Is Islam Filling the Void Left by Banned Bibles?

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, December 16, 2011
By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. On August 26th, The Wall Street Journal used this year’s 400th anniversary of the King James Bible to remind us that it’s the all-time best-selling book and the most quoted book in the English language. The King James Version is a revision of a hundred years of prior English Bible translations. Though referred to as the “authorized King James Version, it was not officially “authorized” by anyone … except a great majority of people. For over 350 years after its publication, anyone referring to “the Bible” always meant the King James Version, which was a direct influence on government, religion, families and education … especially childhood education.

In 1963 when the U.S. Supreme Court banned use of the Bible as a devotional tool in public schools, that was only part of the decision. In the same case, the Court upheld as constitutional the study of the historical and literary value of the Bible in public schools. Although that ruling banned the Bible from public schools, off-campus classes could be offered to students, but taxes could not be used to pay the expenses involved.

But that was remedied here in 2006, when Georgia became the first state to authorize local school boards to provide elective Bible courses and fund them with state taxes. Soon, Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina and Oklahoma followed Georgia and authorized Bible the same.

Now, the problem is money. Four years ago, 48 of Georgia’s 180 school districts offered the classes, but this year only 16 districts will do so. In fact, Columbia County Bible the number of Bible classes have been cut from three to one, due to dwindling taxes.

But there’s another issue here. It’s disturbing to see the Bible banned from public schools, while the Council on Islamic Education provides Muslims a six-step guide on “How to get religious accommodation in the public school system,” which seems to be working for them. Reportedly, some public schools have made foot-washing provisions for Muslim students and/or purged Christian symbols from certain rooms, to make prayer rooms for Muslim students. Yet, no baptismal pools or special prayer rooms are set aside for Christian students and Georgia law prohibits spoken prayer in public schools and extracurricular activities.

As I report this, someone will think accommodating the religion of Muslim students is okay. But, it’s NOT okay to ban the Christian heritage of the United States in the name of tolerance and multiculturalism. President Obama was dead wrong when he said the U.S. is not a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation or a Buddhist nation. An honest reading of factual U.S. history disputes every word he said and Christians must keep that fact in the forefront. Anyone describing the U.S. as a multicultural nation is indulging in the wishful thinking of globalists. The U.S. was founded as one nation under God, the God of the Bible, the one and only God. Remember this: a house divided cannot stand and multiculturalism is designed to divide! For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.