Written by Don Byrd
Via Religion News Service, a new study commissioned by the American Bible Society suggests that a solid majority (66%) of Americans want public schools to teach the “values found in the Bible.” Even those who do, however, recognize the inherent dangers in doing so.
From the data and analysis of the survey (pdf).
When presented with a list of reasons why it might be worth teaching about the Bible in public schools, adults who support such teaching overwhelmingly say that the Bible teaches moral principles that are badly needed in society (75%). Coming in at a distant second is the belief that more people should become familiar with Christianity (25%) and that it is important to be familiar with the Bible in order to be a well-educated person (20%). Just 7% believe that it is important to teach the Bible because the Bible is best understood only as ancient literature. Less than one in ten (9%) believe that there are no valid reasons to teach about the Bible in schools.Among those who believe that it would be worth teaching about the Bible in public schools, 45% believe that the top concern about teaching the Bible in public schools is that it would “favor one religion over another.” Another 38% chose “teaching about the Bible should be the responsibility of churches and families” as a possible concern. Another one-third (32%) believe that “it might offend people,” while 11% say “it would take valuable lesson time away from other subjects.” One in four adults (25%) who support teaching about the Bible in public schools say there is no reason not to teach the Bible in public schools.
You can read the entire survey results here (pdf).
