim that Bibles do not provide any educational benefit to the students and the distribution should stop.
The Collier County School District policy specifically allows the distribution of literature by nonprofit organizations, but only with the approval of the superintendent and the Community Request Committee, whose members are appointed by the superintendent. Approval was denied to World Changers, despite the fact that its distribution included a disclaimer of any school endorsement or sponsorship and that receiving a Bible was purely voluntary.
“Bibles do not provide any educational benefit to the students” … seriously?
Even those who don’t believe the Bible shares truth have to admit that it is a one-of-a-kind book that has shaped history in a profound way.
What other piece of literature was written over the course of 2,500 years in multiple languages spanning multiple continents? What other piece of literature can claim such a diversity of authors? From poets to paupers, prophets to philosophers, slaves to kings, the defeated to the victorious – the diversity of the Bible’s authors is astounding! What other piece of literature can make that claim?
What other piece of literature can claim to have been the first printed on a printing press (it’s actually what led to the invention of the printing press)? Think about it – the Bible was the first edition of any book – anywhere! And what other piece of literature can claim the title ‘bestseller of all time’?
What other piece of literature can claim to have been the first to be translated into another language (Hebrew to Greek)? The Bible has since been translated into over 2,500 others covering 90% of those known in the world – what other book comes close?
What other piece of literature has been attacked as the Bible? From the Romans to the Communists to Islamics to atheists – the Bible has been outlawed, burned, banned, and restricted, but it’s still around. What other book has endured such attacks?
I haven’t even mentioned the Bible’s impact on our modern-day legal system, classic literature and art, science, the educational system and academia, philosophy, and … the list goes on and on.
How could any serious academic living today teach there’s no educational value in studying this unique book? To write the Bible off with the argument that it “does not provide any educational benefit to the students” … that’s silly even if you’re not a believer.
Dear Collier County school officials who made this decision: please rethink your public statement, and do a little research on this topic.
Either 1) you simply don’t like what the Bible teaches and don’t want children under your care exposed to its ideas (which would also make your statement a dishonest one), or 2) you’re ignorant of the rich heritage and history surrounding the Christian scriptures.
Either way this was a bad decision.
The Overflow 