Should books such as the Bible, Koran, Torah, Book of Satan, etc. be banned from public school libraries since there is a law that states that church and state should be separated? Why or why not? Even more importantly, should these texts be allowed to be used as references in school assignments (there is a gray area in here, like could these books be used for historical documentation [i.e. lists of the kings found in the bible]).
Seperation of church and state only means that the gvt cant have a state sponsored religion and that gvt cant interfere in religious practices and beliefs too much.
It has nothing to do with using religious references or learning about religion in schools
In this global society we live in we should be teaching kids about diff religions and how they affect the diff societies around the world.
sounds like something right out of communist china or the former soviet union
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Banned. Definitely.
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no, just as atheistic texts should not be banned either
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Theey should not be banned from libraaries, so long as they are viewed as literature, and not textbooks.
Ther is a difference between teaching religion and teaching ABOUT religion
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Seperation of church and state only means that the gvt cant have a state sponsored religion and that gvt cant interfere in religious practices and beliefs too much.
It has nothing to do with using religious references or learning about religion in schools
In this global society we live in we should be teaching kids about diff religions and how they affect the diff societies around the world.
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No.. besides most libraries are not federally funded, therefore that law doesn’t apply.
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No, they should not be banned.
I never wrote any papers when I was in school that would have used the Bible as any kind of source. If it is fitting, I suppose it’s okay…?
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That’s a tough one. they shouldn’t be taught in public school but banning them from the library seems a bit much. This isn’t nazi Germany
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Literature is a beautiful thing, and exposing children to only "appropriate" literature is making the children believe that there is only one "appropriate" way of thinking. You cannot have a culturally well-rounded person if you don’t expose him to every aspect of culture.
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No, I don’t think so.
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as long as these books are placed in the philosophy section and students are not forced to read them, then it’s all gravy
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No. Absolutely nothing should be banned from libraries. Book banning is tantamount to neo-fascism to me.
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No. Because that is censorship. Because it infringes upon the rights of people to free expression, freedom of religion, and knowledge should not be withheld simply because someone disagrees with it.
There is no gray area. There is simply context. If the student and teacher cannot place the texts in context by applying critical thinking skills, then neither of them are doing their jobs.
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Absolutly not. No book should be banned from any library. I don’t, however, believe any person should be REQUIRED to read any religious text in an attempt to teach it’s contents as truth. They should be avaliable to those who want to read them, but should not be taught as fact.
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Banning/burning books is the end of intelligence and the beginning of a Dark Age…
Meet the Dodgers:
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No, the intent of the law is to not endorse or force a particular religion. Having a set of religious books is not endorsing or force a particular religion.
I’m a firm believer in not banning books.
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Short answer, no.
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I’m a atheist but no absolutely not.
Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads." – George Bernard Shaw
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There isn’t ‘a law that states church and state should be separated’, it’s far more specific than that. And having religious texts in a public school library is not a violation of church and state.
As for using religious books as references, they should be held to the same standards as any other text. So a document like the bible, with its debated authorship and glaring factual and logical errors, should not be considered an acceptable source of historical information.
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If you take that stance you also need to ban any book that mentions a god, including anything by Dickens, most of Mark Twain, the dictionary, Encyclopedia, The Declaration of independence, the Magna Carta, The US Constitution, Money,… do you see how preposterous this is getting?
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Absolutely not. Whether they’re taken literally or not they are still a part of history and a source of knowledge. If we can ban religious texts that opens the door for other literature that can be viewed as offensive. There’s a line where political correctness has to stop.
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No
Books should not be banned
However, There should be no school led religious activities, because it leads to the favoritism of one or some religions over others
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No, kids need to have access to those books so they laugh at the silly things they say too.
I have no problem with studying religion in school. It’s the evangelizing and indoctrination into any particular system of beliefs that I have a problem with.
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I’m an atheist and I say ABSOLUTELY NOT!
However, most public schools in the USA have printed and bound access to Christian texts (the Bible) but few have access to the major texts of other religions. Schools should be a place for ALL kinds of learning, even if some of those things should be electively chosen instead of required.
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no.
if you can’t understand the problem, how can you be part of the solution?
and the black and white mentality of american politics makes me very glad that I’m not one of you.
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atheist.
As an (unfortunately unemployed) librarian, I am vehemently opposed to banning books.
Religion should not be mandated on kids in public schools, but students should be taught about the major religions of the world and how they effect society.
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it is my belief that nothing should be banned. everything is valuable as knowledge.
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They should absolutely not be banned. I am an atheist, but I consider religious texts an important part of our history and culture. Libraries are not (should not be) in the business of filtering what kinds of information reach their patrons.
There was an interesting debate at my own public library wherein different parties were arguing over where religious texts belonged in the library. Some wanted the canons in the nonfiction section, some wanted them in the fiction section, and others wanted them in the reference section. Fundamentalists wanted the Bible in the nonfiction section, and all other texts in the fiction section! I was personally rooting to have them kept in the reference section, which was the end result.
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Separation of Church and State only means the government cannot force you to be in a state sponsored religion. You are free to practice any religion you want or non at all. That does not mean all text’s from every religion have to be put where you cannot see them because you are offended. If you don’t like them don’t look.
Spend some time reading about old school USSR. If you did not belong to the Russian Orthodox church, you were in deep shi*. That is what separation of church and state if for.
Good day and God Bless you.
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Absolutely not! It wouldn’t be much of a library if it sought to suppress information on various topics. I think ALL religious books should have the opportunity to be included in any library (funding permitting). Yes, religious texts should be allowed to be used as references in a piece of writing. It is up to the writer to make their claims and provide evidence to back their claims up. Just because they list a book as a source, that does not make the point true. It only means they are able to use that to support their own point.
Separation between church and state should mean "Keep your government out of my religion" not "keep religion out of the government."
Blessed be!
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separation of church and state has nothing to do with religious literature being allowed in a public library.
It is literature. What, are we going to start banning books now because they may have a religious theme?
And people condemn christians about banning books.
Separation of church and state stops religions from being in control of the government not a rule to ban religion from all public institutions.
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Depends. I think if they allow evalution books or so called "science" then they should allow religious books as well because no matter the persons religion it is in the consttittion for free rights/speech….. HOWEVER no one should force those religious choices on others. It is up to the student(s) to read or not read them. That goes for evalution as well, it should not be forced as a subject in school to learn. It should be an elective course.
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child of God & mother of 4,
No, they shouldn’t be banned–there’s no violation of the separation unless for instance the school has bibles but not korans.
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No book should be banned from anyone reading it…but teaching religion should definitely be kept out of public schools
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