Re: sensitity to students' worldviews

[Drnanjo]

Listmates,

No anger, just reason.

One of thes problem with trying to use the Bible to formulate a coherent
worldview is that the Bible may in fact not be a "coherent" document but a
pastiche of differing worldviews. It was written over many centuries and
speaks to an age or ages and culture(s) that faced very different problems
than ours does.  For an example of this problem check out this website:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/exe_bibl.htm

It doesn't for example present a uniform view on capital punishment.

I used to try to be respectful of student's adherence to the Bible by
speaking to its utility as a history of people and compendium of ethics, but
I am not even convinced that it works for that purpose.  It is a book with
true and false things written in it, but many times students and other folks
want to treat it as the unimpeachable truth.  I cannot support this. It is
not a matter of respect, it is a matter of intellectual honesty.

Nancy Melucci
East Los Angeles College