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(Des Moines, IA) -- Legislation allowing Iowa's public schools to teach elective courses on the Bible is beating this week's funnel deadline. Senate File 138 says that any new course brought to any district's school board by a school improvement committee must be considered and voted on.
State Sen. Sandy Salmon (R-Janesville) is a co-sponsor of the bill and chaired the subcommittee on it.
"The Bible is a major text that is the text of the world's largest religion," Salmon says. "It is critically important to the founding of our history and to our legacy."
Some opponents argue the proposal would exclude non-Christian religions and therefore violates the first amendment. State Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott (D-Waukee), who is an ordained Christian minister outside of the legislature, is one of them.
"Schools can already do that," Trone Garriott says. "We can already have elective courses on different faith communities' scriptures. But the author of this bill showed up in the subcommittee and said that the intent of this legislation was to encourage the teaching of the Christian scriptures. Promoting one religious community is inappropriate."
Other opponents say portions of the Bible contain inappropriate content for minors to study. State Sen. Herman Quirmbach (D-Ames) is one of them.
"Especially in the Old Testament, there are multiple passages that involve rape, incest and other descriptions of sexual activity outside the bounds of marriage," Quirmbach says. "Notwithstanding that, the overwhelming value of what is there, I think, is something that students can benefit from."
Sen. Quirmbach unofficially proposed amendments that would allow the same for Islam and Hinduism. Sen. Salmon says she wants to keep the bill as it is.
"Studies show too few of our children have been exposed to the Bible and therefore lack the background to understand certain parts of our history, literature, etc," Salmon says. "This bill sets out guidelines that meet court muster for teaching the Bible as an elective class so that schools can be confident that there are no legal or constitutional issues with offering a course."
The bill advanced through the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday morning and is now eligible for the Senate floor.