By: Eric Buehrer, president, Gateways to Better Education

For years, a secular mindset among educators and school officials has pushed legitimate education about the Bible and Christianity off to an ever-shrinking portion of a public school student’s life. The bias against appropriately teaching about this aspect of history and culture comes largely from educators who either think it’s not legally allowed or that, even if allowed, it’s not proper or culturally sensitive to do so. This bias is often most apparent during the holiday season. However, teaching students about Judeo-Christian history, thought and values is important and legitimate for our public schools.

Academically expected

A quick look at state academic standards from around the country reveals a number of ways state officials not only encourage educators to teach about the Bible and Christian thought, they expect it. Here are a few examples:

• In California, sixth-grade students are to “Note origins of Christianity in the Jewish Messianic prophecies, the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament, and the contribution of St. Paul the Apostle to the definition and spread of Christian beliefs (e.g., belief in the Trinity, resurrection, salvation).”
• In Colorado, educators are instructed by state school officials that “Because religion plays a significant role in history and society, study about religion is essential to understanding both the nation and the world. Omission of facts about religion can give students the false impression that the religious life of humankind is insignificant or unimportant.”
• In Texas, students are to “explain the significance of religious holidays and observances such as Christmas and Easter, Ramadan, and Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah in selected contemporary societies.”
• In Massachusetts, seventh grade students are to “Describe the origins of Christianity and its central features. A. monotheism; B. the belief in Jesus as the Messiah and God’s son who redeemed humans from sin; C. the concept of salvation; D. belief in the Old and New Testament; E. the lives and teachings of Jesus and Saint Paul.”

Even the National Education Association agrees. The union’s 2000-2001 resolution E-7 states: “The National Education Association believes that educational materials should accurately portray the influence of religion in our nation and throughout the world.”

Legally supported

In the Supreme Court case of Abington School District v. Schempp, Justice Clark, writing the majority opinion stated: “It certainly may be said that the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities. Nothing we have said here indicates that such study of the Bible or of religion, when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education, may not be effected consistently with the First Amendment.”

It is common for public schools to forbid or discourage the singing of religious Christmas carols. However, this may come As a surprise to the Supreme Court. In the case of Lynch v. Donnelly, involving the public display of a nativity scene, the justices commented that during Christmas, “people are taking note of the season with Christmas hymns and carols in public schools.” The Court assumed school children were singing religious Christmas carols! In the Federal court case of Florey v. Sioux Falls School District, the ACLU was twice defeated in its attempt to have the school district’s policy on recognizing holidays declared unconstitutional.

Teaching students about Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving offers a wonderful opportunity to teach important topics thematically. The approaching holiday can be used to teach a character education unit on gratitude. It can be used to teach a cultural lesson on America’s Judeo-Christian culture. Or it can be used to teach a civics lesson on the President.

Here are some classroom activities for all grades that teach about the annual Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation.

Print and share with the students a copy of last year’s Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation Each year, the President issues a proclamation just a few days before the holiday (which makes it a bit difficult to use the current proclamation unless your lesson is the day before Thanksgiving!).

To read previous Presidents’ Thanksgiving Proclamations, visit Gateways for Better Education

Use the ideas below in age- and grade- appropriate ways:

1. Show a picture of President George W. Bush and talk about what a President does.
2. Ask students why the President issues a Thanksgiving Proclamation each year. Suggested answer: It’s been a tradition since the founding of our country for Presidents to ask Americans to join him in thanking God for the blessings we have received as a nation in the previous 12 months.
3. Vocabulary Race. Divide students into groups of equal size. Have each group make a list of vocabulary words from the Proclamation and exchange the list with another group. The lists of words should be equal to two words per student in the group. At a signal from the teacher, each group works as a team to find and write the appropriate definitions of the words. The first group finished is the winner. The group must read aloud its definitions to prove they are correct.
4. Read the closing paragraphs of the Proclamation to the class and ask students to list the things the President asked Americans to do on Thanksgiving Day.
5. Ask students to write a paragraph about how they each can do the things the President asked them to do.
6. In small groups, have students create a “found poem.” Have students read the document and underline phrases (not sentences) they think are most important. Each student then chooses only two phrases as the most important and writes each phrase on a separate strip of paper. The group then arranges the strips of paper to create a free-verse poem. Have a spokesperson for the group read the poem to the class.
7. We often speak of “owing” someone a debt of gratitude. Have students list things they have for which they are thankful (categories could be possessions, experiences, special events, opportunities given) and to whom they can be thankful for providing them
8. Teach students the social skill of expressing gratitude. Have the class create a hypothetical situation in which one person gives a thing or an opportunity to another person. As a class, discuss and list three or four steps to showing gratitude. For example: 1) face the person, 2) look the person in the eye, 3) say “Thank you,” 4) continue by saying “I appreciate that you ____________” and explain why you are grateful.
9. The Roman lawyer Cicero once wrote, “A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, it is the parent of all other virtues.” Conduct a class discussion with students about what they think he meant. Have them brainstorm a list of virtues as you write them on the board. Why is gratitude the basis for those virtues? Can they give examples?

Educators have an obligation to teach the truth. They need not and should not draw the drapes and close the blinds and pretend that right outside their schools the American people are celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas as religious holidays. It is both legitimate and desirable to teach public school students about Judeo-Christian history, thought and values – and the holiday season offers many opportunities to teach this aspect of American culture.

In a 2005 article, by British psychologist David Lewis reports that shopping is hazardous to men’s health. He tested volunteers (22-79 years old) by sending them out Christmas shopping. He recorded blood pressure rates that “you’d expect to see in a fighter pilot going into combat.” According to this same test, only one in four women showed any significant signs of stress from shopping – just one of many gender differences in America today.

The question has been posed: “What would have happened if there had been Three Wise Women instead of Three Wise Men?” The answer: They would have asked directions immediately upon commencing their trip, which would have allowed them to arrive on time; they would have helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole and brought cute little outfits that baby Jesus could have worn on his trip home.