WARNING.  Philosophy and ranting ahead.  This is what I once thought all blogs were about… but this is my first rant in almost a year of blogging.  Skip it if you wish!

In Monday’s post on Nora’s Ark I mentioned the need to first share the story of Noah’s Ark with the students.  I could hear the voices out there questioning me, “Can you tell that story at school?” 

“Why not?” I ask. 

“Well, separation of church and state, right?” 

 ”Wrong!”

How I hate the phrase “separation of church and state”.  But what I hate the most is how all of us – people of all faiths and lack thereof – have overreacted to it in light of public schools.  And our students are the poorer for it!

Now I do NOT want to debate the phrase, I will just say that moderate ground is the following statement:  ”When we think of religion in public schools, we think of the students and how they should be free from indoctrination.” 

• Never do I want a student to feel uncomfortable about his personal beliefs.
• Never do I intend to force my religious beliefs on my students – in fact, I’m not there to share my religious beliefs.  I’m there to be the school library media specialist. 
• Bottom line – We are free to educate students.  We are not free to indoctrinate or belittle students.

But I also think we have lost our focus.  Too often people feel that only by excluding things can we be fair to all.  I would like to suggest that we should include all cultures and faiths whenever the opportunity presents itself educationally in view of helping our students learn understanding and tolerance.  And when others practice their faith and/or culture by wearing a cross, a yarmulke, a bindi, or a chador we need not feel threatened or offended, instead we can respect and tolerate the symbols of who they are as an individual.  An educated person should understand world religions and cultural differences.  By avoiding those topics or situations, we leave our students ignorant, and ignorance is ugly. 

Libraries are the great defenders of inclusion.  “There is something in my library to offend everyone,” is one of my favorite quotations.  Libraries strive for balance, freedom of speech, and intellectual freedom.  So why does that often apply to everything EXCEPT mainstream Christianity?  Doesn’t Christianity have the right to be included?  Isn’t it WRONG to exclude a well produced picture book on Noah’s Ark just because it is a Bible story in a public school?

A few years ago I took some heat from one administrator about including the “Left Behind for Kids” series of books in our school library.  The series was hot, then.  Kids were asking for it.  There is no public library in my community to which I could send them so I bought the books. 

If seventy-five percent of my collection is Christian fiction and I refused to buy Harry Potter, we would have a problem.  But tolerance and respect for all faiths INCLUDES Christianity!  And balance does not mean that if I include Christian fiction I have to rush out and buy an equal number of Islamic fiction.  (Is there such a thing?)  -especially if my library would have no audience for it. 

Phew!  Done with the philosophy arguments.  Now to the rant…

There are stories that children once learned in Sunday School that they no longer know because fewer and fewer people attend church regularly.  Personally, this makes me sad.  Professionally, this means that my students no longer know stories such as David and Goliath, Noah’s Ark, or the stories of Moses.  Stories such as these transcend the Judeo-Christian religion of their roots and have become iconic stories in world culture.  They are referred to in literature and in the mass media. 

Last week when I briefly shared the highlights of Noah’s Ark with the students, many mentioned the movie Evan Almighty.  It was a light-bulb moment for them.  The movie was more relevant and funny once they had been introduced to the background story.  How can they understand a story about a modern day Noah if they don’t know the ancient story of Noah?

A few years ago when I shared Steven Jenkin’s book Actual Size, two of the creatures mentioned were the Goliath frog and the Goliath beetle.  When the student’s didn’t connect the meaning of Goliath with the concept of giant I felt I had to share the story of David and Goliath. 

Can I share the story of Noah or David and Goliath without mentioning God?  No.  But can I share the stories as iconic stories of culture without indoctrinating students into what I believe they mean?  Yes, I can!

So if a Bible story becomes relevant to the educational matter at hand, must I exclude it because of separation of church and state?  I think not.

And when censorship rears its ugly head, I can remind someone that if they can ask me to remove a book on evolution, someone else can ask me to remove the copy of Jerry Pinkney’s Noah’s Ark or those Left Behind books…. and vice versa.

I might also mention that I own a Seder plate which I use when I introduce the novel Devil’s Arithmetic to 5th grade.  And I bought a menorah so that I could share some of the Chanukah stories in our collection with the students.  Education.  It is about education, not indoctrination.  And the argument that religious education belongs in the home – well, it isn’t happening anymore, just like so many other things!  And telling a Bible story ISN’T religious education; it is making sure the students are familiar with key stories in Western Civilization.  If the newspaper article refers to something as a Pandora’s box, how can you understand that if you’ve never been taught the story of Pandora?  If the same newspaper refers to the little school defeating the big school in sports as a David and Goliath, well….I rest my case.

“Can you tell that story at school?”  You bet!  This is America!  Liberty and justice for all – even for the Bible stories!