Alabama State Senator Scott Beason has turned out to be the principal opponent of a new textbook, the Bible and Its Influence, backed by liberals for schools which want to teach about the Bible. Writing in Worldnetdaily.com, Beason outlines not only the background of the chief architect of the book but details how the book undermines belief in God.

Beason notes that Dr. Charles C. Haynes is a consultant for the Bible Literacy Project. Haynes is the author of a piece entitled ?When the Government Prays, Nobody Wins,? which implies that the National Day of Prayer should be eliminated. He has authored books with the Council On Islamic Education. He serves on the board of the Pluralism Project along with Wiccan High Priestess Margot Adler. He also authored ?Sexual Orientation and Public Schools: All or Nothing?? which has been endorsed by the radical Gay Lesbian, Straight Education Network. Haynes was a reviewer and consultant for the Bible Literacy Project?s textbook The Bible and Its Influence.

That textbook redefines Biblical terms and demeans God, according to a number of reviewers who have reviewed it. The book asks, ?Do absolute good and evil exist?? In the Judeo-Christian tradition, God represents all that is good but the textbook asks, ?Where does all of the evil come from? How would a good God let something like the Holocaust happen? Why would God let innocent children suffer??

The book further denies the moral value of Old Testament illustrations. For example, ?Job is one of the most difficult books in the Bible in that the text provides no clear moral or answer to Job?s situation.?

On page 72 the book debases the character of God: ?God?s help comes with strings attached ? commandments or laws that the Israelites must obey in order to keep the faith.? On page 138 the text demeans God by making Him accountable to man. The text diminishes the value of Old Testament texts. On page 160 the text reads, ?The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. This ending through pleasing in some ways has failed to satisfy various readers over the centuries.? On page 75 the text book says the Ark of the Covenant ?has become famous in Western imagination.?

I could go on and on citing problems with this text book. The late eminent Christian pastor Dr. D.. James Kennedy said, ?It would be a tremendous mistake to impose such very anti-Biblical material upon our children in public schools.?

Use of The Bible and Its Influence has become controversial in school boards and state legislatures, especially in the South. When I was made aware of the ?Bible Literacy Project? I rejoiced, thinking that this was a way for students to study religion in the Godless public schools. I endorsed the Project. Now that I have been made aware of what this Project is really about, thanks to Senator Beason, I hereby withdraw my endorsement. Once again liberals stole what began as a worthwhile initiative. This is worse than public schools without God. This may well cause young impressionable young people to lose their faith and to be contemptuous of those who have faith.

Paul M. Weyrich is Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.