Written by Don Byrd
Hobby Lobby founder Steve Green has already made a name for himself in the world of constitutional law by bringing the contraception coverage lawsuit the U.S. Supreme Court will decide later this year. But if he has his way, he may have an even bigger impact through his public school Bible curriculum project.
Church-state expert Charles Haynes says Green’s proposal, recently adopted by an Oklahoma school district is “like nothing we’ve seen before.” Religion News Service has the story:
[T]he Museum of the Bible Curriculum [is] an ambitious four-year public school elective on the narrative, history and impact of the Good Book.
…
It divides its topic into three areas—the Bible’s narrative, the history of its composition and reception, and its impact on human civilization. The spine of the first-year program—the only text completed so far—is a 400-plus-page book, currently spiral-bound, featuring 108 chapters divided into five-day-a-week lessons.
Supreme Court decisions indicate public schools may offer elective courses *about* religion, provided they do not cross over into religious favoritism, indoctrination or proselytizing. Does Green’s curriculum stay on the proper side of that church-state line? As Professor Maark Chancey says in the RNS piece, “the devil is in the details.” Stay tuned.
