New Iowa Bill Proposed to Create Bible Study Courses in Public Schools

The founder of Living Epistles Ministries in Port Jefferson Station, New York, Sheila Vitale functions as a pastor and teacher for the organization. In her spare time, Sheila Vitale enjoys studying the Bible.

Though religious study has long been discouraged in public schools in the United States, several states have recently passed laws permitting or mandating the creation of Bible study courses in their public schools. In January 2018, Iowa state lawmakers introduced legislation that would launch the establishment of Bible courses for its public school system.

Predictably, the new bill has both supporters and critics. Its proponents claim that the Bible’s influence on the cultural development of both Western civilization and the U.S. is too significant to be ignored. In fact, some argue that ignorance of the Bible is leading to a dissolution of unity in the U.S.

Meanwhile, critics such as the ACLU decry the law as too extreme since it believes that the future course will focus more on the religious aspects of the Bible than on academic matters. Moreover, it insists that current law does not prohibit elective courses that cover religion and that no change is needed.