Summary
After being in the development process for more than six years, Nampa Classical Academy completed its first year of instruction in 2010 with more than 500 students. It received approval from the State Board of Education in 2008 and received positive responses from the Idaho Public Charter School Commission at each stage of its development. In 2009, however, the commission voted to prohibit the academy from using any “religious documents and text” in its curriculum or in its classroom, even if used objectively as a curriculum resource. The ban will lead to the censorship of texts and documents deemed to be “religious” even if they are classical books in Western Civilization taught with regard to their literary and historical importance.
Among many other books, the book ban would include the following classical works:
- The Bible
- The Illiad by Homer
- The Odyssey by Homer
- The Divine Comedy by Alighieri Dante
- 95 Theses (or anything else) by Martin Luther
- Paradise Lost by John Milton
- Paradise Regained by John Milton
- Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
What’s at Stake?
- Whether the government can ban the objective study of the Bible and other religious materials at public schools and universities.
- Whether public schools have the right to challenge government censorship of their chosen curriculum.
- Whether teachers have the right to use supplemental resources, including those that may be religious, to objectively teach about a variety of subject matters.
- Whether parents and students have the right to use relevant and useful books and materials, including those that are religious, in the classroom and when completing school assignments.
The bottom line
- Every student deserves a quality education. Banning classical texts like the Bible denies students the right to learn what they need to know about world history and Western civilization.
- It’s ridiculous that the most important texts in the history of Western Civilization have become automatically off limits simply because they may be deemed religious.
- American schools have the right to challenge government censorship of their chosen curriculum.
