One could only laugh at the news report by CBS 5 in Austin this week citing “concern over a “Bible infused public school curriculum in Texas.’” According to the reporter, one of those “concerns” is that students would be taught about the “Sermon on the Mound.” Here’s what it said:
Insert your own baseball joke here.
The obvious reference to the “Sermon on the Mount” could have been a typo – but if so, not only did the reporter, but the proofreaders also missed it. It was posted for almost a day before being corrected.
Did they miss it because they don’t know that the Sermon on the Mount is widely considered to be the most famous sermon ever delivered? If so, that is precisely the reason the new public school curriculum is necessary.
To give the Sermon on the Mount a modern cohort, it was the “I have a dream” speech of its time. Of course, Martin Luther King would never have written that speech if not for the Sermon on the Mount because there never would have been a civil rights movement, or emancipation from slavery. In fact, there would never have been an America, at least as we know it today, and Martin Luther King would not have been named Martin Luther.
The basis for “all men are created equal” is rooted in “blessed are the poor in heart, blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful,” from the Sermon on the Mount.
Such religious illiteracy is not rare in America. Years ago, while working in a newsroom, I was asked to coach a junior reporter on a piece she was doing for Christmas. She wrote, “like the old saying goes, it is better to give than to receive.”
I informed her it was not an “old saying.” Christ said it. She had no idea, apparently having never made a link between Christ and Christmas.
Like all illiteracy, cluelessness about the Bible reflects a lack of basic cultural knowledge akin to not knowing what the Declaration of Independence is and how it is related to the Magna Carta and, how the Magna Carta is related to the Sermon on the Mount.
The Sermon on the Mount is one of the primary building blocks of Western Civilization – changing our values from hierarchy, entitlement and barbarism to humility, forgiveness, and caring for others.
When the leadership at the Texas Education Agency followed the direction of the Texas Legislature with the passage of House Bill 1605, they weren’t trying to convert students to Christianity in the classroom. Instead, the goal is to ensure that Texas students understand the values and principles that resulted in the colonization of North America, the founding of our country and the way our country operates today. It’s not just a story for Christians.
Educated Jewish and Muslim Americans know the story of the Sermon on the Mount and how it fits into the American story – they also know how its history is related to the stories of their faith.
Teaching isn’t preaching, even if some of the stories come from a historical source like the Bible. Using another Bible story example, the Good Samaritan can help teach children how to be good neighbors to all. Discussing the Golden Rule and its origin reinforces the civilized way to treat one another. Going back to Martin Luther King again, he used the Bible to make the case for moral law in his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, a document that every Texas student is required to read and learn about.
A majority of Texans support adding the Bible to the historical sources used in the classroom. According to a new poll conducted by WPAi for TPPF, 64% of Texans support the inclusion of historical religious stories and examples into state provided curriculum, while only 33% are opposed. Further, 58% say the Biblical stories provide students with a greater understanding of the development of Western civilization, versus just 25% who say it has the potential for religious indoctrination.
Of course, Biblical illiteracy is not the only problem that has come up in the debate over Texas’ new public school curriculum. In the CBS 5 news report, a distinguished political science professor from Rice University snidely insisted that the curriculum probably violates the “separation clause” of the Constitution.
There is, of course, no “separation clause” in the Constitution. What the Constitution bans is an official, government supported church. Literate Texas students should know that too.
The reporter who wrote “Sermon on the Mound” in a news report demonstrates precisely why a curriculum for Texas public schools should include all the historical resources, including the Bible, that contribute to our country’s identity, to help them understand what it means to be an American. It’s all connected. It’s impossible to understand the importance of Juneteenth, for example, without understanding the significance of the message of the Sermon on the Mount – that’s Mount, not Mound.