The Land of Biblical Idiots

Stephen Prothero, professor of religion at Boston University and author of Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know -- and Doesn't, has written a strongly worded LA Times op-ed piece that call for attending to the American deficit in biblical literacy .

Although we are a highly religious nation, our biblical literacy is horrific -- even in the Bible Belt. We talk about loving Jesus but we haven't a clue about what he teaches.

And, this "biblical illiteracy is not just a religious problem. It is a civic problem with political consequences." Indeed, he asks: How can citizens participate in biblically inflected debates on abortion, capital punishment or the environment without knowing something about the Bible? Because they lack biblical literacy, Americans are easily swayed by demagogues on the left or the right who claim -- often incorrectly -- that the Bible says this or that about homosexuality."

His solution is to teach responsibly about the Bible and world religions in public schools -- not devotional study of the bible but literary and historical study. Now this will make a lot of people uncomfortable. Conservative Christians will worry about the undermining of inerrancy (but so be it) and secularists will worry about indoctrination. The key then is to get started at finding a way between these two poles! I believe he has a point!