Bruce Feiler in the NYT: Teach, Don't Preach, the Bible

Teach, Don't Preach, the Bible - New York Times: "At a time when religion dominates the headlines - from Iraq to terrorism to stem cells - finding a way to educate young people about faith should become a national imperative. Achieving this goal in a legal, nonsectarian manner requires Americans to get over the kitchen-table bromide, 'Don't talk about politics and religion in public.'

The extremists talk about religion - and spew messages of hate. Religious moderates must denounce this bigotry and reclaim Scripture as the shared document of all. When flamethrowers hold up Scripture and say, 'It says this,' moderates must hold up the same text say, 'Yes, but it also says this.' The Bible is simply too important to the history of Western civilization - and to vital to its future - to be ceded to one side in the debate over values."