The deception of the Bible Literacy Project

By Sen. Scott Beason, Alabama State Senate
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

Virtually banned from American schools in the early '60s, the Bible has faced a rising onslaught of wrath, ridicule and legal assaults. So, why after all these years would liberal opponents suddenly turn and support a textbook titled, "The Bible and Its Influence"? Why such enthusiastic acclaim for a controversial curriculum published for public schools by the Bible Literacy Project?

The answer may lie behind a man by the name of Charles Haynes, a key player in the work of the Bible Literacy Project.

• Charles Haynes, of the innocuous-sounding Freedom Forum / First Amendment Center, has written an article entitled "When the Government Prays, No One Wins," in which he infers that the National Day of Prayer should be declared illegal. This has been published nationwide (see last article on page).
• Charles Haynes co-authors books with the Council On Islamic Education, which also endorses the guidelines by which "The Bible and Its Influence" was written.
• Charles Haynes serves on the Board of the Pluralism Project, along with a Wiccan high priestess, Margot Adler.
• Charles Haynes is the author of a Communitarian manifesto on religious education. In addition, Haynes authored "Public Schools and Sexual Orientation: A First Amendment Framework", which is endorsed by the radical Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network.

The Communitarian Network has been written about by both Joseph Farah, founder of WorldNetDaily, and Gen. Ben Partin. Farah says, "The best I can decipher of this popular new idea of Communitarianism is that it is not a new idea at all. To put it in its simplest form, I would describe it as a form of communism for people who believe in God." Partin says that the bottom line of the Communitarians is to bring in communism. Six members of the Board of Directors and Advisory Board for the Bible Literacy Project are signatories to the Communitarian Platform.

• Charles Haynes was a project director for the liberal Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Washington Times by Larry Whitham, July 27, 1990, "Teachers Study Role of Religion in History").
• Charles Haynes was a contributor, reviewer, and consultant to the Bible Literacy Project's textbook, "The Bible and Its Influence."
• The Bible Literacy Project textbook has an almost full-page promotion of UNESCO (page 365). (UNESCO's first director-general, socialist Julian Huxley, laid the foundation for today's global education. Pointing to facilitated group dialogue as the solution, he wrote, "The task before UNESCO … is to the help the emergence of a single world culture. …").

The textbook by the Bible Literacy Project, "The Bible and Its Influence," incorporates the Hegelian dialectic process outlined in "Finding Common Ground: A First Amendment Guide to Religion and Public Education" by Charles Haynes and ACLU author/lawyer Oliver Thomas. Thus, schoolchildren learn "about the Bible" through a pre-planned group process that twists the Bible into the evolving ideals of the planned global spirituality.

Georg Hegel was an occultist whose philosophy laid the foundation for communist brainwashing. We need to grasp the basics of his dialectic process to equip our children to resist his fast-spreading "education" method. It is used in schools and public forums to shape the people's thoughts and morph the masses to a new kind of community.

In the dialectic process, there must be two or more sides to everything. Nothing is absolute; everything changes. The group is trained to disapprove if any member fails to demonstrate respect, appreciation and tolerance for all beliefs and positions, even if they clash with his own. Instead he must listen with empathy and understanding and join the quest for "common ground."

It works! This process transforms individual thinkers into group thinkers. Since the sense of belonging feels good, the threat of group disapproval inhibits members from voicing divisive views.

The Bible Literacy Project's textbook incorporates the dialectic process. It outlines the Bible but undermines its authority.

"The Bible and Its Influence":

1. Redefines biblical terms and demeans God: "Do absolute good and evil exist?" (page 163). "The Setup: Many students although aware of good and evil, have not thought deeply about it. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, God is considered to be all good, all knowing, and all-powerful. Yet this view presents a problem. Where does all the evil in the world come from? How could an all-good God let something like the Holocaust happen? Why would God let innocent children suffer?"
2. Denies the moral value of Old Testament illustrations: "Job is one of the most difficult books in the Bible in that the text provides no clear cut moral or answer to Job's situation" (page 161).
3. Debases the character of God: "God's help comes with strings attached – commandments or laws that the Israelites must obey in order to keep faith" (page 72).
4. Demeans God by making Him accountable to man: "… seemingly to shame God into fulfilling them" (page 138).
5. Diminishes the value of Old Testament texts: "The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning." [Job 42:12] "This ending though pleasing in some ways, has failed to satisfy various readers over the centuries" (page 160).
6. Undermines Scripture: "At God's command … placed in a richly decorated chest that has become famous in Western imagination as the ark of the covenant" (page 75).
7. Suggests a link between the Bible and communist philosophy (amoral totalitarianism): "Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) stated in his novel 'The Brothers Karamazov,' 'If there is no God, then all things are permitted.' Find this passage and read it in context. Then, write a short story about a world in which all things are permitted" (page 35). "American writer and reporter Lincoln Steffen's 1926 defense of Leninist (Communist) politics was called 'Moses in Red'" (page 65).
8. In the First Edition, quotes the Mayflower Compact incorrectly (page 50), leaving out "Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith …" When Richard Scurry, co-founder of the Bible Literacy Project, was asked over the phone why they had left out those sentences of the Mayflower Compact he replied, "There was only so much room in the textbook." After many people raised concern about this part of the Mayflower Compact being omitted, the Bible Literacy Project returned the omitted part of the document to the textbook.

Commenting on "The Bible and Its Influence," the late Dr. D. James Kennedy wrote in a letter: "… It would be a tremendous mistake to impose such very anti-biblical material upon our children in public schools."

Similarly, Dr. John Hagee wrote: "My overview of "The Bible and Its Influence" is that this is a masterful work of deception, distortion and outright falsehoods."

Why would organizations that have opposed the influence of Judeo-Christian principals vigorously support the use of "The Bible and Its Influence" in schools?

Bible curricula should not be used as tools for social engineering. Two successful public school Bible curricula that meet constitutional guidelines are: the Bible curriculum guide by Bible in the Schools, and "The Bible In History and Literature" produced by the National Council On Bible Curriculum In Public Schools.