A group of Democrats in Georgia’s state Senate sponsored legislation, to fund electives that teach the Bible and affirm that public schools in the state can teach Bible courses. There’s been some haggling from Republicans that it is some election year ploy, since schools already were allowed to teach about the Bible, so long as there was no “proselytizing”. The state Senate voted on the bill and it passed almost unanimously (50-1).

The bill now go to the state House for a vote.

The bill’s primary sponsor was Democratic State Senator Tim Golden. 2 other Democratic Senators signed on right away as co-sponsors, Doug Stoner and Kasim Reed. Later another Democrat J. B. Powell signed on as a co-sponsor. You can get the text of the bill and some other details here. (At the time of this posting the status of the bill had not been updated to reflect the latest vote.)

When it was first introduced, here is some of the debate that occurred. Republicans didn’t want Democrats to appear to be supporting the Bible. So they took some early shots at the bill.

Given all the controversy over past attempts to teach the Bible, Republicans should not be crying about what they proposed and then pulled. They should have gone all the way with it when they had the idea. But they backed down and are upset Democrats will now get the credit. Republicans have no problems when they propose bills that affirm things people can already do, like say Merry Christmas.

Being the Independent Conservative that I am, I could care less if this bill had a “D” or an “R” next to it. I think it’s good to reinforce the fact that schools can teach from the Bible. The final bill ensures that only the Bible will be used and no other text books about the Bible. I don’t care if this is an election year ploy or not, Republicans have pulled plenty of their own over the years. So I say the Democrats behind this bill got it right!

Of course the ACLU and the “Civil Libertarians” are all upset. Who cares! Let them be upset and send their children to an atheist private school. The Bible is part of this state’s history and so it certainly should be taught in public schools.

Lastly, I must point out that it’s kind of funny that former Republican state schools Superintendent Linda Schrenko proposed classes that included the Bible back in 1999. She has been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury, that she stole Federal election funds in her failed attempt to become Governor. They believe she used some of the money for cosmetic surgery. If the charges are true and I think that they are, the cosmetic surgery didn’t help much . I guess if she had become Governor, she would have given us the Bibles and taken the state’s money for herself .