ByNick WilliamsDist. 65Representative Legislative Report

I am glad to report to you that through a bi-partisan effort of Republicans and a few conservative Democrats we were able to defeat the "Bible Distortion Bill". Normally I would be all for this type of legislation, but this bill promoted a certain liberal textbook instead of promoting the Bible. As conservative legislators, we could not allow this terrible bill to pass. It would have had a very negative impact on our teenagers.

I’ll recap just a few of the reasons this was a bad bill:

For years Alabama has provided for an elective in Bible literacy under authorization of the State Board of Education consistent with the U.S. Constitution. Currently, there are public high schools in Alabama where the Bible is being taught. The curriculum already in place by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools is a very sound curriculum that teaches the Bible and simply provides a workbook for the students to work out of.

The proposed textbook, The Bible and It’s Influence, also asks students such theological questions as "Do you think Adam and Eve received a fair deal, as described in Genesis?" Page 38. Is this a question you would like for your child to be asked? Personally, I would not. Another unbelievable question: "And if God allows evil things to happen, can God honestly be described as good? This puzzle remains essentially unsolved." Page 156.

Charles Haynes, who is one of the key spokespersons for the Bible Literacy Project, and also a contributor to the BLP textbook for students, "The Bible and It’s Influence", the textbook selected for this course, has said that the National Day of Prayer should be declared illegal and has authored a paper, "When the Government Prays, No One Wins." Along with Haynes, it has been reported that the ACLU, NEA, People for the American Way and the Council on Islamic Education are all supporters of this project. With groups like this supporting this book, you can understand why I do not support this project.

It is my belief that if we are going to teach the Bible, which I am very much in favor of, we should teach the Bible and not some textbook that talks about the Bible. By defeating this bill we are promoting true Bible literacy in Alabama.